Well I finished The Lost Boy the other night and it wasn’t quite as interesting as the first book but it was still a good read. I think this is mostly just because it’s a subject that I find very interesting but also don’t know much about. The fact that it’s a real story really helped me get into the book too.
This one wasn’t as much about child abuse as it was about the life of a foster child. I never really thought about it much so I definitely didn’t realize how judgmental people are about foster children! They just assume that the child’s parents don’t want the kid because they’re bad but in this book probably more than half the foster children Dave meets aren’t bad at all but simply not wanted. Obviously this part made me really upset and curious as to why some people aren’t more open minded. However The Lost Boy had parts that made up for some of the bad things. Dave goes through five foster families and every single one is so excepting of him.
Sometimes in between foster homes Dave had nowhere to go besides “The Hill” which is a juvenile detention centre for children who misbehave too much but Dave had to go there just because there was such a shortage of foster homes. I did some research on why this is and I guess the people who actually have the heart to be a foster parent simply can’t afford it or don’t have the time.
But you don’t necessarily have to open a foster home to help children. Go to this website: http://plancanada.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=265&gclid=CNftmOKsp6ACFWV75QodJWHXbQ and you’ll see what I mean. After reading this book and going through Dave’s horrid childhood with him, this website really gave me hope that people are trying to help.
The book ended with another flash forward just like the first book so of course I know that he eventually has a very happy life with his son, Stephan (named after his father I assume). But I am EXTREMELY curious about what happened to Stephan’s mother. I wonder if she maybe abused Stephan too and Dave rescued him? Well I guess I’ll just have to read A Man Called Dave to find out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
AS you mentioned before I don't think it was easy for Dave to write any of his books. The message for the world is so important. Dave's purpose for writing was to change those nasty stereotypes that so many people have about foster children. We all must remember to think about every angle and perspective before jumping to conclusions about people.
ReplyDelete