Foster Mom: A Journey of Self-Discovery

By Francine Hardaway

Middle-aged, successful, Francine and her physician husband accidentally get involved with an inner city family whose life is ruined by drugs. Suicide, death and disappointment overwhelm their optimism. Despite their best efforts, they achieve only modest success with two of the children--a teen-age boy who has attachment disorder and becomes an addict himself, and a younger girl who acts out to get attention. A probing look at the foster care system, the effects of crack addiction, the influence of intervention at various stages of a child's life, and the failure of the liberal ideal.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595314317
• ISBN13: 9780595314317
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

From the author

I wrote this book because when I became a foster parent, I had no guidance about what to expect. Without knowing or expecting it, I entered into what will be a lifelong relationship with a troubled family, from which I derived both great joy and great heartbreak. This is an easy read, and a fascinating story of what's wrong with the foster care system.

Affecting peoples lives

Francine tells it like you are there ... She is involved, multifaceted, very dedicated, and very interested in affecting and help people through tough changes in peoples lives. How do I know this? I have had the fortunate privilege of meeting this person ... and she has helped me in my personal life (going for walks with her in the early Phoenix mornings), and she has also advised and counseled me in my business dealings. I believe we can only truly affect change in the world by doing. And Francine is certainly a doer - by the many activities she holds, and the help she also provides entrepreneurs (and countless others) ... She has a way of imparting the reality and learning the lessons in life we sometimes don't want to hear. There is a certain kind of beauty in seeing the truth and being with it - nice to see that there are people in this world who are sincere, who care, and who are doing things to help. And I was fortunate to been able to spend time with her when I lived in Phoenix.

A reminder to all on what it takes to Make a Difference

FOSTER MOM is a caring and often gut wrenching protrayal of what too many of our children face in the foster care system. With no sugar coating of what poverty, drug abuse and neglect can do to a child, this true story will make you think about what YOU can do to protect our most important resource - our children. This is also a great book for parents and teachers to share with more mature teens who are trying to understand the impact of poverty and drugs on their generation and society. Kudos to Dr. Hardaway for having the courage to live and tell this story.

AWESOME!

I couldn't put this book down once I started it -- it's a great read and I was mesmerized by the true story. It reminded me that we can't give up on people who are less fortunate and we can ALL help.I just bought extra copies for friends and family. I strongly recommend it!

The "self-discovery" in the title also refers to yourself...

Whether you are a parent or someone's child, you will see yourself in it - perhaps more clearly than if the book had been directly about you.