For foster carers, kinship carers and adopters
For foster carers
There is a foster carer at the centre of the book. She makes good toast and she doesn’t shout.
Elaine
In the novel, a nine-year-old called Billy lives with a foster carer called Elaine Okafor. Her house smells of plantain and clean laundry. She lets him paint his room. She is at the science fair, and at the door when he comes back from a bad day.
She is not a saint, and the book does not make her one.
A good deal of the story rests on her kitchen table. I could not have written the book without her in it, because I do not know how the work would happen without the people she stands for.
Before you read it
You will know these children. That may make it harder to read than it is for other people, and it may make it better.
Billy has been moved several times before he reaches Elaine, and he runs. There is a teenager in the book who has been hurt at home. There is a baby whose mother is eighteen and doing her best. None of it is graphic, and the book is on the side of every child in it.
If you foster with a partner, or have children of your own at home who read over your shoulder, that is worth knowing first.
A letter
I wrote a thank-you letter to foster carers. It has nothing to do with selling the book, and you are welcome to copy it, print it, or read it out at a support group.
For support groups and fostering services
- The letter is free to reprint in a newsletter. You do not need to ask.
- There is a kit for book clubs, if your support group would like to read the book together.
- There are posters. The one that says RING PEOPLE BACK is aimed at us, and you may enjoy putting it up where your supervising social worker can see it.
If you are a kinship carer
You did not apply for this. Somebody rang, and you said yes, and you have been doing the school run ever since.
There is somebody like you in the book. I will not say who, because it gives something away.
Kinship is the charity for kinship carers in England and Wales, and has a free advice line. Family Rights Group also advises relatives and friends who are bringing up somebody else’s child: 0808 801 0366.
If you are thinking about fostering
Read the letter first. If you still want to, ring your council’s fostering team, or The Fostering Network, and ask what it involves. They will be very glad to hear from you. There are not enough of you.