With the narrative force of an epic novel and the urgency of first-rate investigative journalism, this important book delves into the daily workings and life-or-death decisions of a typical American family court system. It provides an intimate look at the lives of the parents and children whose fate it decides. A must for social workers and social work students, attorneys, judges, foster parents, law students, child advocates, teachers, journalists and anyone who cares about our nation's children.

Theresa is a career woman, a mother and a wife. When her mother calls to say there's trouble at her elderly neighbor's house and she's going over to investigate, Theresa has no choice but to get involved. Before the night is over, Theresa finds herself caught up in the harsh brutality of the streets, with a drive-by shooting, a mysterious kidnapping, and more.

From the author of Sunday Times bestsellers One Child and Ghost Girl comes a heartbreaking story of one teacher's determination to turn a chaotic group of damaged children into a family.

More people than ever are loving other people's children--in stepfamilies, extended families, adoptive families, and other situations that have more to do with love than biology. If you are loving someone else's child, you'll face challenges-- and this book will help you meet them. In Loving Someone Else's Child, Angela Hunt talks respectfully, affectionately, and expertly to parents like me caught in an imperfect, sometimes impossible, family. She is a family expert with courage and a big heart.Dave Kopp, former editor Christian Parenting Today Newly revised and updated.

Simply told but deeply affecting, in the bestselling tradition of Alice McDermott and Tom Perrotta, this urgent novel unravels the heartrending yet unsentimental tale of a woman who kidnaps a baby in a superstore—and gets away with it for twenty-one years. Lucy Wakefield is a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: she takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own. It’s a secret she manages to keep for over two decades—from her daughter, the babysitter who helped raise her, family, coworkers, and friends. When Lucy’s now-grown daughter Mia discovers the devastating truth of her origins, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anger and determines not to speak again to the mother who raised her. She reaches out to her birth mother for a tearful reunion, and Lucy is forced to flee to China to avoid prosecution. What follows is a ripple effect that alters the lives of many and challenges our understanding of the very meaning of motherhood. Author Helen Klein Ross, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, weaves a powerful story of upheaval and resilience told from the alternating perspectives of Lucy, Mia, Mia’s birth mother, and others intimately involved in the kidnapping. What Was Mine is a compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and the life-shattering effects of a single, irrevocable moment.

A surrogate believes she’s given her twins to a dangerous couple in this psychological thriller by the author of Gone and Every Little Secret. Charlotte Morgan knows how it feels to desperately want a baby. As a child, seeing her mum devastated by losing her longed-for babies, Charlotte wished another woman could give her mother what she so craved. Now Charlotte’s a mum herself, and knowing how much love her daughter, Alice, brings into her life, she vows to help others achieve their dreams of becoming a parent. When she meets Malcolm and Brenda on a surrogacy website, it seems that she’s found the perfect couple. In their late forties, they have wealth and an enviable life, but there’s just one thing missing—a child of their own. When Charlotte falls pregnant with twins, the couple are overjoyed. And while Charlotte’s heart breaks as she hands them over, her reward is knowing how much happiness the two tiny babies are going to bring into their life. But are Malcolm and Brenda all they seem? As secrets unravel, Charlotte must face that she has handed her babies over to virtual strangers. And when Malcolm and Brenda disappear without a trace, Charlotte is plunged into a frantic search for the babies she carried— before it’s too late . . . Perfect for readers of The Girl on the Train, Rachel Abbott, and C. L. Taylor.

On a summer morning in Canberra, Sue Phillips gave birth for the fourth time. Sue's husband was by her side, along with Lily, the baby's genetic mother. Labor was brief, but excruciating; and only minutes afterwards, Sue wrapped the newborn in a blanket and handed her over to Lily. What does it take to carry someone else's child? What does it feel like to give her up? Motivated by a strong desire to help, Sue first approached Lily after hearing about her health problems from a mutual friend. Facing a childless future, Lily and her husband were ecstatic, but Sue's surrogacy commitment was only the first step in a long, often difficult, journey for both couples. "Someone Else's Child" is the story of Sue's experience as a 'gestational carrier'?at the age of thirty-nine, with a family of her own, when surrogacy in Australia is still rare, and commercial surrogacy illegal. In her own words, Sue describes the emotional highs and lows, bureaucratic hurdles, physical challenges, family pressures, legal confusion and social scrutiny that followed her decision to become a surrogate. "Someone Else's Child" is a unique personal account of what it means to give the gift of life.