Book Review: Missing Pieces

Reviewed By: NH Storm

Missing Pieces     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Sherry Cochran
Class/Genre:   Non-Fiction   AutoBiography
Kiwe Publishing, 2004, 175 pages

As a young child, Cheryl (Sherry) is torn away along with her siblings from her parents' neglectful home, her brothers' and sisters' love, the only home that she knew. Five-year-old, Cheryl was thrusted into the foster care system supposedly for "best interest of the child" into a home that is physically, emotionally and mentally abusive. At the hands of one family, she is horribly abused for no matter how hard she tries,. she's not perfect enough. She is told to lie about the abuse, yet receives punishment for lying. Confused, lonely and hurting both physically and emotionally, Cheryl runs away repeatedly and eventually is sent to juvenile hall (Juvie Hall) even though she was usually the youngest and the other girls there were generally more hardcore than Cheryl was, the juvvy felt like a safer place than "home" and she would run away more and more frequently to go there, eventually going back into fostercare-- at first with the plan that Cheryl would have "family counseling" with her adopted family with the goal of going back to them but she refused to cooperate, the adoption was dissolved and Cheryl stayed in fostercare until age 17.

Woven into this amazingly poignant story as seen through a child's memories, is the story of a woman determined to find love and to find her lost siblings. Ms. Cochran has created a book that stirs up the reader's indignation at a system who allows mentally ill people to adopt or become foster parents, the sealing off of confidential information regarding the birth parents, and siblings from each other. Unless you have absolutely no heart, this book will make you angry, laugh and rejoice mostly at the same time.

NH Storm

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, NH Storm