Autobiography/Memoir The God Squad Paddy Doyle 1988 In 1988, Irish disability activist Paddy Doyle (1951-2020) published his memoir, The God Squad, about being sent to live in St Michael's Industrial School run by the Sisters of Mercy in Cappoquin, Counter Waterford. Paddy Doyle talks in The God Squad of being so badly abused at St Michael's that he was left with psychosomatic condiitions and confined to a wheelchair from the age of 10. The God Squad was groundbreaking, an immediate best-seller which won the Dublin Lord Mayor's Award, the Sunday Tribune Arts Award for Literature and the Christy Brown Award for Literature. Dermot Bolger, who published The God Squad, said the book "played a part in transforming Ireland." External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Almost 70 mass unmarked child graves discovered by ITV News investigation into mother and baby homes Sarah Corker 2025 An ITV News investigation has revealed that 67 babies who died at Hopedene Maternity Home, a Salvation Army institution for unmarried mothers in Newcastle (1950–1973), were buried in mass unmarked graves, often without their families' knowledge. Testimonies describe the home as cruel and prison-like, with forced labour, lack of care, and a high infant mortality rate, prompting renewed calls for a government apology over Britain’s forced adoption scandal. External Website

Television Shows Holiday Secrets 2019 Holiday Secrets is a 2019 German limited series which explores the relationships between 3 generations of women. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Eva has raised her 2 granddaughters while her daughter Sonja has been living overseas and struggling with an addiction to alcohol. External Website

Radio & Podcast The Sunday Read: 'The Blind Side' Made Him Famous. But He Has a Different Story to Tell The Daily 2024 Michael Oher was born in 1986 into a very large and poor African American family in Memphis, Tennessee and became a Ward of the State at some point in his young life. Michael Oher is the subject of a 2009 book by Michael Lewis and the 2009 movie, The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock. He published his own book in 2011. In this The Daily podcast, American journalist Michael Sokolove discusses the fact that Michael Oher is currently suing the Tuohy family, the family who took him in and encouraged him to play professional football. According to Michael Oher, the Tuohys claimed they had adopted him. They never did. Instead, they had a conservatorship agreement, taken out in 2004 when Michael was 18. The conservatorship was ended in 2023. Michael Oher is also alleging the Tuohys exploited the football star, using him to promote their speaking engagements over the years which have earned them around $8 million. External Website

Television Shows Lessons in Chemistry (TV Series) 2023 Lessons in Chemistry (2023) is an American drama adapted from the eponymous novel by Bonnie Gamus. Elizabeth Zott is a lab technician at the Hasting Research Research Institute during the 1950s. Because she is a woman, she is not allowed to develop her own chemistry research projects. Elizabeth becomes friends with Dr Calvin Evans, who is a star research chemistry researcher at the institute. We find out during the course of the series that Calvin Evans was in a boy’s home as a child. External Website

Children's Fiction Peter and Lotta's Christmas Elsa Beskow 2021 Peter and Lotta’s first Christmas with Aunt Green, Aunt Brown, Aunt Lavender, and Uncle Blue is full of magic — decorated trees, gingerbread, and gifts from the mysterious Christmas Goat. The children try to uncover the real source of the presents and prepare their own gifts for their adoptive family. On Christmas Eve, their thoughtfulness is unexpectedly rewarded. A warm, humorous tale by Elsa Beskow, it highlights Swedish festive traditions, neighbourliness, and the gentle adventures of two orphans finding family. Originally published 1929 this is part of a series of books about Peter and Lotta. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Death of an Avid Reader Frances Brody 2014 Book 6 in the Kate Shackleton mysteries. Kate Shackleton's sterling reputation for courageous sleuthing attracts the attention of the venerable Lady Coulton. Hidden in her past is a daughter, born out of wedlock and given up to a different family. Now, Lady Coulton is determined to find her and puts Kate on the case. External Website

Authors E Life After Care: From Lost Cause to MBE ➝ Detained: A boy's journal of survival and resilience ➝ Love Child ➝ Born To Survive: You Can't Break A Broken heart ➝ The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano ( ➝ Back to Top

Performing Arts singer, songwriter, record producer, composer Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He was born in Pennsylvania. After his parents divorced, he went to live with his maternal grandparents. While in high school he joined a band. He is the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until 2016.He has contributed to the albums of artists such as Marilyn Manson, whom he mentored, and rapper Saul Williams. Alongside his wife Mariqueen Maandig and long-time Nine Inch Nails collaborators Atticus Ross and Rob Sheridan, he formed the post-industrial group How to Destroy Angels in 2009.Reznor and Ross scored David Fincher's films The Social Network (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), and Mank (2020). They won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The duo also scored the films Patriots Day (2016), mid90s, Bird Box (both 2018), Waves (2019) and Soul (2020), the documentaries Before the Flood (2016) and The Vietnam War (2017), and the TV series Watchmen (2019), winning a Primetime Emmy Award for the lattermost. In 1997, Reznor appeared on Time's list of the year's most influential people, and Spin magazine described him as "the most vital artist in music". External Website

Sport Colin Kaepernick Colin Kaepernick African American Colin Kaepernick (b. 1987) was adopted into a white family when he was a baby. He moved with his family from Wisconsin to California at the age of 4 and began playing sport at the age of 8. In high school he played football, basketball and baseball and excelled in all codes. Wanting to play football, he accepted a scholarship from the University of Nevada in 2006 and he began playing professional football in 2011. He played with the San Francisco 49ers for 6 years. Colin Kaepernick is the recipient of many awards including a 2018 WEB Du Bois Medal from Harvard University. External Website

Films/Videos Orphans (1987) 1987 Orphans is a 1987 American drama film directed by Alan J. Pakula. Written by Lyle Kessler, based on his 1983 play of the same name, the film follows two orphaned brothers as they navigate life on their own. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Run Ann Patchett 2008 Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving possessive and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his adoptive sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children--all his children--safe. External Website

Authors W The Boxcar Children Mysteries ➝ My Bright Shining Star ➝ Dustbin Baby ➝ My Mum Tracy Beaker ➝ Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things ➝ Home Girl ➝ Tales of the Weird, the Wild and the Wonderful ➝ Midnight ➝ Hetty Feather (novel) ➝ Uprising ➝ The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries ➝ The Illustrated Mum ➝ We Are The Beaker Girls ➝ Back to Top

Biography of Care Experienced People Belle: The Slave Daughter and The Lord Chief Justice Paula Byrne 2014 Belle (2013) is a British film inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804) who was born to an enslaved woman and a captain of the British Royal Navy. British writer Paula Byrne was commissioned to write a biography of Dido Elizabeth Belle and the book was published to coincide with the release of the film. Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804) was born into slavery. Her father, Captain John Lindsay of the British Royal Navy, took Dido with him when he returned to England in 1765 and left her to be raised by his uncle Willam and aunt Elizabeth. The Earl and Countess of Mansfield lived at Kenwood House in Hampstead. They were already raising another great-niece, Lady Eliabeth Murray. Dido Elizabeth Belle lived at Kenwood House for 31 years. Because so little is know about Dido’s life, for her book Paula Byrne included information about slavery and the position of women in the 18th century. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Old Curiosity Shop Charles Dickens et al. 1840 13 year old Nell Trent, an orphan, is in kinship care with her grandfather; the two live together in the Old Cuiosity Shop in London. Little Nell quickly became one of Dickens' most celebrated characters, who so captured the imagination of his readers that while the novel was being serialised, many of them wrote to him about her fate. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory: A Memoir Corey White 2019 Corey White was a golden child. He knew this because his father would hit his mother and his sisters but not him. And his mother adored him so much she let him drop out of primary school. After losing his father to jail and his mother to heroin, he became a target for cruelty and dysfunction in foster homes. A scholarship to a prestigious boarding school lifted him out of foster care and awakened a love of learning and reading for him, but this was soon overwhelmed by a crushing depression and drug addiction.The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory is a memoir of trauma and survival that will break your heart and then show you how to rebuild it. It is a powerful, lyrical and darkly funny debut from one of Australia's brightest young comedians. External Website

Authors H Robert House ➝ Lonnie Holley ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley Henry Morton Stanley Stanley et al. 2010 This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. It tells the story of John Rowlands who was in kinship care, foster care and the workhouse in Wales before he made his way to America as a cabin boy. External Website

Television Shows Bordertown 2016 In this Finnish crime drama, one of the featured characters, Katia, founds out as a teenager that she was adopted. Her mother says she 'saved' her as a baby while, as a police officer, involved in a drug raid. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Northern Territory Stolen Generations survivor William Tilmouth wins top honour at 2025 Human Rights Awards ABC News 2025 Stolen Generations legendary figure, William Tilmouth, has been honoured with the 2025 Human Rights Medal for his lifelong work in advocating for First Nations Australians. Write ABC journalists Tilda Colling & Grace Atta: “Mr Tilmouth's win means he's joined the ranks of some of Australia's most influential figures, including ophthalmologist Fred Hollows and land rights trailblazer Eddie Mabo, who was awarded the medal posthumously.” External Website