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Children's Non-fiction Oprah: The Little Speaker Carole Boston Weatherford 2010 At age three, Oprah began performing in churches, becoming known to adoring crowds as the Little Speaker. When she was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she answered, "I want to be paid to talk."Here is the story of Oprah Winfrey's childhood, a story about a little girl on a Mississippi pig farm with her grandfather who grew up to become one of the most famous women in the world. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Trumpet Jackie Kay 1998 Jackie Kay's debut novel, Trumpet, tells the story of fictional jazz artist, Joss Moody, a transgender man. It is not until his death that Joss' adopted son, Colman, finds out that Joss is a biological female. Disturbed by this, he seeks revenge by making a deal to write a 'tell all' book. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Mountain in My Shoe. Louise Beech 2016 After years of abuse, Bernadette makes the decision to leave her husband, only to find that he is missing … along with a little boy she’d befriended years earlier. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers. With the help of Conor’s foster mum, Bernadette must face her own past, her husband’s secrets and a future she never dared imagine in order to find them all. A psychological thriller and emotive examination of the meaning of family … and just how far we’re willing to go for the people we love. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors His dark materials / Philip Pullman. Philip Pullman 2001 Set against the dreaming spires of Jordan College and the dangerous wilderness of the frozen north, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy offers an intoxicating blend of imagination, science, theology and adventure. Northern Lights: Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle – a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears. The Subtle Knife: Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld – Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power. And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat – and the shattering truth of their own destiny. The Amber Spyglass: Will and Lyra, whose fates are bound together by powers beyond their own worlds, have been violently separated. But they must find each other, for ahead of them lies the greatest war that has ever been – and a journey to a dark place from which no one has ever returned . . . 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

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Her name was Jean: International Women's Day 2021 Jamie Crabb 2021 This is a reflective piece by Jamie Crabb to honor his birth mother Jean, and all care experienced women and birth parents who were harmed by failures in our society to support those who have experienced complex trauma. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Nothing Else Louise Beech 2022 Louise Beech's 8th novel created in lockdown, inspired by her own childhood care records, by the love she has for her sisters, and by the music she heard as a child when her father played. Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet. But Harriet is gone … she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again. When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance. She’ll read her recently released childhood care records by day – searching for clues to her sister’s disappearance – and play piano by night … coming to terms with the truth about a past she’s done everything to forget. An exquisitely moving novel about surviving devastating trauma, about the unbreakable bond between sisters, Nothing Else is also a story of courage and love, and the power of music to transcend – and change – everything. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Stone Girl Eleni Hale 2018 An unspeakable event changes everything for Sophie. No more Mum, school or bed of her own. She's made a ward of the state and grows up in a volatile world where kids make their own rules, adults don't count and the only constant is change. Until one day she meets Gwen, Matty and Spiral. Spiral is the most furious, beautiful boy Sophie has ever known. And as their bond tightens she finally begins to confront what happened in her past.I'm at the police station. There's blood splattered across my face and clothes. In this tiny room with walls the colour of winter sky I hug a black backpack full of treasures. Only one thing is certain . . . no one can ever forgive me for what I've done.Winner of the Readings YA Book Prize, 2019Voted the Best Young Adult Book of the year by Readings customersVoted Favourite YA Read of the year by Kids' Book ReviewVoted in the top 100 great reads by Australian womenShortlisted for New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature, 2019Contains mature content. Suitable for older readers. External Website

Children's Fiction The Boy Who Built a Wall Around Himself (4-9 years) Ali Redford 2015 Boy built a wall to keep himself safe. Behind it he felt strong and more protected. Then Someone Kind came along. She bounced a ball, sang and painted on the other side of the wall, and Boy began to wonder if life on the other side might be better after all. Written for children aged 4 to 9, this gentle full-colour picture book uses a simple metaphor to explain how children who have had painful or traumatic experiences can build barriers between themselves and other people. It will help children explore their feelings and encourage communication. External Website

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Cartoons Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ​ 2020 Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is set in a universe in which childhood imaginary friends take physical form and become real as soon as children imagine them. Once children outgrow them, friends are relocated to the titular orphanage, where they stay until other children adopt them. The home is run by the elderly Madame Foster, its lovable, kind founder; her rabbit imaginary friend Mr. Herriman, the strict rule-abider and business manager; and her granddaughter Frankie, who handles day-to-day operations. Because his mother believes he is too old for imaginary friends, eight-year-old Mac is pressured by her to abandon his imaginary friend, Bloo. When Mac takes Bloo to Foster's after seeing a television advertisement, they discover that if Bloo were to live there, he would be available to be adopted by another child. Mac then bargains with Frankie, Herriman, and Madame Foster until they agree to guard Bloo from adoption so long as Mac continues to visit the center daily. Mac continues to visit the home every day after school to experience the escapades of the mischievous Bloo and the array of eccentric, colorful characters inhabiting Foster's and the obstacles with which they are challenged. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Caging Skies Christine Leunens 2019 This extraordinary novel is seen through the eyes of Johannes, an avid member of the Hitler Youth in the 1940s. After he is severely injured in a raid, he discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa behind a false wall in their large house in Vienna. His initial horror turns to interest, then love and obsession. After the disappearance of his parents, Johannes finds he is the only one aware of Elsa's existence in the house, the only one responsible for her survival. Both manipulating and manipulated, Johannes dreads the end of the war: with it will come the prospect of losing Elsa and their relationship, which ranges through passion and obsession, dependence and indifference, love and hate.This gripping, masterful work examines truth and lies at both political and personal levels, laying bare the darkest corners of the human soul. External Website

Cartoons Sesame Street - Foster Care ​ 2019 Fostering a child takes patience, resilience, and sacrifice. Sesame Street in Communities has created new resources to help children in crisis cope with separation from their birth parents, placement in #fostercare, and possible reunions. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors The Quiet You Carry Nikki Barthelmess 2019 Victoria Parker knew her dad's behavior toward her was a little unusual, but she convinced herself everything was fine—until she found herself locked out of the house at 3:00 a.m., surrounded by flashing police lights. Now, dumped into a crowded, chaotic foster home, Victoria has to tiptoe around her domineering foster mother, get through senior year at a new school, and somehow salvage her college dreams . . . all while keeping her past hidden. But some secrets won't stay buried—especially when unwanted memories make Victoria freeze up at random moments and nightmares disrupt her sleep. Even worse, she can't stop worrying about her stepsister Sarah, left behind with her father. All she wants is to move forward, but how do you focus on the future when the past won't leave you alone? External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors David Copperfield: The Personal History of David Copperfield Charles Dickens et al. 2004 In David Copperfield - the novel Dickens described as his 'favourite child' - Dickens drew on his own experiences to create one of his most moving and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure. It is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a novelist External Website

Children's Fiction Little Women Louisa May Alcott 2014 The classic story of the four March sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy who are living with their mother while their father is away fighting in the American Civil War. Laurie, or Theordore Laurence, is in kinship care. A neighbour and friend, he is a teenage boy who has been living with his wealthy grandfather since his parents died. External Website

Children's Fiction Home For a While (4-8 years) Lauren Kerstein 2021 Natalia Moore (illustrator). Calvin is in foster care, and he wants to trust someone, anyone, but is afraid to open his heart. He has lived in a lot of houses, but he still hasn’t found his home. When he moves in with Maggie, she shows him respect, offers him kindness, and makes him see things in himself that he’s never noticed before. Maybe this isn’t just another house, maybe this is a place Calvin can call home, for a while. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Family likeness Caitlin Davies 2013 In a small Kent town in the 1950s, a bewildered little girl is growing up. Ostracised because of her colour, she tries her best to fit in, but nobody wants anything to do with her. A nanny climbs the steps of a smart London address. She’s convinced that her connection to the family behind the door is more than professional. And on the walls of an English stately home, amongst the family portraits, hangs an eighteenth-century oil painting of a mysterious black woman in a silk gown. In ways both poignant and unexpected, the three lives are intertwined in a heartbreaking story of prejudice and motherless children, of chances missed, of war time secrets and the search for belonging... External Website

Children's Fiction Tales of the Weird, the Wild and the Wonderful Sophie Willan 2017 Tales of the Weird, the Wild and the Wonderful is the first of its kind: a dazzling collection of short stories, jam-packed with rambunctious characters on daring adventures written exclusively by Care Leavers for children. Discover why Franny Georgette Tinkleboom has been travelling around the world in a van that has giant mouse ears... And why Spike, the most mischievous hedgehog in Rivington Pike, keeps wandering off into the dark night... And what happens when you drink a wicked orange potion like Alicia Moonfall... Includes a foreword by Lemn Sissay External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Challenging the Over-Representation of Care Experienced Women in Prison Fitzpatrick.C., Hunter. K 2021 Despite popular perceptions continuing to link care experience with troublesome behaviour, just 1% of children enter care because of ‘socially unacceptable behaviour’. However, women who have been in care as children (for example, in foster care or children’s homes) have long been over-represented in the criminal justice system. Whilst only 1% of the general population have been in care, estimates suggest that this is the case for 31% of adult females in custody. This figure is very likely to be an underestimate because of the difficulties in identifying past care experience amongst those in prison. External Website