Title: Fostering and Us
Author: Marie Coady
Publisher: AuthorhouseUK
ISBN: 978-1-7283-8007-0
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 412
Reviewed by: Suzanne Gattis
Pacific Book Review
With my past knowledge of fostering, I expected to pick up this book and have several good cries, as stories I have often heard are full of abandonment and sadness. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find as Marie Coady reminisced that this was a story of happiness, love, impact, and finding a forever family in Fostering and Us. It was also interesting to see how the foster system, particularly in the UK, differed from my preconceived notions. Many of the children were cared for a little while, and then returned to homes, good homes in most cases, with their families.
Knowing there was great risk in her own pregnancy, the Coady’s decided to become foster parents, a decision that I am sure is both exciting and terrifying to any new parents trying this out. This is a tale of the many different children they had (which she remembered so many of them in detail and that impressed me) and their adventures, ups and downs, and triumphs. It seemed that she had a story to tell or lesson she learned with each child. With support from family and friends, they made a major impact on these young children’s’ lives, often in a short amount of time.
I was happy to see that through their experience of adopting, they were able to find something that they themselves had been wanting, children and a forever family. It shows that while there may be struggles in the fostering process, it can be a benefit both to the children and to the parents who are selfless enough to do so.
The story was easy-to-read, as each child was remembered and immortalized in the pages. I felt the book had an overall optimistic point of view, which I found refreshing. I think Fostering and Us would be an interesting read for anyone wanting to take a look into the foster system, especially if that is a path they might want to take for themselves.
