Girl Alone by Cathy Glass

Thanks to LoveReading & Harper Element, I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.......

When Joss was only 9 years old, she came home from school to discover her father's suicide.  Joss's Mum has also remarried and she is quite bitter about this and resents her stepfather as he's trying to be her father.

Now Joss is now a thirteen year old very troubled, angry and out of control teenager when she arrives to her third foster carer, Cathy Glass, in as many months.  Cathy is highly experienced in this field and been fostering for over 25 years and has cared for more than 150 children and is asked to look after Joss but she knows this is going to be quite challenging.  Joss's attitude towards Cathy and her and her 3 children is horrible.  She won't let anyone get close to her, she believes that she's invincible and can take care of herself, places herself in great danger on numerous occasions.  She drinks alcohol, smokes cannabis, steals, goes missing and gets into trouble with the police and at school but time is running out for Joss, as she will be moved to a secure unit.  One night when you think thing can't any worse for Joss, they do.  Joss arrives home very late sobbing and with bruises on her face....

I really loved this book, it's based on true events also which I really liked.  I had it read in about a day, I couldn't put it down, I really enjoyed Joss's story from when she arrived with Cathy and her journey along until the last page.  I really admire anyone who fosters or adopts children as they're giving someone a great chance at a life they could never imagine, even though they may have some hard and challenging times along the way.  I really didn't like Joss at the start but I had so many emotions for her reading this book, from annoyance, anger, sadness, empathy, sorrow to happiness.

It was such a sad, thought provoking, heart-warming and uplifting story.  This story had it all from love, family to more sensitive and hard-hitting issues which were dealt with perfectly and in a sensitive manner.  I found I had a little tear in my eye at the end along with shedding a few along the way, so grab this book, curl up on the couch and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too.  I'm really looking forward to reading more books from Cathy Glass and would highly recommend her if you haven't read any of her books already.

Girl Alone is available on Kindle and in all good bookstores.