Broken: A traumatised girl. Her troubled brother. Their shocking secret.


Rosie Lewis - 2017
    Rosie remembers that when asked what he enjoyed most about the course, Archie said: ‘the biscuits’.Social workers are concerned that Archie and Bobbi have been neglected. As Rosie gets to know the children, she begins to suspect that something far more disturbing lies in their past.Archie, jovial and polite, bats away Rosie’s attempts to talk to him about anything serious with witty one-liners and sophisticated distractions. Bobbi reacts violently, lashing out and throwing herself around. Rosie has never seen a child as young a Bobbi behaving so viciously, but it is Archie she is most concerned about as the weeks go by.After a worrying incident at school, Archie tearfully discloses the truth – a shocking secret that has left him and his sister traumatised. Horrified at what she learns, Rosie is determined to help the young siblings find a forever-home that will provide them with the love and care they deserve.

Hurting Too Much: Shocking Stories from the Frontline of Child Protection


Harry Keeble - 2012
    In Broken Angels, a more experienced Harry relates a series of extraordinary cases he encountered with Ella, a young and newly qualified social worker.Together, Harry and Ella faced the violence of forced marriage, the horror of maternal incest and the cruelty of child slavery. Their investigations took them into a mosque, a drug den and a recording studio. Just as the unrelenting caseload threatened to push the inexperienced Ella over the edge, Harry uncovered one of the most shocking cases of child abuse he'd ever encountered, forcing the duo to tread new ground in the search for justice.Broken Angels reveals why working in Child Protection has never been so tough. It also shows why, despite the fact that so many courageous people are ready and willing to meet impossible challenges, we are still unable to reach all of the broken angels that so desperately need our help.

The Girl Who Just Wanted To Be Loved


Angela Hart - 2016
    She takes foster carer Angela on a rocky and very demanding emotional ride as she fights daily battles against her deep-rooted psychological problems. Can the love and specialist care Angela and husband Jonathan provide help Keeley triumph against the odds?

Someone to Love Us: The shocking true story of two brothers fostered into brutality and neglect


Terence O'Neill - 2010
    There they were to suffer brutal beatings and little care or love – they survived as best they could, looking out for each other, until the terrible morning when Terry couldn’t wake Dennis.In a time when the country was united by war and struggle, the case shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Terry, a small figure in the courtroom, captured the hearts of mothers and families everywhere, and the public outcry against the foster services led to the instigation of the first provisions to protect other vulnerable children from neglect and cruelty.

Crying In The Dark


Shane Dunphy - 2007
    He also saw their amazing ability to survive those unpromising beginnings. In this book, he tells four heartbreaking true stories of damaged children and of his battle to help them.

Too Young to be a Mum


Maggie Hartley - 2017
    Scared and alone, Jess is like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Unable to live with her own mother, a prostitute, and removed from the home of her childhood sweetheart, Darren, Jess is overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for a newborn whilst still little more than a child herself. Maggie knows that Jess is desperate to reunite with Darren and to be a good mum to their son. Can Maggie help Jess keep her baby, and will the family ever be able to live together again?

They Stole My Innocence


Madeleine Vibert - 2015
    My throat tightens in fear…’At the tender age of five, Madeleine was living a daily nightmare. In a dark, grey building on Jersey, she was just another orphan, defenceless and alone. She was also an easy target. Unbeknownst to the outside world, the care home manager was abusing her, using her like she was his toy. “Say nothing, no one will believe a nasty little kid like you,” he’d whisper. Terrified, Madeleine would keep quiet. And, worse still, the home was selling the children to men who would inflict on them the worst possible abuse. No one cared.This is Madeleine’s heart-breaking story and her fight to survive.

Can't Anyone Help Me?


Toni Maguire - 2011
    Can't Anyone Help Me? is the shocking true story by Toni Maguire.Jackie was an unwanted child. So unwanted that her mother regularly left Jackie at her uncle's house. Which was when the nightmare started. For when his wife went out, her uncle's friends came round. He had a Special Room. In it Jackie was tied up and molested, beaten, burnt by cigarettes and urinated on. Sometimes other children were brought along. Jackie got to know the Special Room intimately.Jackie could never bring herself to tell her mother. She ended up in a home for disturbed children. She ran away, and a life of homelessness, drugs, prostitution and psychiatric wards followed. Eventually, Jackie sought help. But could she turn her life around? Would her evil uncle and his Special Room haunt her forever?Can't Anyone Help Me? by Toni Maguire is the inspirational story of struggle and survival against all odds as one young woman attempts to put her torturous past behind her and make a future for herself.Toni Maguire is the author of four bestselling books: Don't Tell Mummy, When Daddy Comes Home, Nobody Came and Helpless.

A Life Lost: The shocking true story


Cathy Glass - 2021
    Aggressive, confrontational, and often running away, Jackson’s mother puts him into foster care.He remains volatile. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened but he won’t engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Adrian, Cathy’s son, fears for her safety.Then in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson’s behavior comes to light, and it’s far darker than Cathy could ever have imagined…

No One Listened


Isobel Kerr - 2008
    Plunged into a care system that neglected them, Isobel and Alex were expected to come to nothing, and had only each other to rely on.Isobel and Alex’s mother used to do everything with them. A full-time teacher, she dedicated herself to her children, partly in order to give them every possible opportunity in life, and partly to keep them out of the way of their increasingly eccentric, erratic and unpleasant father.Their father, a violent and frightening man, spent most of his time locked in his bedroom, a room the rest of the family never ventured into. He became increasingly bitter and angry at the outside world in general, and at his wife and children in particular. The local community feared his outbursts as much as Isobel and Alex did, but the neighbours saw far less of him as he became increasingly housebound. No one came to the Kerr’s house to visit.When Isobel was 15 and Alex 13, they came home from school to find police everywhere. Their father had stabbed their mother between fifty and sixty times with a sharpened chisel. As far as anyone could tell the attack was unprovoked and of incredible savagery, but the children were given the minimum amount of information. No one wanted to upset them unnecessarily.Their mother had been an only child and they had never been in contact with their father's family. There was no one else for them to turn to - except each other.This is an inspiring story of a brother and sister who only had each other, and a powerful testament to what can be achieved through courage and love.

The Cast-Off Kids


Trisha Merry - 2016
    Their mother walked out on them. (They don't remember her.) Their grandmother tried, but couldn't manage them. And now their young father has given up on them too. These cast-off kids desperately need somewhere to live and a family to love them. They've come to the right place. Trisha and Mike welcome them into their home and their hearts. There are now ten children under five in this household, where every day is filled with cuddles, fun . . . and more than a few challenges. After ten eventful years of love and laughter, they are reclaimed by their jealous mother, a stranger, who sets fire to their memories and sends them to a succession of care homes. Finally the younger one sets out on a quest to find the only two people who have ever loved him.

I Just Wanted to be Loved


Stuart Howarth - 2009
    He is released back into the world without any support or counselling from the authorities.The child abuse and numerous court cases had almost destroyed him, and Stuart became reliant on drugs and alcohol. With his life spiralling out of control, Stuart attempts suicide a number of times. The last try leaving the doctors that resuscitated him incredulous he had survived.At the point of no-return, Stuart was sent to an hospital in the Scottish highlands to fight the demons that assailed him and rebuild his life. This is the remarkable story of his fight to be his own man.

Dirty Old Man (A True Story)


Moll French - 2013
    I knew one called Bernie.He groomed me and led me away from home." It's been all over the news lately. Teenagers running away from home. Groomed and snatched from the nest by predators, before they get chance to spread their wings.Regardless of culture or social class, it's happening everywhere; online, in schools, clubs and societies.It happened to me, Moll.This is my true story, a harrowing account of my stolen youth, and my journey to take it back. A story of the ones who overlooked my situation, and a story dedicated to those who made a difference to my life.I lived in that squalid mobile home for two and a half years with my abuser. I even married him because I felt I had no way out. From the mind games of my father, to the open arms of Bernie, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.I was helpless for a short time, but never hopeless.

Tell Me You're Sorry, Daddy


caryn walker - 2018
    As she awaited the verdict, she looked at the man who robbed her of so many years, who never showed any remorse, and realised that she was the one who was strong, she was the survivor. Caryn knew that it was time for her to tell her full story - and that of her dead sister, Jennifer. Against all the odds, she fought. And she won.

Just Another Kid


Torey L. Hayden - 1988
    Three were recent arrivals from battletorn Ireland, horribly traumitized by the nightmare of war. Then there was eleven-year-old Dirkie, who had known no life outside of an institution; Mariana, who was dangerously excitable and sexually precocious, though she was only eight; and Leslie, seven years old, yet completely unresponsive and unable to speak. These were the children entrusted to the care of Torey Hayden, the extraordinary special-education teacher who refused to give up on them. She was determined that every child should experience joy, hope, and a future free of fear, and with compassion, patience, and most of all love, she knew that miracles can happen.