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Fiction featuring Care Experience The Foster Child: Jenny Blackhurst 2017 When child psychologist Imogen Reid takes on the case of 11-year-old Ellie Atkinson, she refuses to listen to warnings that the girl is dangerous. Ellie was the only survivor of a fire that killed her family. Imogen is convinced she's just a sad and angry child struggling to cope with her loss. But Ellie's foster parents and teachers are starting to fear her. When she gets upset, bad things seem to happen. And as Imogen gets closer to Ellie, she may be putting herself in danger... External Website

Writers Augusten Burroughs 1965- Augusten Xon Burroughs (born Christopher Richter Robison, October 23, 1965) is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors (2002). Burroughs was born Christopher Richter Robison to a philosophy academic, John Robison, and a poet, Margaret Robison. Both parents struggled with mental health problems and alcoholism and they separated when Augusten was 12. Augusten was sent by his mother to live with his parents’ psychiatrist because she was going through a difficult time. In his book, Running with Scissors, Burroughs says he lived with the psychiatrist and his large family for more than 3 years; members of the family say it was about 18 months. Eventually Burroughs’ mother signed over guardianship of her younger son to the psychiatrist, Dr Rodolph Harvey Turcotte. External Website

Television Shows Hanna 2019 An orphan character, Hanna is a 15 year old who has been living with her foster father, Erik Heller, in a Polish forest. Unbeknownst to Hanna, Eric was once a CIA agent who recruited pregnant women into the UTRAX program, a program designed to raise and train 'super soldiers' In the 2nd series, Hanna returns to the UTRAX program to rescue another 'orphan' character, Clara. Care Experienced actor, Ray Liotta, appears in Series 3 as head of UTRAX. Ray was abandoned at birth and then adopted at the age of 6 months. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles Remembering the original Superman Aljazeera 2025 The original Superman was created by children of Jewish immigrants as a rebel and a symbol of the oppressed, but over time he was whitewashed to represent American power and conformity. Director James Gunn’s recent comment framing Superman as an immigrant reignited backlash from conservatives who reject this origin, fearing it makes the character "woke." This fear reflects a broader anxiety among elites about immigrants and marginalised people finding their voices, challenging injustice, and refusing to remain silent or invisible. External Website

Television Shows Hinterland 2013 Hinterland — Y Gwyll (Welsh for 'the dusk') — is a Welsh noir police procedural series broadcast on S4C in the Welsh and English. Series 1 (2013) Episode 1 "Devil's Bridge - Part 1" On his first day in his new job in Aberystwyth, DCI Tom Mathias is called out to investigate a suspicious disappearance. In a quiet seaside bungalow, he discovers a bathroom covered in blood but no sign of the resident owner, Helen Jenkins. Discovering that Jenkins was once the manager of a children's home, DCI Mathias and DI Mared Rhys venture up into the mountains, where DCI Mathias uncovers evidence which suggests Helen has been thrown from the parapet at Devil's Bridge into the water below. Episode 2 - "Devil's Bridge - Part 2" The subsequent investigation leads Mathias to investigate former residents of the home, who have since gone on to blow the whistle on the illegal activities which took place during Helen's tenure. As the case becomes increasingly complicated, Mathias discovers that a former resident who suffered a traumatic event at the home as a child may hold the key to an otherwise impenetrable case. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Will Trent Series (books) Karin Slaughter 2005 Will Trent is the creation of Karen Slaughter, an American crime writer. He was a foundling who grew up in the harsh environment of the Atlanta Children’s Home. He now has a university degree and works as a Special Agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The first two books in the series are Triptych and Fractured. There are also two short stories with Will Trent, Busted and Snatched. A television series based on Karen Slaughter books featuring Will Trent is being released early in 2023 (streaming on Hulu). Will Trent is played by Ramon Rodriguez. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Talented Mrs Greenway Tea Cooper 2023 The Talented Mrs Greenway (2023) by Australian writer Tea Cooper tells the story of Mary Greenway, wife of Francis Greenway, Australia’s first government architect and widely admired for his work. In the 3rd part of the novel, from 1814 after Mary Greenway has arrived in the penal colony of NSW, there is mention of Mary Reibey (1777-1855) who becomes an inspiration to Mary Greenway. Mary Reibey was an orphan who was raised in kinship care and then transported to NSW at the age of 13 for stealing a horse. She became a successful businesswoman and has been featured on the AUD $20 note since 2019. There is also reference to the Female Orphan School (1813-1850) which, in 1818, Francis Greenway was commissioned to extend and improve. Mary Greenway ends up employing 13-year-old Aggie, an orphan from the Female Orphan School. External Website

Writers Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. Rousseau's mother died shortly after his birth and his father abandoned him when he was 10. Young Jean-Jacques was sent to live with an uncle, who had the child fostered out. From about age fourteen Jean-Jacque was on his own. He was often homeless and did a variety of working class jobs to support himself. Jean-Jacque was fortunate at the age of sixteen to meet Francois-Louise de Warens (1690-1762), who took the boy in and supported him financially and emotionally. Rousseau's political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His Emile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (composed in 1769), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late-18th-century "Age of Sensibility", and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. External Website

Television Shows Unforgotten 2021 Unforgotten is an English crime drama series which first aired in 2015 and which starred Nicola Walker for the first 4 series. Series 4 of the British crime drama series, Unforgotten, has a former foster kid put in a brief appearance. Jerome Walsh is the son of the murdered man in the series, Matthew Walsh, and he was in and out of foster care, but in employment at the time of his father's murder being investigated. One of the suspects in the show, Fiona, has a criminal past and she has been posing as a former foster kid so she doesn't have to talk about her family of origin with her own family. In Series 5, there is a complicated story involving intergenerational trauma for 4 generations of a family at one end of the social spectrum, while at the other end there is immense privilege, including non-accountability for committing crimes. Included in the causes of intergenerational trauma are rape, racism, kinship care, abuse at the hands of a cult leader, foster care and homelessness. Several members of the family have criminal records. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience North Woods Daniel Mason 2023 The North Woods (2023) is a historical fiction novel by American writer Daniel Mason. North Woods tells the story of the inhabitants of a single house in the woods of New England across the centuries. Told in fragments, the novel begins when a couple absconding from a Puritan colony and concludes when a young researcher crashes her car near the site. Two of the inhabitants are the twin daughters of a soldier, Charles Osgood, who discovers the house and decides to plant apples on the land around it. The daughters, Alice & Mary, are in kinship care with their aunt for several years before Charles takes them to live with him. Aged 4 when they begin living in the house, the sisters spend the rest of their lives together there. External Website

Biography of Care Experienced People Muhammad Maxime Rodinson 2021 Maxime Rodinson, a distinguished professor at the Sorbonne, first published his biography of Muhammad in 1960. The book, which is a classic, has been widely read ever since. Rodinson, though deeply versed in scholarly studies of the Prophet, does not seek to add to it here but to introduce Muhammad, first of all, as “a man of flesh and blood” who led a life of extraordinary drama and shaped history as few others have. External Website

Television Shows The Good Witch 2008 The Good Witch is a film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008. It stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale whose parents died when she was a child and who grows up in foster Care. Cassie is psychic and uses her intuition (and at times, a little magic) for good reasons. There are 6 sequels to the original film, and a television series, Good Witch. External Website

Comics, Comic books & Graphic Novels Zenobia Morten Durr; Lars Horneman 2018 Zenobia, Morten Dürr / Lars Horneman Gilgamesh Publishing 2016 Amina is an orphan fleeing a war-torn country on an overcrowded refugee boat. Alone and afraid, Amina recalls the inspiring adventures her mother told her about the Syrian warrior queen Zenobia, whose fearless determination transformed her into the ruler of an empire. Amina strives to be like Zenobia, but this is only possible in her imagination. Amina's story reflects the reality of so many child refugees around the world. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Fall of Man in Wilmslow David Lagercrantz 2009 Swedish writer David Lagercrantz is the author of 3 novels in the Millennium series - The Girl in the Spider's Web, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice. The Fall of Man in Wilmslow (2009) is an imagined account of a young Detective Constable Leonard Corell being tasked with investigating the death of Alan Turing on 7 June 1954. Corell becomes fascinated and inspired by the life and character of Turing and uncovers his crucial work during WWII at Bletchley Park. The novel explores the idea of being 'different' enabling the development of different ideas, attitudes towards gay men at the time, and the hypocrisy of the secret service being willing to use Turing until they confirm he is gay. There is little on Alan Turing's extended time in foster care as an infant and small child and how that experience might have shaped the man. External Website

Radio & Podcast Patricia Cornwell (podcast) World Book Club 2008 American crime writer, Patricia Cornwell, was in foster care for a while when her mother was hospitalised because of serious depression. In this podcast, Patricia Cornwell talks about her experience in foster care briefly and how she wishes she had someone like the character she has created, Kay Scarpetta, to turn to. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles An evening with your life your story Amanda Knowles 2021 This poetry led discussion explores the experiences of children raised in the care of the state and their caregivers, the impact of abuse and the importance of truth. External Website

News - broadcast, print, internet, magazine articles The Real Lord of the Flies The Guardian 2020 In this article, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman tells the story of 6 boys who, back in 1965, set out from Tonga in the Pacific on a small boat. The boys – Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke and Mano – were all boarding at a strict Catholic boarding school. The oldest was 16, the youngest 13. Bored, they decided escape to Fiji, some 500 miles away. They set sail on a small boat. After 8 days or so, they ended up on a small island where they stayed until they were rescued by an Australian – 15 months later. According to Bregman, this story of displaced boys is a more accurate one than that told by William Golding, that humans will cooperate when they need to. He says: “It’s time we told a different kind of story. The real Lord of the Flies is a tale of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other.” External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles My name is Kenny and I love animals Kenny Murray 2018 Kenny Murray writes about being taken into care at the age of 11 and the importance to him of two dogs in a foster home who provided him with unconditional love. External Website

Behind the Scenes Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( A1928 – 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story (1958), The Sandbox (1959), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), Albee was placed for adopted when he was two weeks old and adopted by a theatre owner and a socialite. Some critics have argued that some of Albee's work constitutes an American variant of what Martin Esslin identified and named the Theater of the Absurd. Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. Younger American playwrights, such as Paula Vogel, credit Albee's mix of theatricality and biting dialogue with helping to reinvent postwar American theatre in the early 1960s. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Fifty Shades of Grey E L James 2012 Christian was born into extreme neglect and abuse, with a drug-addicted mother and an abusive environment. At age four, after his mother’s death, he was found by police and brought to the hospital. He was temporarily placed in foster care before being adopted by Grace and Carrick Grey. Despite the stability his adoptive family provided, Christian continued to struggle with the lasting effects of early trauma—emotional withdrawal, aggression, and distrust of therapy. His foster placement and later adoption were life-saving interventions, but they did not erase the deep psychological scars. When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey (who leads a BDSM Dom/Sub lifestyle) she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind - until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out. External Website