Search Results

Fiction featuring Care Experience Auē Becky Manawatu 2019 Auē (2019) by New Zealand writer Becky Manawatu begins with 8-year-old Arama being delivered to his new home with Aunt Kat and awful Uncle Stu. It’s his 17-year-old brother, Taukiri, who is dropping Ari off. Taukiri, we find out, is disappointed in himself because he's abandoned his brother. He, too, is grieving the loss of his parents, and is homeless. Auē—which is a Maori word meaning “to cry, howl, groan, wail, bawl”—is Becky Manawatu’s first novel. It has won several awards, including the 2020 Jann Medicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, and was New Zealand’s best selling novel in 2020 and 2021. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Bridge of Clay Markus Zusak 2019 The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules. A family of ramshackle tragedy - their mother is dead, their father has fled - they love and fight, and learn to reckon with the adult world. It is Clay, the quiet one, who will build a bridge; for his family, for his past, for his sins. He builds a bridge to transcend humanness. To survive. A miracle and nothing less. External Website

Children's Fiction The Illustrated Mum Jacqueline Lawrence Wilson et al. 2015 Dolphin adores her mother, Marigold who was in care as a child. She’s got wonderful clothes, bright hair, and vivid tattoos all over her body—a colorful lady, to match her colorful life. But Dolphin’s older sister, Star, is beginning to wonder if living with Marigold’s fiery, unpredictable moods is the best thing for the girls. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles AOM (Australian Orphanage Museum) AOM ​ CLAN (Care Leavers Australasia Network) hosted the official opening – by the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Marles - of the Australian Orphanage Museum (AOM) on Saturday 1 April 2023. The AOM is located at 351 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, and features photographs and memorabilia donated by Australian Care Leavers as well as by organisations that ran orphanages around the country. The collection is also being digitised. External Website

Children's Fiction The Star Outside My Window (8-11 years) Onjali Q. Rauf 2019 I've always wanted to be a Star Hunter. But I don't want to be the kind that looks for old stars that have already been burning for millions of years. I want to find the brand new ones - the ones that have only just been born and are searching for the people they've left behind...' Following the disappearance of her mum, 10-year-old Aniyah suddenly finds herself living in foster care. With her life in disarray, she knows just one thing for sure: her mum isn't gone for ever. Because people with the brightest hearts never truly leave. They become stars. So when a new star is spotted acting strangely in the sky, Aniyah is sure it's her mum, and she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to make sure everyone else knows too -- an adventure that involves breaking into the Royal Observatory of London, a mischievous scurry of squirrels and the biggest star in Hollywood... Told through the innocent voice of a child, this is a story that explores the subtle faces and endless impacts of domestic violence, and celebrates the power of hope and resilience, from Onjali Rauf, the award-winning author of The Boy at the Back of the Class. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Nights at the Circus Angela Carter 1984 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

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Brixton Rock Alex Wheatle 2004 Brenton Brown is a 16-year old mixed race youth who has lived in a children's home all his life. He has never met his mother and is haunted by her loss. The best thing happens: Brenton is reunited with his mother, Cynthia. And then the worst: he falls in love with his beautiful half-sister, Juliet. At the same time, Brenton meets his Nemesis in the shape of Terry Flynn, a South London gangster who scars him for life. Brenton vows to seek revenge leads to an explosive climax, set against the music, humour and Caribbean rhythms of life that survive within the troubled South London landscape of 198's Brixton. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Bitter Wash Road Garry Disher 2013 Bitter Wash Road is the first of 3 books featuring Paul Hirschhausen, a detective who has been demoted and relocated to a small country town as punishment for testifying against corrupt colleagues. In this book, Hirschausen uncovers a story of powerful men sexually abusing teenagers, including girls in the care of the South Australian state. The second in the series, Peace (2019), includes a young woman from Bitter Wash Road as part of the recurring cast of characters. Gemma was in foster care for a while but she now works languidly in the local store yet is brilliant in a crisis. The 3rd of the series, Consolation, also includes a child protection story, this one about a girl being locked in a caravan by her stepmother. In the 4th of the series, Day's End (2022), Disher includes Petra Osmak and Scott Greig, both of whom were raised in kinship care and both of whom are involved in disdainful activities. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Foster (novella) Claire Keegan 2010 A small girl is sent to live with her mother's people on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. And then a secret is revealed, and suddenly, she realizes how fragile her idyll is. Winner of the Davy Byrnes Memorial Prize, Foster is now published in a revised and expanded version. Beautiful, sad and eerie, it is a story of astonishing emotional depth, showcasing Claire Keegan's great accomplishment and talent. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 James Bond, a fictional character is orphaned at the age of 11 when his parents are killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix. After the death of his parents, Bond goes to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in the village of Pett Bottom, where he completes his early education. Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. Published in 1953, it is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors. External Website

Children's Fiction Fosterboy Rhian Taylor 2020 Two Children. One Home. Nothing in Common. When eleven-year-old Phoenix finds his Mother unconscious from a drug overdose he has a choice. ‘Never call the services,’ his Mum had always told him. They had already run away from social services once. Phoenix knows he could end up in foster care if he calls 999. Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Sasha is also confused. When her parents announce they want to become foster carers, they ask for Sasha’s consent. Already under pressure from her high achieving family, Sasha doesn’t want a strange child living with them. Parents, however, can be very persuasive. Aimed at the teenage/young adult market, Fosterboy does contain some occasional strong language, reflecting the reality of young people's lives today. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles The Curious Fate of Care Leavers in Crime Fiction Sarah Hilary 2022 Sarah Hilary writes of her recent Book Club event with Care Experience & Culture and how crime writers using the plot device of care leavers is actually somebody else's reality: "a recent interview with the Care Experience in Culture Project highlighted for me how often writers fall into the trap of creating care leavers who are either irredeemably damaged or possessed of super-powers." External Website

Artists Barbara Weir ​ ​ Barbara (originally Florrie) Weir (born c. 1945) is an Australian Aboriginal artist and politician. One of the Stolen Generations, she was removed from her Aboriginal family and raised in a series of foster homes. In the 1970s Weir returned to her family territory of Utopia, 300 kilometres (190 mi) northeast of Alice Springs. She became active in the local land rights movement of the 1970s and was elected the first woman president of the Indigenous Urapunta Council in 1985. After starting to paint in her mid-forties, she also gained recognition as a notable artist of Central Australia. She also managed the artistic career of her own mother, Minnie Pwerle, who was also a noted artist. External Website

Children's Fiction Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech 2019 Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Crooked Heart Lissa Evans 2019 When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thiry-six, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team. Together they cook up an idea. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all . . External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Honeybee Craig Silvey 2020 Criag Silvey's Honeybee (2020) is the story about how a time in informal foster care is transformative for 14 year old Sam Watson. Sam Watson is saved from a fatal jump by an elderly man who also wants to kill himself. Vic takes Sam home and the friendships Sam makes while living with Vic provide the acceptance and nurturing that enable Sam to deal with past trauma and embrace their identity as trans. External Website

Children's Fiction Midnight Jacqueline Sharratt Wilson et al. 2008 Violet has always been in the shadow of her mesmerising, controlling brother Will, and when a shocking secret about Will's past is revealed (that he is adopted) things get even worse. Violet retreats further into her own fantasy world, built around the fairy characters created by her favourite author, Casper Dream. The arrival of a new girl at school, Jasmine, seems like it might change Violet's life for the better. But is Jasmine a true friend? And will Violet ever manage to break free of Will's spell? External Website

Children's Fiction The Sound of Everything Rebecca Normal 2021 Shipped from foster home to foster home, frequently betrayed, and having “never had a dad that I could call Daddy”, it’s no wonder Kadie (aka Goldilocks) has trust issues. The only thing she’s sure of in this world is music - listening to it, and creating it. It’s the “only thing that keeps my head straight.” To protect herself, she’s set out three rules: “1. Don’t count on anyone. 2. Act. Always act. 3. Be prepared to lose everything.” Constantly in trouble at school, though told she has potential, Kadie bonds with a boy called Lips, aka Dayan, the name he reserves for use by special people, of which Kadie is one. Dayan records with his AMD mandem (Amalgamandem) and she’s happy to be invited to hang out with them, while remaining ever-mindful of the fickleness of group dynamics: “one day you’re in the group, the next you’re invisible.” But, just as things start to take an upturn, everything explodes in the aftermath of hideous online trolling and trouble with her foster sister. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Akin Emma Donoghue 2020 Akin explores kinship care. Noah Selvaggio is a retired chemistry professor and widower living on the Upper West Side, but born in the South of France. He is days away from his first visit back to Nice since he was a child, bringing with him a handful of puzzling photos he's discovered from his mother's wartime years. But he receives a call from social services: Noah is the closest available relative of an eleven-year-old great-nephew he's never met, who urgently needs someone to look after him. Out of a feeling of obligation, Noah agrees to take Michael along on his trip. The unlikely duo, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, bicker about everything from steak frites to screen time. But Noah gradually comes to appreciate the boy's truculent wit, and Michael's ease with tech and sharp eye help Noah unearth troubling details about their family's past. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Billy Connolly: ‘I’ve been scared my whole life’ Billy Connolly 2021 Billy Connolly: ‘I’ve been scared my whole life’ The comedian recalls his early years in an exclusive extract from his new autobiography. "When I was told I was going to live with my aunts and my Uncle James, I was delighted. The children’s home scared me. Everything scared me after my mother left. And I’ve gone on being scared my whole life.” Billy Connolly on the impact care can have. External Website