Julie Reed McKissick

Mama Bear to America's Marginalized Julie Reed McKissick

This memoir of an LA special education teacher, foster mother, and adopted daughter weaves together the complex themes that make up the tapestry of foster youth in America today. First-had accounts of the intersection between the juvenile probation system, public education, and the personal dynamics of displacement, rejection, and family dysfunction offer both a compassionate and critical treatment of the current state of affairs. Professional without being clinical, personal without turning sentimental, McKissick takes us on a disturbing journey which catalyzes both an impulse for heightened advocacy and a hope for a better future.