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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

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Performing Arts Singer, dancer, actress, activist Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn an American singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. Horne was raised mainly by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. Her father, Edwin Fletcher "Teddy" Horne Jr. (1893–1970), left the family when she was 3 years old and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Edna Louise Scottron (1894–1976), was the granddaughter of inventor Samuel R. Scottron. She was an actress with a black theater troupe and travelled extensively. Horne's career spanned over 70 years, appearing in film, television, and theater. She belonged to the upper stratum of middle-class, well-educated black people. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Beulah Augusta Jane Evans 1857 Beulah Benton follows orphaned Beulah, who moves from an asylum to the care of a distant guardian. Facing prejudice and instability, she struggles for belonging, independence, and self-worth, showing how orphaned children navigate care, vulnerability, and resilience ... though it did not overtly deal with slavery, the novel served as an expression of and an apology for southern values and customs. External Website

Writers Walter Scott 1771-1832 Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright, and historian. Walter Scott was born to a solicitor and the daughter of a doctor in Edinburgh in 1771. At 18 months, Walter contracted infantile paralysis (or polio) and was lame for the rest of his life. Because of his ill health, the boy was sent to live with his paternal grandparents at Sandknowe Farm, in the hope that being out of the city would improve his health. He stayed there until he began school. Scott is respected for his lively historical romances and the other genres he inaugurated, for example, the ‘nautical novel’. He died in 1832 External Website

Television Shows Shadow and Bone 2021 Alina Starkov grew up in an orphanage. After she grows up and becomes a soldier, she discovers that she can "summon the light", an ability that means some powerful people take an interest in her. The fantasy series is based on Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse books and the world of Ravka. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir A Tuesday Thing Kate Shayler 2004 The heartwarming sequel to The Long Way Home. A Tuesday Thing starts with a young adult Kate striving to be accepted as normal among her peers. Lacking the confidence, her dreams and expectations of ever becoming a member of a real family seem to evaporate. She starts an early childhood course at university but just as her teaching career brings her joy and new challenges, the dark secrets from her past resurface and Kate must face her demons - particularly the father who robbed her of a childhood but at the same time never stopped loving her. External Website

Films/Videos Surviving the Storm 2019 Surviving the Storm is a personal journey all about survival. In this video Jennie Matthias looks back at her time in the care system and her introduction to showbiz. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles A ladder to the stars: Ian Dickson’s reflections on 70 years of the care system Ian Dickson 2022 A ladder to the stars: Ian Dickson’s reflections on 70 years of the care system Between January and July 2022, Article 39’s Director, Carolyne Willow, and Ian Dickson held a series of conversations over Zoom to record his reflections on growing up in care, and how he has devoted his adult life to making sure children are loved, valued and can fulfil their dreams. Ian Dickson 16 February 1950 - 31 December 2022 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

Films/Videos ANNA 2019 In ANNA (2019), Anna Poliatova is orphaned after a car crash, and is in an abusive relationship, addicted to drugs. Recruited by the KGB and later manipulated by the CIA, she is used as an expendable asset under the illusion of rescue and purpose. External Website

Authors A Ten Things Every Foster Child Wishes You Knew: A Guide to Fostering Hope ➝ Stella's Story ➝ Abby's Story ➝ We Were Once a Family ➝ Eden's Story ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir Black by Design: A 2-Tone Memoir Pauline Black 2012 Born in 1953 to Anglo-Jewish and Nigerian parents, Pauline Black was adopted by a white working-class family in Romford. Feeling out of place, she sought an escape from her small-town upbringing and found her true calling in music. As the lead singer of the platinum-selling band The Selecter, Pauline Black became the Queen of British Ska. The only woman in a male-dominated movement, she toured alongside The Specials, Madness, and Dexy’s Midnight Runners at the height of their fame—often witnessing their wildest moments firsthand. From childhood to stardom, from music to acting and broadcasting, and from adoption to the search for her birth parents, Black by Design is a compelling and insightful journey through identity, race, family, and the power of music. External Website

Television Shows The Last of Us 2023 The Last of Us (2023) is an American post-apocalyptic drama series based on the eponymous video game franchise. Set decades after the collapse of society, the 1st season follows Joel (Pedro) as he smuggles a 14 year old teenager, Ellie (Bella Ramsay), across the United States. Ellie is immune to the fungal infection which has devasted society. Therefore, she might be the key to creating a much needed vaccine. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 2014 Jane Eyre, novel by Charlotte Brontë, first published in 1847 as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, with Currer Bell (Brontë’s pseudonym) listed as the editor. Widely considered a classic, it gave new truthfulness to the Victorian novel with its realistic portrayal of the inner life of a woman, noting her struggles with her natural desires and social condition. A gothic novel, it opens with Jane, an orphaned, isolated ten-year-old, living with the Reed family that dislikes her. She is later sent to the austere Lowood Institution, a charity school, where she and the other girls are mistreated; “Lowood,” as the name suggests, is the “low” point in Jane’s young life. In the face of such adversity, however, she gathers strength and confidence. She grows in strength, excels at school, becomes a governess, and falls in love with Edward Rochester. After being deceived by him, Jane goes to Marsh End, where she regains her spirituality and discovers her own strength. By novel's end, Jane is a strong, independent woman. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre still raises relevant questions to readers today.Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Meet Karen Menzies, Australia's first Indigenous Matilda Karen Menzies 2021 Karen Menzies was taken from her parents when she was an eight month old baby and made a ward of the state. She was raised by a loving non-Aboriginal family in Sydney, who thought they had adopted her, but when she was 13, Karen ended up in institutions, including a girls' home in suburban Newcastle where she was encouraged to play soccer. Karen didn't find out about her Aboriginal heritage until she was 16. When she was selected to play soccer for Australia in 1983, she was the first Indigenous woman to do so. Karen is now a lecturer at the University of Newcastle and is a member of Football Australia's first Indigenous Advisory Group. External Website

Writers Norman Lewis 1908-2003 (John Frederick) Norman Lewis (1908 – 2003) was an influential British journalist and a prolific author. He was born in Enfield, north London but sent away to Wales to stay with three aunts because he was bullied at school. By his mid-20’s, travelling and writing were Lewis’ primary occupations and he published Spanish Adventure in 1935, and Sand and Sea in Arabia in 1938, the beginning of his travel writing. In 1959, Lewis was working for the Sunday Times and MI6, as was Ian Fleming. Fleming sent Lewis to Cuba where he met the model for James Bond, Ed Scott. The meeting with Scott was observed by Graham Greene, who recorded it in his novel, Our Man in Havana (1958). On the same trip, Lewis met Ernest Hemingway, who, apparently, taught Lewis “more than I wanted to know.” Norman Lewis also wrote an autobiography in several volumes and around 12 novels. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Entitlement Rumaan Alam 2024 Entitlement (2024) by American writer, Rumaan Alam, is a novel about money and morality. The protagonist is Brooke, a young African American woman who was adopted by a white woman. Brooke doesn’t need anything, but she wants a lot, including to impress her mother. She takes on a job helping an elderly billionaire given away his huge fortune and it’s not long before she decides she should be the recipient of that fortune. External Website

Films/Videos Louis Theroux: Saville 2016 In 2000, British-American documentary maker, Louis Theroux (b. 1970) spent 3 months or so working with the infamous Jimmy Savile (1926-2011) on a documentary about the English media personality, When Louis Met Jimmy (2000) 15 years later, he set out to find out why he was so ‘gullible’, so taken in by Savile that he missed the truth of Savile’s longstanding criminal behaviour. Louis Theroux: Savile (2016) is the result. The film includes interviews with those who were victims of Savile, including Kat who was in state care while at boarding school. It also includes interviews with those who knew and worked with Savile, some of whom still find it hard to believe Savile’s behaviour. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Predators' Paradise. A Journey of Survival and Resilience Glen Fisher 2019 Predators' Paradise: A Journey of Survival and Resilence is the story of Glen Fisher's childhood in and of boys homes and foster care in Sydney where he was physically and sexually abused. Glen Fisher has overcome a heroin addiction, assisted police in abusers being brought to justice, given evidence at key inquiries, and now provides support for Forgotten Australians and survivors of child sexual abuse. External Website