Search Results

Autobiography/Memoir Life After Care: From Lost Cause to MBE Mark Edwards 2017 In this book, we follow Mark's journey with anxiety, panic attacks and depression, and we learn about the enduring impact his childhood had on his mental health.His diary entries bring to life the thoughts and feelings of Mark, as a teenager, struggling to understand how he came to be placed in care, and how to deal with his adolescent feelings of loss and love.On the verge of breakdown, Mark tried to take his own life and he was sectioned under the mental health act. We follow his journey from local authority care to the wards of a crumbling Victorian psychiatric asylum, and beyond into life on the streets. External Website

Television Shows Alex Rider 2020 Based on the Alex Rider novels by Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider is a British spy thriller. London teenager, Alex Rider, who has been living with his uncle since his parents died, is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 upon the death of his uncle. Alex's job in Series 1 is to infiltrate a 'reform' school for wayward rich kids. In the 2nd series, he doesn't have a formal role but does much of 'The Department's' work for them. There is an additional orphan character in Series 2, Kyra Vashenko-Chao, who is a skilled gamer, hacker and programmer (reminiscent of Lisbeth Salander of the Dragon Tatoo). At one point Kyra suggests that she and Alex form "an orphan club". He counters by saying they need a 'survivors club'. Kyra is not a character in the books by Anthony Horowitz, but appears to be an innovation of the screenwriter for the series. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The White Crow Michael Robotham 2025 The White Crow (2025) by Australian crime writer, Michael Robotham, features a child who is displaced from her family after the murder of her mother. We learn about 5-year-old Daisy early in the novel as PC Philomena McCarthy sees her on the street alone one night when she is out on patrol. Daisy spends the night with PC McCarthy (the social worker is awful) before she moves in with family friend Amber. At the end of the novel it is still not decided with whom Daisy will live but Amber is now out of the question. 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

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Alone in the world | The Spectator Philip Hensher 2018 A review of Jeremy Seabrook's book, Orphans: A History External Website

Films/Videos The Hurricane 1999 African American professional boxer and activist, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (1937-2014), was in a boys' home as a child. Rubin Carter was born in Clifton, New Jersey, 1 of 7 children. He was 11 when he stabbed a man and was sent to Jamesburg State Home for Boys. He escaped after 6 years and enlisted in the army, where he did well. Rubin Carter began his boxing career in 1961. He and another man were convicted of murder in 1967, but the convictions were formally dismissed in 1988. This story is told in The Hurricane (1999) and Rubin Cartin is played by Denzel Washington. The film also tells something of the story of Lesra Martin. Martin was born in 1963. Illiterate at the age of 15, he moved in with 3 Canadians, read the 16th Round by Rubin Carter, wrote to Carter in prison, and - along with his foster family - helped to find the evidence that eventually led to Carter's conviction being overturned. Lesra Martin went on to become a lawyer and motivational speaker. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Battle For Christabel Margaret Forster 2004 Rowena wants a baby. What she doesn't want is the baby's father. Yet five years after the birth of Christabel, Rowena is dead, tragically killed in a climbing accident. The battle for Christabel has begun...With signature skill, Margaret Forster reveals the conflicting personal interests that lie behind each character’s claim on the child. Drawn from the perspectives of social workers, grandparents, lovers and foster-mothers, this novel is a remarkable and heartfelt exploration of the complexities of motherhood. External Website

Films/Videos The Children's Train 2024 The Children’s Train (2024) is an Italian film based on the eponymous novel by Viola Ardone. In 1946, Antonietta, an impoverished single mother, arranges for her only child, her son Amerigo, to travel from Naples to northern Italy to live with a host family in Modena. This was part of the ‘trains of happiness’ initiative organized by the Italian Communist Part to support poor southern families after WWII. Amerigo reluctantly joins the ‘trains of happiness’. After he returns home, Amerigo decides he is better off with Derna in Modena and he takes the train back to her. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Leatherstocking Tales James Fenimore Cooper 1841 The Leathingstocking Tales is a series of 5 novels featuring Natty Bumppo who is a white man raised by Delaware Indians and educated by members of a Protestant church, the Moravians. He is a courageous warrior with a number of nicknames, including Hawkeye. One of Cooper's stories featuring Natty Bumppo, "The Last of the Mohicans" has been adapted for film several times. Some historians believe that Nathaniel Shipman, who was a close friend of the Mohican Indians, was the inspiration for Natty Bumppo. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir An Autobiography Anthony Trollope 1883 Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) His autobiography, despite causing him problems with critics after his death for his attitudes to writing, is considered one of the most significant autobiographies of its period. Trollope was poor and bullied at Harrow and Winchester schools with no money & no friends; he fantasised about suicide. At 12 his mother Frances, moved to America with Trollope's three younger siblings. Her husband Thomas Trollope joined them for a short time but Anthony stayed in England throughout. His mother returned in 1831 and rapidly made a name for herself as a writer, soon earning a good income. His father's affairs, however, went from bad to worse. And in 1834, he fled to Belgium to avoid arrest for debt. The whole family moved to a house near Bruges, where they lived entirely on Frances's earnings. Anthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day. External Website

Authors C Rubin Carter ➝ Back to Top

Artists Louise Allen (artist) ➝ Barbara Weir ➝ Rachael Romero ➝ Yusuf P McCormack ➝ Angel De Cora ➝ Robi Walters ➝ Arshile Gorky ➝ Frank Auerbach - artist ➝ Maria Amidu ➝ Marina Abramović ➝ Ivan Durrant ➝ John Callahan (artist) ➝ Al's Art ➝ Jade Green ➝ Vincent Namatjira ➝ Terri Broughton ➝ Henry Darger ➝ Samuel Robin Spark ➝ Niki de Saint Phalle ➝ Ralph Fasanella ➝ Melissa Gilbert ➝ Goldie (artist) ➝ Edmonia Lewis ➝ Robert House ➝ Lonnie Holley ➝ Leonardo da Vinci ➝ Michelangelo ➝ Madge Gill ➝ Back to Top

Behind the Scenes Louis Esson (Australian theatre) Australian playwright, poet, journalist and critic, Louis Esson (1878-1943) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved with his mother to Melbourne, Australia when he was 3. For most of his childhood in Melbourne, Louis lived with his aunts and uncles, only visiting his mother during school holidays. In the 1920s, Esson was a co-founder of the Pioneer Players, a theatre company dedicated to the performance of Australian plays. Although the Pioneer Players survived only 4 years, Louis Esson is widely regarded as the ‘father of Australian drama’. External Website

Authors R At a cost ➝ A Hole in the World: An American Boyhood?Tenth Anniversary Edition ➝ Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music ➝ Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt ➝ The Women Who Raised Me ➝ The Rale Rasic Story ➝ Three Little Words ➝ Our Fathers Cleared the Bush: Remembering Eyre Peninsula ➝ Touch Wood: A Girlhood in Occupied France ➝ The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell ➝ While the Locust Slept ➝ The Life of Riley ➝ The Continuing Education of the Artist as a Mature Woman ➝ The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau ➝ Orphanage Boy ➝ Back to Top

Television Shows The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (tv show) 2023 The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is an Amazon series starring Sigourney Weaver and Alicia Debnam-Carey and based on the novel by Australian Holly Ringland. Set in Australia, the series is centred on a flower farm specialising in Australian natives. The women on the farm create bouquets which have a meaning developed over generations. The farm also provides a refuge for women who’ve been battered by men. As well, there is a young woman who was taken in as a baby, and an orphaned girl who is being raised by her grandmother. External Website

Writers AUTHORS Y External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Who We Are Who Cares Scotland A look at the representation of Care Experienced People in fictional and news media over time. External Website

Writers Valerie Mason-John 1962- Dr. Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John (b.1962) is a public speaker, mindfulness teacher, author and the co-founder of Eight Step Recovery. She was in English orphanages and foster care as a child, with the exception of a short period back with her mother when she was a teenager. Valerie went on to become a journalist and performer, and was the artistic director of the London Mardi Gras from 1997 to 2000. She was also director of the Pride Arts Festival for 4 years. She is the author of the award winning "Borrowed Body", a novel informed by her experiences in care, and she has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East London. Valerie is co-founder of "Eight Step Recovery - Using The Buddha's Teaching to Overcome Addiction." She is the author of the award winning "Borrowed Body", a novel informed by her experiences in care, and she has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East London. Valerie is co-founder of "Eight Step Recovery - Using The Buddha's Teaching to Overcome Addiction." External Website

Plays & Musicals featuring Care Exp Standing at the Sky's Edge Chris Bush and Richard Hawley 2019 Three interlinked stories about living on the Park Hill estate in Sheffield over 60 years. The second story is about Joy who moves to Sheffield with her cousins in the 1980s to escape the civl war in Liberia. She is about 14 and has had to leave her parents behind. This is a musical featuring the music of Richard Hawley. External Website

Films/Videos Stormbreaker 2006 Stormbreaker (2006) is the first adaption of Anthony Horowitz's novel series, Alex Rider. Teenage Alex is living in kinship care with his uncle. When uncle Ian dies, Alex finds out his unclde was an MI6 agent who was murdered. Alex is then recruit to the Special Operations Division of MI6, is sent for training and is sent off on his first mission to investigate a billionaire who is donating computer systems code to UK schools. External Website