Lost in the System

by Charlotte Lopez and Susan Dworkin

From Simon & Schuster, Lost in the System by Charlotte Lopez explores the life and struggle of a pageant success.

Miss Teen USA for 1992, a foster child, recounts her struggle since the age of two to find stability within multiple homes and shelters, her triumphant pageant success, and her joyful adoption

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684811995
• ISBN13: 9780684811994
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating true story, told from painful experience

In Lost in the System, Charlotte Lopez recounts her childhood spent in foster care, with all its struggles, and ending in her eventual triumph. The story is told from a VERY rare point-of-view . . . that of the voiceless, often ignored, and frequently disbelieved foster child. Though not as earth-shattering as some other recent literature, I believe it was Charlotte's book and her much-publicized story which inspired the Clinton-era reforms in foster care and adoption. As my wife and I prepare to become foster parents ourselves, I feel I am much better prepared for our looming task, having read this book. A must-read for every foster and/or adoptive parent.

SUPERB!

This is Charlotte Lopez' (The best Miss Teen USA that has ever been represented!!!)autobiography telling about her life growing up "Lost in the System" of foster care and emerging triumphant as a beauty queen. I remember watching the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1993 and watching Charlotte as she caught the hearts of the audience in her $37.00 evening gown. There was no way anyone else could have won that title. Charlotte doesn't reveal any pageant dirt in this book. What this book is about is her life in foster care and how she overcame the obstacles put before her to no longer be just another statistic "lost in the system". She succeeds brilliantly on all counts. Charlotte, alas, is now a struggling actress with a few B pictures to her credit. One wishes that after such a triumphant success with promoting her advocacy on "foster care" that this would have been her mission in life instead of relegating herself to playing inconseqential parts in movies that don't make a mark. But Charlotte has already made her mark in this world. For those of us who remember, she will always be the beautiful young lady from Vermont who was crowned Miss Teen USA of 1993! Hopefully, one day, Charlotte will return to her advocacy in foster care! This book is superb!

A life overcome

This book shows how one woman overcame a tragic past to make good and become a role model for others of similar background. It is amazing she has been able to do this, as Ken Grant wrote a similar work called "The Wanderer" but was blackballed because of it. There are many questions that come out of a book such as this: - are kids denied spiritual or religious exposure while in state care? - what are the demographics of kids in state care? - Does the Us govt view abandoned kids as a business and so have a vested interest in assuring that a steady flow of abandoned kids perpetuates?

Great auto-biography

I actually bought this book because I liked the author,Charlotte Lopez (now Charlotte Ayanna). I was suprised and impressedat what a good job she did. It gave alot of insight on Foster Care, and ever since I've read it I have been interested in the whole system of it. It also better helped me to understand it all. She also gave alot of informative insight on the world of beauty pagents. The thing I also really liked about this book was that she neither presented the good or the bad side of the Foster care system, but she picked no sides at all. I remember that when I read the book, I felt frustration, and I was able to sympathize with what she was going through, being a teenager and trying to grow up in a strict inviroment. I think it's great that she took adavntage of her title of Miss Teen USA, and wrote a book to help people better understand what it's like growing up in a foster home. This is a very inspiring story of a strong and determined young women, and I would recemend it to anyone.

Former Beauty Queen Packs a Thought-Provoking Punch

This stunning book chronicles the coming of age of one of America's most beloved beauty queens. Charlotte Lopez won the Miss Teen USA title in 1993 after telling her moving story of growing up in several foster homes throughout her home state of Vermont, and how her life had adjusted without ever having any true parents she could call her own. Her frank and touching narrative transports us into her life of growing up with a mentally unbalanced mother, a talented sister, and several completely different foster parents. We encounter her stories of life, first loves, and winning the most prestigious teenage pageant the world in a $37 evening gown. A delightful and personal book, who's clever author never leaves us with a dull moment, and makes us question both the role of parenting and the placement of foster children in our country and society. Wonderfully witty, deeply moving, and always energetic, this book is an amazing read for anyone of any age who has wondered what life is without any true family unit, or has dreamed about becoming a beauty queen