First published 2013
Regina Calcaterra opens her memoir by recounting years spent moving between foster homes and living on the streets with her siblings in the shadow of wealthy Long Island. Abandoned by their mother and separated by the system, Regina and her four brothers and sisters develop street smarts and fierce loyalty to survive. The children face abuse in foster placements and periods of complete homelessness, yet Regina refuses to let her family be permanently torn apart. She fights to keep her siblings together while navigating a system that seems designed to fail them. Through determination and resourcefulness, Regina eventually escapes the cycle of poverty and neglect. Her story reveals how children can endure unimaginable hardship and still build meaningful lives, proving that circumstances of birth need not determine destiny.
Genres: family-life, abuse, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-adversity
Setting: Long Island
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
320 pages · Kindle Edition · William Morrow Paperbacks
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse