And the Winner of Pieces of the Pearl by Teresa Winton is

Dee Thompson.

Dee Thompson adopted her daughter from Russia in 2004 when Dee was 41 and Alesia was 13. In 2007 she adopted 10 year old Michael from Kazakhstan. Dee is a paralegal and writer and lives in Atlanta. In 2007 she published a children's book called “Jack's New Family,” to help her son adjust to life in an adoptive family. She writes about her journey as a parent on her blog, The Crab Chronicles as well as movie reviews on Scribblerchick's Movie Dish.

There are many older children still in Northern Kazakhstan who will never be adopted. Dee Thompson cannot forget their faces. Dee supports a wonderful organization called The Antares Foundation. Dee has blogged for us in the past and you can read her excellent previous blogs here. Dee is also the author of Adopting Alesia. 

To qualify for the Free Book Giveaway

Pieces of the Pearl

by Teresa Ann Winton

Memoirs of a Foster Child's Triumphant Transformation

Dee simply posted a comment to the blog and was automatically entered.

Pieces of the Pearl is an honest story of a child's (Teresa Winton) personal journey through the foster care system. Teresa shares excerpts from her life in foster care, her losses, lack of self-esteem, meeting new friends, and things that helped. Foster parents can read this book to gain insight into the feelings and emotions of their foster children.

Foster children, especially tweens and teens, can read this story to gain hope. Yes, there is success and life after foster care. Teresa left an unstable home life of abuse, poverty, and neglect to be "rescued" by the foster care system. Of course, foster care brings its own set of loss and trauma inherent in being rehomed with strangers. Some children excel and move on with their lives to do great things. Others end up barely surviving utilizing homeless shelters, handouts, or prison. What can you do to help your foster or adopted child be one of the successful ones?

This book is also available for purchase from Amazon. Click on the picture of the book or the title of the book in this blog to follow a link to amazon.