One Small Boat: The Story of a Little Girl, Lost Then Found

I found this book because of an interview in The New York Times of the author, Kathy Harrison, and another book she had written on Preparedness. While the book on Preparedness was a very useful, enlightening book, it was this one, One Small Boat, that has me hooked on her as an author. Her true accounts (another book I will read, One More Place at the Table) of what it is like to be a foster parent are inspiring. The traumas that are inflicted on some of these children are chilling, but this book provided a glimpse into what a patient loving foster parent can do to help them. It also can show what they can not do, no matter how much care they give. There is a frightening story of two children in her care who will need far more care than any foster parent can give. Ms. Harrison had to make the decision to send one away because of the havoc she was causing.

This was a very perceptive and honest protrayl of the challenges and heart warming experiences a foster mom faces with each placement. As a foster mother, I identified and empathized with her stories and situations of individual cases. She speaks from her heart. I would recommend this book to anyone who does foster care or who is interested in doing it, or who just wants a peak inside what it is like for us and the foster children we love and care for.

I read this book because I had loved her previous book, Another Place at the Table. Both are her true memoirs of being a foster mother. She's really loving and kind and also down-to-earth and real and funny. These are the stories of kids who ended up in foster care because they had been abused, so it's not always a light-hearted subject matter. But the books are far from sad. They're really hopeful and inspiring. It's so wonderful to see how a mother's love (in this case, a foster-mother's love) can make such a difference to a child. They're not sappy, though. She stays away from sap. A lot of it is about the daily nitty-gritty of parenting -- getting supper on the table even though the high-needs toddler is clinging and the older kid needs to go to the doctor, etc. etc. Highly recommended.

I couldn't put this book down and read it in one day. I have also read Kathy Harrison's other book "Another Place at the Table" which is also a great book. I feel that this book is very true to life from what I have experienced dealing with the foster care system. Kathy gives faces and names to the injustices that often occur to children in this system. She also talks very realistically about the horrible trauma and abuse suffered by children before they enter the child welfare system. This would be a good read for any prospective foster or adoptive parent to give them an idea of the sorts of things they may have to deal with. My husband and I have adopted one son from foster care and it has been the best and hardest thing we have done. Some times I wish I did not know about what happens and has happened to children in foster care because that would be easier. On the other hand I know that I have been put on this earth to advocate for certain children that have crossed my path and I would change nothing. I think that Kathy Harrison must feel the same way and I admire her greatly.

This is an amazing story. I couldn't put it down becuase I became so interested in the fate of the characters. How blessed they are to have been able to be part of the author's home in the midst of their turbulent lives - even if for a short time. But the author reiterates that it is SHE who has been blessed by their presence. Very poignant, highly, highly recommended.