Rating: 
Summary: Definitely worth the read
Review: Once I was getting on the case of one of my students, who is in foster care, for doing poorly in my class. He just keep saying, "You don't understand, Mr.____. You can't understand." Thanks to Ms. Toth I think I now understand or at least have a better understanding as to why he was doing poorly in my class. Ms. Toth did an excellent job of revealing the horrors that accompany the foster care system and how that system effects the children it supports. I do have a couple criticisms of this book. I can't help thinking that a few of the children chosen for this book are extreme examples (after all one does end up on Jerry Springer). And I think Ms. Toth unfairly demonizes public foster care. Though I am sure public foster care is far from ideal, I suspect that most people who work in that sytem do the best that they can with the limited resources they have available. Those criticisms aside, this book definitely is an eye opener which takes you into a world that few of us know or can even imagine. This is a world that many of our children have to face--alone.
Rating: 
Summary: good, unbiased, study of the foster care system
Review: Orphans of the Living starts out with a bang, but drags to an end. The initial story of the two orphanages in a small southern town educates the reader on the foster care system and children's homes as they function today. It is much different than Annie or the Cider House Rules. I was riveted to the way different children reacted to being separated from their parents, and how they dealt with the typical sexual and physical abuse present in their lives. It even helped me understand the behaviour of certain disadvantaged children in my personal history. Unfortunately, much of it was all too familiar to me from children I knew growing up. Perhaps it's a liberal cliche, but it's important to understand the criminal. Many of the foster children were involved in criminal behaviour, but much of the time, it was almost not of their own will. One child does not understand why it was wrong for him to rape another child, because it was the way that 'love' was shown to him in his formative years. Orphans of the Living covers this topic particularly well in the first section. Orphans of the Living does a particularly good job of showing all types, a wide variety, of foster children. White or black, from good family or from none. Whatever your mental stereotype, it will be challenged. I also liked the way she did not specify race unless necessary, which allows us to escape our own biases as we read. I only gave it 3 stars because it wasn't as interesting as her previous book - The Mole People. Some chapters are inordinately long. Luckily, none of the sections rely on one another, so if one child's story simply bores you, you can safely skip it and read the next. However, The Mole People was never boring, so I had to take some marks from Orphans of the Living. It also hasn't become a topic of constant conversation like other books I've read lately. Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in this area of study.
Rating:
Summary: good, unbiased, study of the foster care system
Review: Orphans of the Living starts out with a bang, but drags to an end. The initial story of the two orphanages in a small southern town educates the reader on the foster care system and children's homes as they function today. It is much different than Annie or the Cider House Rules. I was riveted to the way different children reacted to being separated from their parents, and how they dealt with the typical sexual and physical abuse present in their lives. It even helped me understand the behaviour of certain disadvantaged children in my personal history. Unfortunately, much of it was all too familiar to me from children I knew growing up. Perhaps it's a liberal cliche, but it's important to understand the criminal. Many of the foster children were involved in criminal behaviour, but much of the time, it was almost not of their own will. One child does not understand why it was wrong for him to rape another child, because it was the way that 'love' was shown to him in his formative years. Orphans of the Living covers this topic particularly well in the first section. Orphans of the Living does a particularly good job of showing all types, a wide variety, of foster children. White or black, from good family or from none. Whatever your mental stereotype, it will be challenged. I also liked the way she did not specify race unless necessary, which allows us to escape our own biases as we read. I only gave it 3 stars because it wasn't as interesting as her previous book - The Mole People. Some chapters are inordinately long. Luckily, none of the sections rely on one another, so if one child's story simply bores you, you can safely skip it and read the next. However, The Mole People was never boring, so I had to take some marks from Orphans of the Living. It also hasn't become a topic of constant conversation like other books I've read lately. Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in this area of study.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Expose
Review: There are few criminal enterprises more cloaked in secrecy than "child welfare" agencies and how the government raises orphans and other kids left to fend for themselves in foster care. Impressively, despite the best efforts of bureaucrats in several states, Jennifer Toth manages to tell the true stories of five unforgettable children in California, Chicago and North Carolina who try to survive the incredible obstacles placed in their way by the government agencies that are supposed to help them. Toth does a magnificent job in putting a face on foster care kids. They'll make you laugh and they'll make you cry, but how they are treated by social workers and the states will just make you angry. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Interesting & thought provoking book
Review: This book depicts the lives of older children in the foster care system in America. It is a gritty, real, and very compelling book! The chararcters are really well developed and you get the story of not only the foster child himself but their parents, grandparents, sisters, and brothers life stories as well. It really gets you thinking about how these kids ended up this way.....the hopelessness, the helplessness, the isolation these kids feel who don't belong anywhere and it seems nobody wants them. It was depressing but VERY interesting. I'd love to read a follow up book to see how they're all doing 5 or 10 years from now.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting & thought provoking book
Review: This book depicts the lives of older children in the foster care system in America. It is a gritty, real, and very compelling book! The chararcters are really well developed and you get the story of not only the foster child himself but their parents, grandparents, sisters, and brothers life stories as well. It really gets you thinking about how these kids ended up this way.....the hopelessness, the helplessness, the isolation these kids feel who don't belong anywhere and it seems nobody wants them. It was depressing but VERY interesting. I'd love to read a follow up book to see how they're all doing 5 or 10 years from now.
Rating:
Summary: Rich Girl Down With The Poor Folks
Review: This book is a sobering study of the children that many Americans write-off as lost causes. Toth is realistic about these kids' likelihood of making it, but her very human portrayal of them leaves room for hope, and she provides dignity to her subjects even when they are at their worst. I would have liked a little more analysis of the systemic issues of race and class that determined much of the kids' lives before they were even born. At times Toth's tone stinks of noblesse oblige, and somehow her status of white/liberal/middle-class/college girl shines through in every word without ever actually being addressed. Nevertheless, I am always pleased when someone gives the underrepresented a voice, and Toth does just that.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: This is a disturbing book, and anyone who cares will be deeply affected by it. Jennifer Toth is a gifted authour writing about a subject most seem to want to sweep under the rug. Until the difficult aspects of foster care are discussed so openly, changes will not take place. Under the hardships are children who desperately need help, which the current antiquated and bureaucratic system is not always able to provide. This book chronicles the hopes, dreams, successes and failures of some, but are reflective of many in the system.
Rating:
Summary: Tug At Your Heart
Review: This is a wonderful book. Heart wrenching but the truth as it is. she bring life to something people would rather ignore. Children who were swept under a rug are given a voice by Jennifer Thoth. I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: A detailed look at the lives of five kids in foster care.
Review: This is an in-depth look at the lives of five foster children who are alternately in foster care, juvenile detention facilities, the streets and the homes of relatives. It is about their experience with THE SYSTEM and its effects on their lives. It is sad, but very real.
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