Have You Ever Wondered What It Would Be like to Be in Foster Care?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in foster care? Well when 12 year old Carley Connors is put into foster care, she is angry at and distrustful towards her new family. One for the Murphys is written by Lynda Mullandy Hunt, and published by Nancy Paulsen on May 1st, 2012. The genre is fiction. This is a good read because many people can relate to this book because it deals with topics like separation from family, and trying hard to fit in in an place where you don’t think you belong.

Carley is sent to a foster home after her mother lands in the hospital from a beating from Carley’s stepfather. Her foster care placement is terrifying. Mr. Murphy, a fire chief, and his oldest son Daniel don’t even want her there, and Mrs. Murphy is just too nice. It is 4-year-old Michael Eric and his red-headed brother Adam who first break the ice. Slowly won over at home by the boys’ open affection and Mrs. Murphy’s patience and surprising understanding, Carley also finds a friend at school in the prickly, Wicked-obsessed Toni. The first-person narration allows readers inside Carley’s head as she fights against both showing emotion and her growing pleasure in belonging to their world. There’s plenty of snappy dialogue as well. By the end of this sad debut, readers will be applauding Carley’s strength even if they’re as unhappy as Carley is about the resolution.

I would highly recommend this book. It is a very exciting novel and there are almost no dull points. You will learn how people really feel when they are put in that type of situation. It is truly heartbreaking. I would recommend this book to middle school age students looking for an exciting novel related to separation and finding who you truly are in a place you don’t really belong.

33/35