Television Shows Freud 2020 The Austrian-German crime television series, Freud (2020) on (Netflix), features a young woman who is in foster care. Fleur Salome (Ella Rumpf) is a psychic medium living with foster parents Sophia and Viktor von Szapary. Fleur's psychic powers are used by the von Szapary's to gain money and social standing. Fleur has 2 personalities - one which is sweet and nice, and the other which is controlling and violent. Some say Fleur is based on Lou Andreas-Salome, a Russian born psychoanalyst and friend of Freud's (who was not in foster care as a child). External Website

Television Shows Hunters 2020 Drama series focused on the work of Nazi hunters in New York City in 1977. Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman) takes his grandmother's place in the team of hunters after she is murdered. Jonah was raised in kinship care by his grandmother. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Daphis and Chloe 1989 In the late second century A.D., the ancient Greek writer Longus wrote the story of two children Daphnis and Chloe abandoned with specific tokens and claimed to be the first romance novel. Lamon, a goatherd, discovers Daphnis, while Chloe is found by Dryas, a shepherd. Each decides to raise the found child as their own. Growing up together, the mischievous god of love, Eros, creates in them a sudden overpowering desire for one another and they fall in love but are naive about their feelings. Guided by a wise cowherd, they learn about love through a remedy of kissing. Despite facing challenges, including abduction attempts and perilous situations, they are eventually recognized by their birth parents. In the end, Daphnis and Chloe get married and lead a tranquil life in the countryside. External Website

Television Shows The Sandman 2022 The Sandman is an American fantasy drama television series based on the comic book of the same name written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Dream, the personification of dreams and one of the seven Endless, is captured in an occult ritual in 1916. After being held captive for 106 years, Dream escapes and sets out to restore order to his realms, The Dreaming. Story of foster kids in the final episodes. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Les Misérables (novel) Victor Costa Hugo et al. 2016 Les Misérablesis a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, and considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. The prevalence of orphans and unusual family structures in Les Misérables is the most obvious indicator that French society and politics in the period described have gone terribly wrong. Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Marius, Gavroche, Pontmercy, and Gillenormand are all separated from their family or loved ones for economic or political reasons. Marius embodies the disastrous effects of politics on family structure, torn as he is between Gillenormand’s monarchism and Pontmercy’s embrace of Napoléon. Social instability and poverty, meanwhile, make orphans of Cosette, Valjean, Fantine, and Gavroche. With the exception of Gavroche, whose home life is so wretched that he is probably better off on his own, these characters are unhappy and lonely because they are separated from their parents and have no one to turn to when they most need help. External Website

Biography of Care Experienced People Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time Karen Armstrong 2007 Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was orphaned at the age of 6 and grew up in kinship care first with his grandfather and then with an uncle. In this biography, British scholar Karen Armstrong presents Muhamma in his historic context and distinguishes between Islamic law and the cultural practices of Islam. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir God was always there Deidre Michell 2011 Recipes for Survival: Stories of Hope and Healing by Survivors of the State ‘Care’ System in Australia is a collection of stories by those who have grown up in care in Australia during the 20th century and is therefore contribution to a growing body of literature on the experiences of the Forgotten Australians. External Website

Actors Felicia Pearson Felicia Pearson (born May 18, 1980) is an American actress, rapper and author. Because her parents were in prison, Felicia was raised in a foster family, eventually taking on their surname. She played Felicia "Snoop" Pearson on The Wire and wrote a 2007 memoir, Grace After Midnight, detailing her troubled childhood and time in prison for second-degree murder. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade Patrick Dennis 2010 Patrick Dennis' mother died in childbirth. When Patrick is 10, his father dies, having arranged first for Patrick to live with his paternal auntie Mame. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Brenton Brown Alex Wheatle 2011 Brenton Brown is a follow-up to Alex Wheatle’s famous debut Brixton Rock, which was set in the early 1980s. We catch up with the characters of that book about 25 years later in contemporary Britain, and those who read the first book will enjoy seeing how things turned out, especially with the title character Brenton, who fell in love with his half-sister Juliet. Things get a lot messier in this book, despite their best efforts to avoid it, as the child they had together is now grown-up and wants to know who her real father is (they never told her), and Juliet’s husband begins to suspect, and meanwhile Juliet is running for government and can’t have any scandal coming out in public. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience 1989 Val McDermid 2022 Val McDermid's 1989 (2022) has Allie Burns investigate mischief by Big Pharma in the context of the AIDS crisis. Tucked into the background is the WWII story of a Jewish baby being given away to a Polish couple to save the child's life. In 1989, that baby's son wants to find out more about his Jewish heritage and in the process a media moghul's 'dark secret' is exposed. External Website

Radio & Podcast Inside A Mountain PodBean Development Walking real & imaginary landscape with artist & writer Charlie Lee-Potter In this episode, Charlie talks with Sally Bayley about her first book, Girl with Dove. External Website

Films/Videos The Life Ahead 2020 Based on a 1975 novel, The Life Before Us by Romain Gary, The Life Ahead is a 2020 Italian drama film with a boy in foster care at its heart. 12 year old Momo is a Sengalese migrant to Italy who was orphaned at the age of 6. He's been in foster care with Dr Coen but is struggling to care for the boy and run his practice from home. Dr Coen asks one of his patients, Holocaust survivor Madam Rosa, to take care of Momo. Rosa and Momo develop a deep bond and Momo cares for Rosa as her health declines. External Website

Artists Made With Care Made with Care initiative began in 2019 as a youth-led project within Articulate Cultural Trust. It offers resources, mentorship, and opportunities for people with experience of kinship, foster, or residential care to develop their creativity, learn enterprise skills, and pursue their goals. It features a product range and online platform that showcase and sell their artwork while providing training and support to help individuals grow their creative and enterprise ambitions. External Website

Non Fiction Roots: The eco-Journal Bernadette McBride 2018 Bernadette McBride was on the child protection register for over a decade and in and out of care on an often-weekly basis. Her mother was suffering from chronic alcohol addiction and some days Bernadette would simply be left waiting at the school gates. She is a writer, creative practitioner & social advocate. She is the author of Roots - a self help journal, and has had various short fiction published from a collection she is currently working on. Bernadette is a Manchester Fiction Prize 2020 finalist, and won the award for Biggest Impact on the City of Liverpool award in 2019. She a PhD researcher in Creative Writing at the University of Liverpool. As a care-experienced writer she believes that often she is able to evoke subtle changes in internal and external environments on the page, and this is her superpower. External Website

Poets Lorraine Mafi-Williams Lorraine Mafi-Williams Lorraine Mafi-Williams (1940-2001) was in childrens homes from the age of 12, one of 6 children stolen from their parents. Lorraine made it back to her parents when she was 18. She became an activist working to improve health services for Aboriginal people. She also edited the first anthology of Aboriginal poetry, Spirit Song, which was published by Omnibus Books in 1993. External Website

Television Shows Total Control 2021 Total Control is an Australian political drama tracing the political travails of Aboriginal woman, Alex Irving (Deborah Mailman). In the 2nd series the topic of the child protection system and the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the system is explored. An anoymous complaint is made about Alex Irving's care of her teenage son, Eddie. A 'care plan' is put in place, but Eddie decides he wants to stay in his home town of Winton, Queensland while his mother pursues her career in Canberra. Alex signs over guardianship of her son to her sister. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Poum and Alexandre: A Paris Memoir Catherine de Saint Phalle 2016 Shortlisted for the 2017 Stella Prize, this is a memoir of living with deeply flawed parents. The mother of English born Australian writer, Catherine de Saint Phalle (b. 1956) was in kinship care for half her childhood. Catherine was in foster care for some months. External Website

Television Shows A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series) 2017 A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019) is an American adventure TV series based on the eponymous book series by Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler). Similar to the books, the TV series follows what happens with the Baudelaire children – Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes), Sunny (Presley Smith) – after their parents die. A distant relative, Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), wants to control the Baudelaire inheritance and he takes the children in. Throughout the series, the children are also sent to live with other relatives as well as to boarding school. External Website

Authors K Karen Pirie ➝ Killing Eve ➝ 15,000 Kids and Counting: The Search (Adoption) ➝ Kleo ➝ Kaleidoscope ➝ Back to Top