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This is the true story of one child who makes it against all
odds, whose resilience shines through each attempt to break her, and
whose sheer will to not only survive, but to thrive, is a beacon to
us all.
Regina Louise's mother abandoned her at birth, her father barely
knows she's alive, and even the state isn't there to protect her
because she's been dumped in an illegal foster home. Within the
walls of this tattered home, untold horrors happen. At
eleven-years-old, this young child makes a pact with God and puts
fate into her own hands by running away. But the attempt to free
herself only lands her in the unloving hands of her mother, her
father, and finally the state. Now in the "system", she is sent from
foster home to temporary shelter and back again, until she's lived
in too many places to count. With no parent willing to claim her,
Regina is finally pronounced a Ward of the Court and sent to a
children's shelter that's one stop short of a mental institution.
But, in this most unlikely setting, Regina finds something so
powerful and so transcendent that her Job-like trials all seem worth
the price: Regina finds that she is loved.
This remarkable memoir shines the light on the plight of children
with no parent to wake them up with a gentle kiss, to send them off
to school with a packed lunch, to read them a bedtime story as they
fall off to sleep. These are nobody's children who, due to their
cruel circumstances, are rarely able to climb out of the shadows of
society and are left to fend for themselves in an inhospitable
world. But while Somebody's Someone exposes the extreme trials these
children endure, it is also a triumphant story of how one small girl
makes it out alive.
Never before has the voice of an abandoned child been so perfectly
rendered, intimately captured, and lovingly portrayed. With
Somebody's Someone, Regina Louise emerges as an extraordinarily
gifted writer whose voice is filled with raw emotion, shocking
honesty and pure lyricism. If Twain and Dickens were alive today,
they would surely admire Louise's gift for not only deftly retelling
this age-old story, but also for having lived it and survived to
tell the tale.
Reviews
". . . straightforward, sincere story . . . this rare
look into the inner world of an unwanted child will enlighten
readers concerned with the fate of at-risk children."
--Publishers Weekly
"This is a
harsh, often brutal, but always compelling memoir, and its very
existence is proof of the author's personal triumph in the face of
enormous odds."
--Booklist
"In a voice as textured as a little girl's cotton summer dress,
Regina Louise enthralls you. This well-crafted memoir of longing
reminds you of what it means to have a place of your own --
especially a place inside yourself."
--Michael Datcher, author of New York Times Bestseller
Raising Fences
"Regina Louise is an extraordinary new voice!
Readers will want to reach into her heartfelt memoir and hug the
spunky woman, child heroine. Poignant, resilient and fresh,
Somebody's Someone is a wonderful read."
--April Sinclair, author of Coffee Will Make You Black
"A beautifully rendered and uniquely
captivating story of a child's transcendence over unrelenting harsh
circumstances that would condemn most of us to lives of cynicism and
despair. This book is the very definition of hope."
--Martha Manning, author of Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the
Surface
"Regina Louise's Somebody's Someone
is an amazingly powerful and unforgettable literary debut."
--Sapphire, author of PUSH
Hardcover
384 pages
$23.95US/$34.95CAN
Pub Date: June 2003
ISBN: 0-446-52910-9
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