Fiction by Care Experienced authors Anne of Green Gables L M Montgomery 1987 Anne of Green Gables, children’s novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, published in 1908. The work, a sentimental but charming coming-of-age story about a spirited and unconventional orphan girl who finds a home with elderly siblings, became a classic of children’s literature and led to several sequels. The story begins with her arrival at the Prince Edward Island farm of Miss Marilla Cuthbert and Mr. Matthew Cuthbert, siblings in their fifties and sixties, who had decided to adopt a young boy to help out on the farm. However, through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne Shirley instead. While the Cuthbert’s are at first determined to return Anne to the orphanage, after a few days they decide instead to keep her. External Website

Films/Videos Christmas Oranges 2012 A girl is suddenly forced to leave her happy orphanage home and move to a harsh institution, where the headmaster takes an instant dislike to her. She keeps her spirits up looking forward to a traditional Christmas treat, & when the holiday arrives, something unexpected happens. External Website

Fiction Featuring Care Experience Snow John Banville 2020 Snow (2020) is a literary crime novel by noted Irish writer, John Banville. Snow is set in 1957 in County Wexford, Ireland. A priest has been murdered & castrated at a Protestant estate, Ballyglass House. Father Tom Lawless was a regular visitor to Ballyglass House, even though the residents are protestants. A key suspect for his murder is a young man who was abused by Father Tom. 19-year-old Fonsey tends to the horses at Ballyglass. As a baby he had been abandoned to an orphanage by his mother. Later he was sent to Carricklea, a ‘reform’ school where violence is the order of the day. Father Tom was working at Carricklea when Ginger (as Fonsey was known then) was there & sexually abused him. *Spoiler Alert* it wasn’t Fonsey who killed Father Tom. External Website

Authors G The Graveyard Book ➝ A Walz Through the Hills ➝ The Small miracle ➝ Pictures of Hollis Wood ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music Archie Roach 2019 Archie Roach: b. 8 January 1956-d. 30 July 2022. A powerful memoir of a true Australian legend: stolen child, musical and lyrical genius, and leader. Roach was only two years old when he was forcibly removed from his family. Brought up by a series of foster parents until his early teens, his world imploded when he received a letter that spoke of a life he had no memory of. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Real Life Super Heroes Dee Michell 2018 Inspired by the work of Ethiopian-British poet, writer and performer, Lemn Sissay this blog is a collection of short-form biographies of people who have experienced disruption in their childhoods. Each person spent some time away from their birth families, whether that was organised formally by state intervention, or informally by friends and family. Each biography also includes reference to each person's adult life. External Website

Writers Mary Douglas 1921-2007 Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Mary Douglas was the first child of Phyllis Twomey and Gilbert Tew, who worked for the Indian Civil Service. Her parents were on leave and travelling home from Gilbert’s posting in Burma when Mary was born in San Remo, Italy. When their parents returned to India, Mary and her sister were sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Totnes, an historical market town in Devon, in the south west of England, until they were old enough to attend boarding school. They then went to Sacred Heart Convent in London. Mary went on to Oxford University after school, followed by working in the Colonial Office during World War II. It was while she was serving in the Colonial Office that Mary Douglas became intrigued by anthropology, and she went back to Oxford in 1946 to take up the subject. She commenced her PhD in 1949, doing her fieldwork in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). In 1966, Douglas published Purity and Danger, the best known of her work. She argued that humans divide the world into binary categories, eg, clean and dirty, things that should be on the floor and things that shouldn’t. Things/people out of place are considered dangerous. External Website

Television Shows City of Shadows 2025 City of Shadows (2025) is a Spanish thriller miniseries. Milo Malart (Isak Ferriz) is a detective who has been suspended for insubordination. He is brought back to work to investigate a series of macabre murders staged against Barcelona’s iconic landmarks designed by architect Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926). As a small child, Milo Malart spent a number of years in the kinship care of his grandparents. This left his older brother to suffer alone the violence of their mentally unwell father, for which Milo continues to feel guilt. Milo Malart is the protagonist of a Spanish crime novel series by author Aro Sáinz de la Maza, including The Barcelona Murders, Corruption, Past Crimes, Invisible Citizens, Fate, and Punishment. External Website

Writers Charles Willeford 1919-1988 Charles Ray Willeford III (January 2, 1919 – March 27, 1988) was an American writer. Orphaned at the age of eight, Charles lived with his grandmother in Los Angeles. When his grandmother lost her job during the Great Depression, the thirteen year left home so as not to burden her. Charles joined the army at the age of 16 where he stayed until 1956. He published his first book, a book of poetry, when he was serving in the military. In the years after his military career, Charles Willeford got a university degree, taught creative writing at a Community College, reviewed books for The Miami Herald for 20 years, inspired Quentin Tarantino and wrote books. An author of fiction, poetry, autobiography, and literary criticism, Willeford is best known for his series of novels featuring hardboiled detective Hoke Moseley. External Website

Television Shows Smother 2022 In the 2nd series of the Irish drama series, Smother, Val Ahern (Dervla Kirwan) makes the decision that her husband's son from an extramaritial relationship is a threat when he suddently turns up after her husband's memorial service. That the son (Dean Fagan) has been in foster care, youth detention, and prison all goes to the idea of him being a threat - and plays on a few stereotypes of kids in care too. External Website

Artists Madge Gill Born 19 January 1882, an illegitimate child in East Ham, Essex, (now Greater London), Madge Gill spent much of her early years in seclusion because her family could not tolerate the embarrassment. At age nine, despite her mother still being alive, she was placed in a Barnardo’s Girls’ Village Home orphanage at Barkingside, Ilford, Essex. She was sent by Barnardo's to Canada in 1896 and then worked as a domestic servant, nursemaid and nurse before she married. Following her death in 1961, thousands of Madge's drawings were found in her home and later exhibited internationally. External Website

Writers Lemn Sissay 1967- Lemn Sissay MBE (1967) is an English author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees two years later, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. This website draws together the work Lemn has been doing for many years; he has written publications with Canongate, Oberon, Bloomsbury Bloodaxe and Faber and Faber. And many other writings: plays poetry, articles introductions to publication like The Moth collection to articles for The Guardian. His memoir, My Name Is Why, is published by Canongate in 2019. Bafta nominated broadcaster Lemn has worked in Screen and Sound for thirty years. Lemn has spoken on stages throughout the world. The website also includes the prolific work with care leavers including the Christmas Dinners which were set up for care leavers on Christmas Day so that they wouldn't have to spend the day alone. He was awarded the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Orphans Making It in the World Noel Murray 2021 Whether they’re shipwrecked adventurers or heirs protecting their fortune, the young heroes of these children’s stories use their wits and bravery to survive on their own. External Website

Films/Videos The Witches 2020 The Witches (2020) is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl and stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer and Stanley Tucci. In 1968, Charlie Hansen is orphaned when his parents are killed in a car accident. He goes to live with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer) and has an encounter with witches. After he's been turned into a mouse, Charlie and his 2 friends - children who've also been turned into mice - enact revenge on the coven of witches meeting in a hotel under the pretext of protecting children. External Website

Sport Sonny Morey Sonny Morey Champion Australian Rules footballer, Arrernte Australian Sonny Morey (b. circa 1945) was in residential and foster care as a child. 7-year-old Sonny was taken from his family while playing with a cousin on the Todd River. His surname was changed by authorities from Gorey to Morey and he became a ward of the state, first living for 6 years at St Mary’s Hostel in Alice Springs. In 1958, Sonny and 2 other young boys were suddenly uprooted, flown to Adelaide and moved into St Francis House in the beachside suburb of Semaphore. When St Francis closed in 1959, 14 year old Sonny was taken in by Ada and Sydney Maguire until Ada left her violent husband. She then moved with Sonny close to Gawler football oval where Sonny was “already making a name for himself”. Sonny Morey played his first game for Central District Football Club in 1964 and went on to play 200 games for the club. External Website

Writers Hermann Hesse 1877-1962 Hermann Karl Hesse (July 1877 – 1962) was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. When Hermann was 14 he ran away from his boarding school. Although only absent for a day, the boy was expelled and his parents had him committed to a mental aslyum. He ws released after several months and allowed to attend a local high school, but his relationship with his parents was permanently damaged. Hesse's best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. External Website

Behind the Scenes François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut (1932 – 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. Truffaut was adopted by his future step-father, but spent much of his time until his grandmother died living with his grandmother. The boy was eight when he began living with his parents. Truffaut is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry, having worked on over 25 films. Truffaut's film The 400 Blows is a defining film of the French New Wave movement, and has four sequels. Truffaut's 1973 film Day for Night earned him critical acclaim and several accolades, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience That girl Ethel Ewan Turner et al. 1912 The story of a foster child who is taken in by a family who care for her. External Website

Authors K The Invisible String (3-6 years) ➝ Home For a While (4-8 years) ➝ The Water Babies ➝ Back to Top

Autobiography/Memoir You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are Rudy Owens 2018 Rudy Owens is an advocate for adoptee rights. He lives in Portland, Oregon in the US and in 2018 he published a memoir called You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are. Born in Detroit in the mid-1960s, 24 years later Rudy Owens finally met his birth family. It then took another 25 years and a legal stoush with the State of Michigan before he received his original birth certificate. Rudy Owens’ book details the lengths he had to go to get his original birth records and his campaign for other adoptees have the right to access their records. In You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are, Owen’s also uses a public health perspective to discuss the importance of connections to kin. External Website