Reading Room

The Innocent Eyes of a Child: Everyone’s Little Girl, but Nobody’s Child
By Trea Jackson
Palmetto Publishing

Trea Jackson, a social worker at the Illinois Department of Human Services, was removed from her abusive home and placed into foster care at the age of five. She spent the remainder of her childhood and adolescence moving around from one foster care family to the next. At the age of seven, she began writing fantasy stories as a form of escaping her reality. However, over time her stories became more realistic. “I went from writing stories about what I wanted my life to be like to writing stories about what my life was actually like,” Jackson says. “Ultimately, writing helped me survive the foster care system, and my experience led me to want to help others in the same situation.”

In her new book, The Innocent Eyes of a Child, Jackson shares the story of a young girl named Brighteyes. Brighteyes is abandoned and removed from her dysfunctional home. She spends years moving from house to house within the foster care system. She expresses her feelings of frustration, fear, loneliness, and, at times, hopelessness. She longs for a permanent, loving home, but as she grows up, her daydreams transform into a resolve to survive and rise above her circumstances.

Seeking to illustrate what life in foster care looks like for a child, Jackson conveys a message of resilience and triumph. Jackson believes it is high time foster care children had a voice. “Children in foster care have been silenced for too long,” Jackson says. “My hope is that the book will trigger meaningful conversations on the subject and allow others with similar backgrounds to speak about their experiences.” The Innocent Eyes of a Child is available for purchase online at Amazon.com.

Source: Palmetto Publishing