Review: exploitative
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2013
The writing of this book was amateurish -- almost every chapter ends with something like "we had no idea what was in store for us..." which was, frankly, cheesy. The book cover is also grossly misleading, since a very young girl is pictured and the story is about a teenage girl.I stuck with it, thinking that Watson would tell the story about HOW to foster a child with severe emotional issues, but in the end she didn't. The girl was a temporary placement in her home and her issues were too large for her family to handle, so the girl was hospitalized (in the end, it sounds like that was the proper treatment for the girl who is doing better with psychological help). I forget the exact length of time, but I think it was something like 8 weeks that this girl was in the Watson home.Since there was no real 'ending' and no 'how to' it just felt exploitative. And seeing as how Watson (and others) are writing an endless number of eBooks about troubled children in foster care, it's just about making money. There's no support offered to foster families in similar situations or what helped or what worked -- it's just about a shocking title and cashing in one these poor children bouncing around the foster care system. And, truthfully, it sounds like the foster care system in the UK is better equipped than in the US (Watson is able to call for ambulances constantly when her foster child is acting out) so maybe the health care system offers some practical differences -- the only thing to "learn" here is that if you have a socialized medical system, you can get more help when you need it most.