Like Family
Growing Up in Other People's Houses, a Memoir

"I did try to write my story as fiction very early on, years ago, when I was still in graduate school, but it just wasn't coming together that way....I didn't know why then, but now I think that even though I was terrified (am terrified still) of exposing many of these memories and exposing myself a......more

What constitutes a family? Biological connections that are severed early on? Or the strangers who provide a kind of care for years, with no connection other than the physical proximity of living in the same house? The author describes her journey through the foster care system in Fresno County in the......more

This book is lacking a lot, but it is a worthy read because it is a good story. I like to read stories about foster care victims, because I aspire to being a foster parent. I can certainly learn from the coldness of her foster parents. What makes the book only so-so is the author's lack of insight.......more

The story is one I've heard too may times, of neglect and then abuse and then poor choices made behind a lack of stability or even of interest... My problem with this book is that it shows the utter lack of participation of the System, where kids are supposed to be seen by the social worker or by ind......more

This is a brutally honest, splendidly told memoir of a young girl who grew up in a series of foster homes after her mother went to the movies and didn't come back for 16 years. That abandoned girl grew up to be a best-selling writer of fiction and poetry. McLain's mastery of fluid storytelling is enh......more