Survival of the Fittest was once entitled Foster Care People. The name of the novel changed once Neshee Publication became my publishers. The basic manuscript hasn't changed and the reviews are from the that manuscript. Foster Care People was the book's previous title. I am pleased with Neshee's suggestion that the title change. I agree the story is about a child's survival which is most important. Yet, the reviews from the following people are important. Simply because they championed my book from it's inception in 2000. These reviewers read my book when it was an on line publication. I gratefully acknowledge their views of my work on this page.
Read!, April 19, 2006
Reviewer: armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews.
Lauretta Ali's book is about one child trying to survive the foster care system. Lenora and her brother Harry Jr. are being raised in a loving home with two parents, when one mistake splits the family apart. The children try to cope with their mother's depression, alcohol abuse and a dysfunctional family. When the mother decides she needs time to get herself together, they are passed on to their father and his new wife. This situation presents a different type of struggle: ultimately the children are placed in the foster care system. Lenora and Harry Jr. are passed through one house to another, facing physical abuse, sexual abuse and separation from each other.
The book introduces us to these families and the other children in their care while opening our eyes to the foster care system. This is a sometimes heartbreaking book, but yet it is so riveting you cannot put it down.
Armchair says: Survival Of The Fittest is the story of one woman's triumph over the circumstances that life has handed her, making Lenora's story one you cannot forget.
Description: Riveting
For just a minute, imagine the iron branding of human flesh. The putrid smell of skin burning follows the grotesque exposure of tendons and veins. Soon, the wounds heal, the scars fade, and the physical pain vanishes. But, what if this happened to the same person, over and over again, just in different spots on their body? Would you dare to look at the disfigurement?
"Foster Care People" depicts the invisible iron branding of the human soul. Written from a child's point of view, the book starts quite innocently. We witness a happy family, two parents with a son and a daughter. Even the best of homes expect a few trials now and then. Yet the events surrounding a kitchen fire smolder the lives of each family member for the next several years. Lenora Williams, the daughter and main character, attempts to warn us of the impending danger. That's because the red-hot irons of abuse try to sear into your consciousness, which could burn the bridges to your spirit, and leave you numb for a while. I prayed the story only came from the author's vivid imagination.
Lauretta Ali's descriptions through the eyes of a child are riveting. Through Lenora, she calmly reminds us that children are people too, not punching bags or sex toys. I felt as if I stood in a corner of the bedroom with my arms bound, and my mouth taped shut, while the second foster father visited her at night. Although the skin quickly conceals the outer evidence, time creeps to erase the psychological effects. I recommend "Foster Care People" to anyone who raises a child, whether for a day, two years or a lifetime.
FOSTER CARE PEOPLE by talented author Lauretta Ali is about a little girl who grew up in a foster care. It tells how her life started out in the system, and how it failed her and her brother instead of giving them the same advantages as they would for white children in the system. Continuous abuse worsens as the child grows, and at the same time, strengthening her to be the woman she grows up to be. Not only does the reader follow the young girl through daily routines, it goes much deeper than that, readers will learn how just delicate our little ones are.
This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed reading about this young girl?€”even though it was terribly heart-wrenching at times?€”however, the need to find out what happens to her is powerful as the read pages flew past my fingertips.
This book is perfect for young adults. It is would be a great read for children who are going through some or all of the same things that the young character in the book is going through.
FOSTER CARE PEOPLE should be in all libraries?€”public, at school, and at home. It would also be wonderful as required reading, or suggested reading for those in school training to become a psychologist, psychiatrist, or sociologist.
Give a child this wonderful gift so they may read about the emotional, self-growth, and heart-felt tale of this little determined girl. They will remember it forever!
Foster Care People is a true story about the author?€™s life as a young girl in the foster care system. It is sometimes shocking, appalling, saddening, and joyful. It is a story that needs to be told, and a story that needs to be read. Lenora and her brother, Harold Jr., are happy children living with their parents in New York City during the 1950?€™s. Her mother, Maggie, and her father, Harold, Sr. love each other and dote on their children. But when her father is discovered having an affair with one of her mother?€™s friends, it destroys the family. Her mother takes Lenora and her brother to live with her grandmother, where they are ridiculed and teased for the circumstances that brought them there. Maggie begins drinking heavily, and after a serious fight with her sister, Maggie takes the children to their father. He takes them in, but they are not well accepted by his new wife, and he chooses his wife over his children and places them in the foster care system.
What follows is a heart-rending tale of the horrors that can happen to children in this system, and the horrors that did happen to this little girl. As she and her brother go from foster home to foster home, they endure things that no one should have to endure. They are abused, beaten, neglected, and discriminated against. They are also genuinely loved and cared for by two wonderful foster families, but are not allowed to stay because of that love.
Foster Care People is not an easy read, nor could one call it a "good" read. It isn?€™t meant to be. It is definitely a "must read" story.
Copyright © 2002 by Kathy Hill, Sharp Writer Reviews*****
ORDER YOUR COPY AT: http://www.amazon.com
OR: http://actinglauretta.tripod.com
I found this site from the new video on youtube. Its not english but what you do is enter text into the to boxes which you will see after you click on the green button which says "Zapal znicz"
What you place in the top box will show under the candle, and what you place in the second box will show in a box when you hover over your candle
Good morning. Sometimes we need to look at our lives and dig deep down inside to found a new person. We all strive to be better people but just don't know how or where to start. if it's in your heart you will ask god to change you, teach you how to use the gifts he gave each one of us to utilize. Once this is done your mind, spirit and soul will be at peace. God sometimes brings us to a place where answers can't be found... Where we cannot see tomorrow, for confusion all around.
Yet deep inside we realize that all things work for good... Even times when we've been wounded and we feel misunderstood.
Don't dwell on the injustice and stay focused on God's heart... Find forgiveness and go on, you can make a brand new start.
GOOD AFTERNOON..AND HAPPY MONDAY. THANKS BE TO GOD FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY THAT IS TO COME. WISHING ALL A TERRIFIC AND PEACEFUL WEEK. REMEMBER TO SMILE..ENJOY LIFE..BE YOURSELF AND TRUST IN THE ALMIGHTY FOR HE IS ALL WE CAN RELY ON.
I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things. Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. And give me the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak... Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.
I thank You that I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes; that they are out of debt and all their needs are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees it in Jesus' name.
Happy Monday. I woke up with so much joy and happiness in my heart, realizing how God has been so abundantly wonderful to my family and I. I give him praisees every day, every hour. I'm ready to show the love God has given me to share with my brothers and sister. I hope you are too.
O God, perfect us in love, That we may conquer all selfishness and hatred of others; Fill our hearts with Thy joy, And shed abroad in them Thy peace which passeth understanding; That so those murmurings and disputings To which we are too prone may be overcome. Make us long-suffering and gentle, And thus subdue our hastiness and angry tempers, And grant that we may bring forth the blessed fruits of the Spirit, To Thy praise and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I need a smile to glitter my world, It makes me smile to make others smile, beggars need a smile to know they exist, and even I need a smile to create my smiles,
Its no doubt that we all need it, a smile can build alot in our lives, It makes the widows feel their regains, a smile can also make your enemies like you,
a smile is the best thing to do when approaching difficuly, It can cause love, peace, happiness and all that we deserve, It makes you feel alive, Let us all smile as we say the word smile.
I am a woman of grace, a woman of excellence. As I walk on this land full of sin, I question my very existence. What is God's plan for my life? Am I destined to correct the fallacies of this harsh reality? Am I suppose to give my all to the Lord's people?
Yes! There is no doubt that I am suppose to complete this plan that seems so far fetch, for He gave me life, Life didn't make me.
Now I realize the strength I am blessed with. For I am strong. I am virtuous. I am me.
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