Welcome to Litsy!

My 12 favorite nonfiction books of 2024, tagged is my favorite of the year. I still have some reviews that I didn‘t finish that I need to post. I‘m definitely more of a nonfiction reader. Looking forward to finishing up some books I started in 2024 & getting through so good books on my TBR (too many books, not enough time)

I‘ve written 3 reviews and deleted them. I‘m so angry and want to point fingers at one state in the US that seems particularly heartless - looking at you, Texas - but I‘m sure the fate of foster kids is abysmal everywhere. This is a look at racism in fostering choices and a system that cannot see its way to help families rather than destroy them. It‘s a book worth reading but it‘s a tough one.

I‘m listening to the very disturbing tagged book while also reading a book about Buchenwald concentration camp. Suddenly I had had enough. Too much pain. So I drove an hour to see my granddaughter, Charley. I‘m so close to the end of each book that I‘ll finish them tomorrow but today I was fortunate to play with a sweet little girl and count my blessings.

It took me a bit to get into this one but another important read that links with poverty, racism, classism, etc. Asgarian shines a light on children removed from their home to “protect” them. It shines a light on failed systems and the ongoing devastation these systems create. I‘ve had many clients who‘ve aged out of the system with nothing. None of this is pretty and all of it should be changed. #AuldLangSpine @monalyisha

First 1/3 felt rushed, but then the author digs in and finds herself part of the story about the foster care system and how it creates more problems than it solves. And that it‘s just one more way to undermine the lives and families of people of color. I‘m not sure what the answer is, but in its current form child welfare is perpetuating generational harm on innocent people. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I listened to this one of audio but need to get a physical copy. So heartbreaking but so well done. Asgarian spent 10 years investigating this story. She spent numerous hours with the birth family of the 6 children. She did a deep dive into the foster care system (particularly Texas where the children were from). The systems of CPS, foster care & adoption continue to be rooted in racism. Children & families face insurmountable obstacles in a

Excellent work of investigative journalism. A harrowing and heartbreaking listen.

Remember hearing on the news that a mom and her wife drove their van off a cliff, killing themselves and their six adopted children?

This is about that tragic event and so much more. We learn about their birth families and CPS.

These kids were born to drug addicts and mentally ill people, but they were never starved or abused like they were (allegedly) by their adoptive moms.

It is all so very sad, but important to hear and learn about.

A deep dive into the tragic event featured in news cycles from a few years ago: an SUV, full of a family, crashed off a cliff with no survivors. At first believed to be a horrible accident, the evidence left behind soon led the investigators to realize this was a murder-suicide. The children were adopted and were victims of their adoptive mothers. Readers learn about their lives, how the system failed them, and their birth families. Very well done

I‘ve heard Tracy on The Stacks podcast absolutely rave about this book, and I see why. It‘s a scathing indictment of the US foster care system that shows how much it fails kids and birth parents (largely poor and black/brown) while giving far too much leeway to foster parents. It is absolutely eye-opening. Anyone who is setting policy that impacts families needs to read this.

This was a heartbreaking but wonderful read. I love the perspective this book takes and it‘s so important to the story. I chose to edit the adoptive parents because like most of these stories, the victims shouldn‘t be overshadowed.

I don‘t mean to keep doing this to myself but here we go. #depressing

I remember the news story of the SUV that was driven off the cliff in California. This is a journalistic approach to this incident. Jennifer and Sarah adopted two sets of siblings for a total of 6 kids. We learn the stories of both sets of families whose children were adopted as well as Jennifer and Sarah‘s story, and the time with these children. Such a sad story all around and an eye opener to the issues with the foster system\CPS in America. 💔

Very solid journalism. This one tells the backstory of the Hart family (birth parents of the 6 adopted children and the two mothers) that mothers drove them off a cliff into the ocean. The death is salacious, but the majority of this book is about foster care, adoption, and struggle. There has got to be a better way to protect children from abusive parents and allow families to stay together. I don‘t know what it is, but this system isn‘t working.

Was hesitant to read more about this awful tragedy but very glad I pressed play on this audiobook, as it was remarkable. Incredible writing, gives voice to the birth families of the children, and gets one thinking about all sorts of issues, from judgments about parenting to journalistic ethics. I most appreciated what I learned about the U.S. child welfare system and have bumped a few of the books referenced up on my TBR (tagged in comments).