Television Shows The Changeling (TV horror series) 2023 The Changeling (2023) is an American horror series (Appl) adapted from a novel by Victor LaValle. According to Mike Hale in The New York Times: “A changeling is what a fairy or demon or troll leaves behind when it kidnaps a human baby…”The Changeling” on Apple TV+ is about what happens when a mother comes to believe, perhaps correctly, that the tiny thing she is caring for is no longer her baby.” The mother, Emma “Emmy” Valentine (Clark Backo), is an orphan who grew up in kinship care. External Website

Television Shows Gen V 2023 Gen V (2023) is a spinoff of The Boys superhero series. In this series, students are being trained as the next generation of superheroes within the Godolkin University, a prestigious superhero-only university. A regular in Gen V is Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), who enrolled at Godolkin University to become a hero. Marie is trying to atone for accidently killing her parents when she was 10. After the accident, Marie was separated from her sister, Annabeth, and raised in the Red River Institute. External Website

Films/Videos Easy A 2010 Easy A (stylized as easy A) is a 2010 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck, written by Bert V. Royal, starring Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, and others The screenplay was partially inspired by the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Olive Prendergast is an average student until rumours fly that she has had sex. Teen comedy about peer pressure. Olive has an adopted brother which is very normalised. In one scene, it gets mentioned by the brother and the father has this whole silly speech asking who told him and how they were going to keep it a secret. Quite clearly a family joke. External Website

Radio & Podcast Margo O'Byrne Fremantle Shipping News 2021 This is an interview with Margo O'Bynre who was made a Ward of the State, along with her brother, after they were found "guilty of the charge of being neglected children". Margo grew up in Queensland but has lived in Fremantle, Western Australia for many years and is actively involved in the community there, including with Tuart Place, a support service for Care Experienced People. Margo published her memoir Left Unsaid in 2009. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Blog: Stigma and the care experience Denisha Killoh 2018 In this blog, Denisha Killoh talks about her experience of stigma as a Care Experienced person. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles The love that helped me beat hell of foster care Paul Barber (actor) 2007 Peter Grant talks to Liverpool actor Paul Barber about the highs and lows of his young life He became one of the nation’s favourite TV characters as Denzil in Only Fools and Horses. But Liverpool actor Paul Barber’s early life was blighted by a childhood spent in a succession of children’s homes and foster families. External Website

Writers Shannon Burns In his 2022 memoir, Childhood, Dr Shannon Burns describes the considerable disruption he experienced as a small child - from going into respite care with a church group, to being in foster care with a couple who thought starving their dog was a good thing, to being in kinship care with his extended Greek Australian family, to finally staying with his father and stepmother from the age of 10. Along the way, Shannon discovered a welcome escape through reading, and a talent with writing. External Website

Films/Videos The Book of Esther 2013 The Book of Esther tells the story of an orphan. The Book of Esther is included in the Hebrew Bible following Lamentations & is read on the Festival of Purim. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Book of Esther is between Nehemiah & Hob. In the Protestant canon, Esther is between Nehemiah & Job. Esther is an orphan & has been raised by her cousin Mordecai. When she becomes the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, she doesn’t initially tell him that she is Jewish and an orphan. Later, when Ahasuerus’ chief minister, Haman, orders the death of Jews in Persia, Esther persuades Ahasuerus to rescind the order. Instead of being killed on the day planned for their annihilation, the Jews kill their enemies. The Book of Esther has been adapted for stage & film several times, including the 2013 film starring Jen Lilley as Queen Esther. External Website

Television Shows Cigarette Girl 2023 Cigarette Girl (2023) is an Indonesia series based on the eponymous book by Ratih Kumala. The story moves between the 1960s and early 2000s. In the 1960s, Raja (Ario Bayu) begins work at a kretek (Indonesian cigarette) factory. He falls in love with his boss’ daughter, Jeng Yah (Dian Sastrowardoyo), but the couple aren’t able to marry. On his deathbed in 2001, Raja sends his youngest son to find Jeng Yah. Lebas (Arya Saloka) locates Jeng Yah’s daughter who **spoiler alert** doesn’t know she has been raised by an aunt rather than by her mother. External Website

Academic Articles Exploring the legal representation of individuals in foster care: What say youth and alumni? J Jay Miller et al. 2017 Despite the overwhelming consensus that foster youth involved in dependency court proceedings are entitled to effective legal representation, few studies have examined this issue from the perspective of those most impacted: foster youth and alumni. This exploratory study examined the perceptions of foster youth/alumni (N=100) about the legal representation they received while in out of home care. All participants were either currently or previously in foster care in one southeastern state in the United States. Results indicate that participants perceived a lack of quality communication and interaction with their legal representatives. No difference in these perceptions was found by reported permanency outcome or demographic trait, though analysis did reveal a positive relationship between overall foster care experience and perception of legal representation. After a review of relevant literature, this paper reports findings, outlines salient discussion points, and discusses implications derived from this study, including identifying apposite areas for future research. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina Michaela Deprince 2014 Michaela Mabunty DePrince (1995-2024) was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she was abandoned at a young age and tormented as a "devil child" for a skin condition that makes her skin appear spotted. But it was at the orphanage that Michaela would find a picture of a beautiful ballerina en pointe that would help change the course of her life. Michaela DePrince was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she was abandoned at a young age and tormented as a "devil child" for a skin condition that makes her skin appear spotted. But it was at the orphanage that Michaela would find a picture of a beautiful ballerina en pointe that would help change the course of her life. At the age of four, Michaela was adopted by an American family, who encouraged her love of dancing and enrolled her in classes. She went on to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre and is now the youngest principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She has appeared in the ballet documentary First Position, as well as on Dancing with the Stars, Good Morning America, and Nightline. In this engaging, moving, and unforgettable memoir, Michaela shares her dramatic journey from an orphan in West Africa to becoming one of ballet's most exciting rising stars. Michaela Mabunty DePrince tragically died September 10th 2024 at the age of 29 and her mother Elaine DePrince, who adopted her as a young girl, died Sept. 11 "during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery," according to a family statement shared on Facebook - the two deaths were not connected. To date no cause of death for Michaela has been shared. External Website

Radio & Podcast ‎John Lennon - Part 1: Composer of Longing on Apple Podcasts Personology ‎Show Personology, Ep John Lennon - Part 1: Composer of Longing - Apr 20, 2020 External Website

Authors V Vidal Sassoon: The Movie ➝ Back to Top

Authors N Isaac Newton ➝ Frank Norman ➝ Paul Nurse ➝ Charles Nalden CBE ➝ Back to Top

Authors S Orphans: A History ➝ Behind Closed Doors: Hidden Histories of Children Committed to Care in the Late Nineteenth Century (1882-1899) ➝ Care Less Lives - The story of the rights movement of young people in care ➝ Orphans Real and Imaginary ➝ A Home from Home? Children and Social Care in Victorian and Edwardian Britain, 1870-1920 ➝ What Works for Young People Leaving Care? ➝ Relinquished ➝ Leaving care (out of print) ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir While the Locust Slept Peter Razor 2002 Native American writer and electronic technician, Peter Razor (b. circa 1938) was in an orphanage during his childhood. Peter Razor was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. His mother, Mary, who suffered from depression, was sent to an asylum along with her hydrocephalic son, Leonard. Relatives collected Peter’s other brother, Arnold, but Peter was with his father who abandoned him. Peter was only 10 months old when he was made a ward of the state. He was “committed to the State Public School at Owatonna” 7 months later. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles BBC Teach - History KS3 / GCSE: Small Axe - Alex Wheatle and the Brixton Uprising Alex Wheatle 2020 Resource for History KS3 / GCSE: Small Axe - Alex Wheatle and the Brixton Uprising. This is the story of Alex Wheatle MBE, an award-winning writer for children and young adults who overcame a challenging start in life. Growing up in a children's home, Alex never knew his family, who were part of the Windrush generation that migrated to Britain after World War II in search of a better life, though it didn’t turn out that way for them. When Alex left the children's home and moved to Brixton, South London, he initially struggled to find his identity, having had little interaction with other Black people. In the 1980s, Brixton was rife with racial tension, worsened by events like the New Cross fire of January 1981, in which 13 young Black people died. The fire, believed by many to be a racist attack, was treated dismissively by the police. Tensions escalated with the police's controversial operation, Swamp 81, which targeted young Black men with widespread stop-and-search tactics. This led to the Brixton uprising on 10 April 1981, when the area descended into violent unrest. Alex was arrested during this time and served a prison sentence. In prison, he discovered his love for literature through the works of authors such as Chester Himes, Richard Wright, and John Steinbeck. This newfound passion set him on the path to becoming the acclaimed writer he is today. External Website

Writers Angela Carter 1940-1992 Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, née Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works. Carter was in kinship care as a child when she was evacuated to live in Yorkshire, with her maternal grandmother, where she suffered from anorexia for the majority of her teenage years. Nights at the Circus (1984), winner of the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of orphan Sophie Fevvers, a woman who is – or so she would have people believe – a Cockney virgin, hatched from an egg laid by unknown parents and ready to develop fully fledged wings. At the time of the story, she has become a celebrated aerialiste, and she captivates the young journalist Jack Walser, who runs away with the circus and falls into a world that his journalistic exploits had not prepared him to encounter. Nights at the Circus was the first to bring Angela Carter widespread acclaim. External Website

Non Fiction Listen up! Adult care leavers speak out: The views of 310 care leavers aged 17-78 Zachari Duncalf 2010 Listen Up! Adult Care Leavers Speak Out is a ground-breaking report. Based on a survey of 310 care leavers aged from 17 to 78 that took place in the autumn of 2009, it brings together for the first time a range of data that begins to reveal the experiences of care leavers throughout the life-course. In doing so, it meets one of the central aims of the Care Leavers' Association (CLA) - to give a voice to the experience of those who may have spent months or years in care as children, whether public, voluntary or private. Being 'heard' is the first step to being understood - and understanding is the first step to ensuring that the lessons of past experience are not forgotten. In this regard, some of the messages in Listen Up! may not be what the reader expects. External Website

Films/Videos James Bond Series The James Bond Series of films are based on a fictional character, James Bond, character by Ian Fleming. Fleming featured Bond in 12 novels and 2 short story collections. After Fleming died in 1964 other writers have authored Bond-inspired novels. James Bond or 007 has been adapted for a range of other media including video games and a comic strip. The films are famous for their music and the gadgets Bond uses. External Website