Cut - Cathy Glass

Cut: The True Story Of An Abandoned, Abused Little Girl Who Was Desperate To Be Part Of A Family -
I wouldn't say I like reading these books, but rather they're a compelling read and as I work in a hospital it might give me an insight into how some of the children who come in are feeling and why they behave as they do.
This book is about when Cathy & John Glass first started fostering. I can't believe how little the foster careers were told in those days. They should never have been put in a situation where the child was a danger to the family. This is the story of Dawn, a tearaway  13 year old, though most of the time she just craved family life. She liked to push boundaries, as do most teenagers, but when she did push them they were pushed further than others. Her behaviour all was a cry for help. When she was five her parents split up and when an aunt and uncle said they'd care for her, while the parents sorted their lives out, they accepted the offer. So for 4 or 5 years she was raised in Ireland and the only contact she had was through occasional phone calls, often the aunt and uncle would say she was outside and couldn't come to the phone.  When they'd had enough of her they put her on a plane and shipped her back to the UK. When no-one collected the girl at the airport social services were called in and she was returned to her mum. But the girl who returned was unruly and hit and spat at anyone. Her mum tried to help her and then she spent time with her dad but neither could cope. She often cut herself to release her feelings of anger. Then she went into care and Cathy and her husband John fostered her. At the end of the book she makes another attempt on her life and this is  the turning point because she is then taken into a teenage residential home which deals with psychiatric problems. There she was finally able to get the help she deserved and it came out that whilst in Ireland she was repeatedly raped by her cousins. Right at the end Cathy gets a phone call from the then 19year old Dawn who has her life on track and is going to teacher training college.