Read about the American foster care system and the senseless murder of 5 children
We Were Once a Family — Roxanna Asgarian
Under-the-Radar Book of the Week
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian
Content warnings are included in the footnote of this newsletter, and extra caution that today’s book revolves around the murder-suicide case involving five children.1
What It’s About
This is the best book I’ve read so far this year, and it’s also the most heartbreaking and frustrating. It’s a deep dive into the foster care system in Texas and the United States as a whole (though each state operates separately and differently, causing much of the confusion and disorganization, resulting in kids falling through the system).
In 2018, a family made headlines nationwide for driving a minivan off a cliff, plummeting to their death—inside the car was Jennifer and Sara Hart and their adopted children. What initially was assumed as a tragic accident soon revealed to be anything but, and as authorities dug into the lives of the Hart family, they began to wonder why the women were ever allowed to adopt in the first place.
Asgarian approaches the story from the perspective of the children and the birth families, who are often forgotten and neglected in cases such as this, showcasing how children who end up in foster care are not always coming from dangerous, abusive homes. These children, instead, were failed by the court system and taken from relatives who were trying to retain custody and placed into an abusive home instead.
Why You Should Read It
The foster care system is one that is pervasive across the country, yet so many of us know so little about it. And it doesn’t help that every state has different policies and procedures and that no states have any substantial data- or record-keeping. Children simply get lost. This was a page-turner, and I read it in one sitting. Asgarian’s writing is informative yet approachable and is a great primer for learning more about this system and how it can harm instead of do the good it’s supposed to.
Asgarian was interviewed by The Stacks podcast host Traci Thomas about her book, and it’s an incredible listen either before or after you’ve read the book.
Misc.
I made a TikTok! I’ve had an account for a while and have recently learned how to post a few videos. They’re a lot of work, but fun, so you may see some more things pop up if you follow me—below is a recent book mail haul from publishers that I am so excited to start reading. (Particularly excited to start Hey, Hun, a look into MLM culture.)
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Are you a TikTok user, and do you follow bookish accounts on there? What are you reading this week?
More Books
Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations:
Read about the dark history of an Oregon desert town and the ghosts that haunt it
Read a contemporary sci-fi novel that asks big questions about life and its meaning
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Content warnings include removal of Native children from family to place in residential schools; child abuse; white saviorism; institutionalization of children; separation of siblings; child death; attempted suicide by child; child neglect; incorrect drug prescriptions for children; racism (general) and racism (specifically) in court system, foster system, and school; domestic violence; grief; incarceration.
I have this and just haven't been able to bring myself to read it.