OUR FIRST REVIEW

Thank you so much Dr. Julie Wilgen for submitting our first review :

Dr. Julie Wilgen’s Review of Every 10th Starfish by Sandy Knauer


Every 10th Starfish chronicles the journey of a troubled teen Annie and her psychotherapist foster mother Sandy Knauer through a series of letters exploring the challenges each faced in their quest to find the right balance of understanding and setting boundaries. The author shows insight and empathy as she and her family tried to provide a stable home for Annie in spite of difficult circumstances. She helps the reader to understand what foster families experience emotionally as they try to adapt to the needs of Annie, who has a history of sexual abuse and other types of physical and emotional abuse, and who, in her 15 short years, had been in 22 foster placements, group homes, psychiatric hospitals, and alternative schools.

This is not a Cinderella story but rather addresses tough choices that real-life Annie and Sandy’s family must face and the reality of letting go of family members as a result of death, addiction, and recalcitrant behavior. This book will open the readers’ minds and hearts to the kind of strength and love that is required to be a foster family and to enable the 10th starfish to survive. It also raises the question of what happens to all the other starfish and foster children who fall through the safety net. It is interesting reading!

NOTE: The reviewer Julie M. Wilgen, Ph.D., teaches in the Dept of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Delaware.

Publishing

Thanks for checking out the blog for my new book Every 10th Starfish. We finally finished typing it so we're one step closer.

The cover art is being designed now and after that it should be published no later than December of 2008.

We cannot wait to have this story told!

Every 10th Starfish - the author

Sandra Knauer is a Licensed Clincial Social Worker. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Delaware. Her graduate degree is from Delaware State University. Sandy is the published author of two books dealing with sexual abuse and addictions. She has her CADC to deal with addictions and is a Certified Sex Therapist through the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She currently owns Middletown Counseling Services, a psychotherapy practice, in Middletown, Delaware. She is the biological parent of three adult children, two grandchildren, and a grown foster daughter with two children.

For more information about Sandra's books and counseling center, please visit middletowncounseling.com