After a blog reader recommended the book Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra, I looked around to see if I could find it available for free. Happily Hoopla had it. I started listening immediately.
![Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island by [Calcaterra, Regina]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51R9p4f-VYL.jpg?resize=250%2C354&ssl=1)
So many of the books like this I don’t want to say “I enjoyed them”. I don’t want to say it “was a good book”. BUT it was all of those things…Instead I think it’s better if I say the story had me thinking and empathizing with the kids. I could say I wanted to keep listening even though the story was painful as I SO hoped something good would happen for these children. It is so hard for me to believe there are people out there who abuse their children and neglect them. More frustrating for me than all of that is that the system is just that…a system that doesn’t always make sense.
Here’s what Amazon had to say:“Regina’s Calcaterra memoir, Etched in Sand, is an inspiring and triumphant coming-of-age story of tenacity and hope.
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Regina Calcaterra is a successful lawyer, New York State official, and activist. Her painful early life, however, was quite different. Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness in the shadows of Manhattan and the Hamptons.
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A true-life rags-to-riches story, Etched in Sand chronicles Regina’s rising above her past, while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together through it all.
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Beautifully written, with heartbreaking honesty, Etched in Sand is an unforgettable reminder that regardless of social status, the American Dream is still within reach for those who have the desire and the determination to succeed.”
Amazon readers give the book 4.7 stars. I’m going to agree. I do wish I could ask the author a couple questions…like did Norm get abused? Did she ever talk to her dad? I recommend the book and thank the blog reader, Sue , who suggested it to me. I appreciate suggestions.
I read Etched in Sand and hope foster care has improved since Regina and her siblings were young. It’s bad enough that parents can treat their children like this mother did but the people that were supposed to take them away from the torture they were going through were just in the foster care for the money and sometimes were worse than their mother. I’m reading Rosie’s story now, Girl Unbroken, and have had to put it down a couple of times for awhile before being able to continue reading. I know we have CASA now and hope that the foster kids are being treated like children should be, with love, caring, and respect. Norm & Rosie are together with their mother in Rosie’s book and it doesn’t sound like he was ever abused. I’m only as far as him starting high school and Rosie is in 5th grade.
I just finished listening to the book yesterday. Tough read for sure but I thought it was excellent. Certainly opened my mind to things I know nothing about and that is always a good thing.