The Heart Knows Something Different

by Desetta, Al

• ISBN13: 9780892552153
• ISBN10: 0892552158
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-01
• Publisher: Persea Books

Summary

There are more than 450,000 children living in foster care. The Heart Knows Something Different collects over three dozen personal narratives by young writers, ages 15 to 20, and provides an insider's account of growing up in "the system." It takes us into a world largely hidden from public view, and attests to the mix of pain and fear, and sometimes hope, and sometimes even happiness that the foster care experience involves.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Jonathan Kozol
Introduction	xv
I. FAMILY
Questions Without Answers	3	(6)
Shaniqua Sockwell
Six Months on the Run from the BCW	9	(21)
Shawan Raheem Samuels
My Foster Mother is My Best Friend	30	(4)
Omar Sharif
She'll Always Be My Mother	34	(5)
Wunika Hicks
My Crew was My Family	39	(10)
Craig Jaffe
Short Takes: Remembering Family	49	(12)
Ishan Grant
Peggy Roedeshimer
Larita Bishop
Kareem Powell
Laura White
II. LIVING IN THE SYSTEM
My Day in the Group Home	61	(3)
Carlford Wadley
Finding a Father in the System	64	(4)
Clarissa Venable
Sista on the Run (from the Past)	68	(5)
Wunika Hicks
Why I'm Better off in Foster Care	73	(3)
Angela Rutman
Can the Counselors Keep a Secret?	76	(2)
Anonymous
Making a New Family	78	(5)
Lorraine Fonseca
Why are You Doing this, Mr. Jones?	83	(10)
Anonymous
How I Became a Stronger Mother	93	(4)
Anzula B. Richardson
Peer Pressure and Me	97	(3)
Craig Jaffe
Kicked to the Curb at Twenty-One	100	(5)
Rick Bullard
My Group Home Scapegoat	105	(2)
Angela Rutman
A Three-Point Shooter	107	(3)
Max Moran
Short Takes: If I Ran Foster Care	110	(11)
Anita Nieves
Anthony McMahon
Brooke Montgomery
Miranda Kent
III. WHO AM I?
How I Lived a Double Life	121	(4)
Omar Sharif
Why no One Knows I'm a Foster Child	125	(3)
Shaniqua Sockwell
Keeping it on the Down Low	128	(3)
Lenny Jones
What they say behind our Backs	131	(4)
Lenny Jones
Kicked out because I was Gay	135	(4)
Shameek Williamson
My Friend Marisol	139	(4)
Angi Baptiste
Is Stealing My Addiction?	143	(4)
Anonymous
Phat Flows, Honeys, and the Booms	147	(4)
Shawan Raheem Samuels
I'm the Mommy Now	151	(4)
Jessica DeSince
Who's the Real ``Problem Child''?	155	(2)
Marcus J. Howell
Short Takes: Who will I Become?	157	(10)
Max Moran
Anonymous
Dhanisha Jarecha
Zerlena Ronda
IV. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
From Fighter to Friend	167	(4)
Kenyetta Ivy
Staying with the hurt	171	(3)
Tasheen Davis
My Family Secret	174	(6)
Tieysha McVay
Therapy Changed My Life	180	(5)
Lenny Jones
How I Made Peace with the Past	185	(5)
Paula Byrd
Facing the Problem	190	(3)
Eliott Castro
A Loner in the Group Home	193	(4)
Mohammed Khan
I Won't Abuse My Kids	197	(7)
Saretta Andrea Burkett
Writing Taught Me About Myself	204	(2)
Omar Sharif
A Vacation from Mr. Hope	206	(6)
Wunika Hicks
Messages from the Writers	212	(3)
Craig Jaffe
Wunika Hicks
Lenny Jones
Tieysha McVay
Carlford Wadley
Saretta Andrea Burkett
Glossary of Slang	215	(3)
Resources	218	(2)
Subject Guide	220	(7)
Acknowledgments	227	(3)
About Youth Communication	230	(2)
About the Editor	232