From the opening pages of this stirring book, readers will feel the shock of recognition that accompanies the first discovery of literary brilliance coming from a social context in which most of us, indoctrinated by the bias of presupposition, would not ordinarily expect to find it.  They will also quickly understand that this is not another of those earnestly repetitive collections of “sad stories” by a group of “victimized” young men and women who are frequently presented to us by the press as “typical examples” of a certain category of low-income youth.  Much to the reverse, these are the works of stubbornly unique, diversely talented young writers who share only the one common bond of living in foster care and having been encouraged by a group of rigorous editors- many their own peers-to share with us the mix of pain and fear, and sometimes hope, and sometimes even happiness, that their experience involves.