-
Garbage Bag Suitcase
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $24.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A Forever Family
- Fostering Change One Child at a Time
- By: Rob Scheer, Jon Sternfeld - contributor
- Narrated by: Rob Scheer
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of The Promise of a Pencil and Kisses from Katie comes an inspirational memoir by the founder of Comfort Cases about his turbulent childhood in the foster care system and the countless obstacles and discrimination he endured in adopting his four children.
-
-
Great listen!
- By Emily on 12-29-20
By: Rob Scheer, and others
-
Another Place at the Table
- By: Kathy Harrison
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a decade, Kathy Harrison has sheltered a shifting cast of troubled youngsters - the offspring of prostitutes and addicts; the sons and daughters of abusers; and teenage parents who aren't equipped for parenthood. All this, in addition to raising her three biological sons and two adopted daughters. What would motivate someone to give herself over to constant, largely uncompensated chaos? For Harrison, the answer is easy.
-
-
Fostering
- By Ozark on 01-31-20
By: Kathy Harrison
-
To the End of June
- The Intimate Life of American Foster Care
- By: Cris Beam
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who are the children of foster care? What, as a country, do we owe them? Cris Beam, a foster mother herself, spent five years immersed in the world of foster care looking into these questions and tracing firsthand stories. The result is To the End of June, an unforgettable portrait that takes us deep inside the lives of foster children in their search for a stable, loving family. Beam shows us the intricacies of growing up in the system - the back-and-forth with agencies, the rootless shuffling between homes, the emotionally charged tug between foster and birth parents.
-
-
Good dissertation
- By Nim on 03-13-19
By: Cris Beam
-
Keep the Doors Open
- Lessons Learned from a Year of Foster Parenting
- By: Kristin Berry
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a teenager, Kristin Berry had heard all the horror stories surrounding foster care and adoption - abuse, neglect, rejection, anger, and misunderstandings. But instead of closing her heart, God opened it wide. This is Kristin's honest, unvarnished story of some of her experiences as a foster parent of 23 children over the course of nine years. What she learned is that living in a foster home is like living with a revolving door. You never know who will arrive or who you will have to say goodbye to. Leaving the door open means there will be heartache and pain, but also adventure and unexpected joy.
-
-
A Intimate Looking into true grace and foster-care...
- By Peter on 03-09-20
By: Kristin Berry
-
Somebody Else’s Children
- By: Jill Wolfson, John Hubner
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With increasing urgency, the plight of the American family grips the national conscience. The family courts are often our society's last safety net to prevent disaster. In this penetrating exposé of the inner workings of the U.S. family court system, two award-winning journalists provide an intimate look at the lives of the children whose fate it decides.
-
-
great overview of foster care & judicial system
- By Mommyof3heros on 12-22-16
By: Jill Wolfson, and others
-
Neglected
- Scared, Hungry and Alone, Jamey Craves Affection
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little Jamey, two and a half years old, is placed with experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, as an emergency. The police and social services had no choice after a neighbour reported Jamey had been left alone all night while his mother went out partying. Scared, hungry and withdrawn, Jamey has spent so much time in his cot that his leg muscles haven’t developed, and he can barely walk. He is craving affection, and Cathy and her family find him very easy to love. However, as Jamey begins to settle in and make progress a new threat emerges. Coronavirus and lockdown change everything.
-
-
I usually enjoy these books
- By Jennifer Noles on 02-18-22
By: Cathy Glass
-
A Forever Family
- Fostering Change One Child at a Time
- By: Rob Scheer, Jon Sternfeld - contributor
- Narrated by: Rob Scheer
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of The Promise of a Pencil and Kisses from Katie comes an inspirational memoir by the founder of Comfort Cases about his turbulent childhood in the foster care system and the countless obstacles and discrimination he endured in adopting his four children.
-
-
Great listen!
- By Emily on 12-29-20
By: Rob Scheer, and others
-
Another Place at the Table
- By: Kathy Harrison
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a decade, Kathy Harrison has sheltered a shifting cast of troubled youngsters - the offspring of prostitutes and addicts; the sons and daughters of abusers; and teenage parents who aren't equipped for parenthood. All this, in addition to raising her three biological sons and two adopted daughters. What would motivate someone to give herself over to constant, largely uncompensated chaos? For Harrison, the answer is easy.
-
-
Fostering
- By Ozark on 01-31-20
By: Kathy Harrison
-
To the End of June
- The Intimate Life of American Foster Care
- By: Cris Beam
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who are the children of foster care? What, as a country, do we owe them? Cris Beam, a foster mother herself, spent five years immersed in the world of foster care looking into these questions and tracing firsthand stories. The result is To the End of June, an unforgettable portrait that takes us deep inside the lives of foster children in their search for a stable, loving family. Beam shows us the intricacies of growing up in the system - the back-and-forth with agencies, the rootless shuffling between homes, the emotionally charged tug between foster and birth parents.
-
-
Good dissertation
- By Nim on 03-13-19
By: Cris Beam
-
Keep the Doors Open
- Lessons Learned from a Year of Foster Parenting
- By: Kristin Berry
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a teenager, Kristin Berry had heard all the horror stories surrounding foster care and adoption - abuse, neglect, rejection, anger, and misunderstandings. But instead of closing her heart, God opened it wide. This is Kristin's honest, unvarnished story of some of her experiences as a foster parent of 23 children over the course of nine years. What she learned is that living in a foster home is like living with a revolving door. You never know who will arrive or who you will have to say goodbye to. Leaving the door open means there will be heartache and pain, but also adventure and unexpected joy.
-
-
A Intimate Looking into true grace and foster-care...
- By Peter on 03-09-20
By: Kristin Berry
-
Somebody Else’s Children
- By: Jill Wolfson, John Hubner
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With increasing urgency, the plight of the American family grips the national conscience. The family courts are often our society's last safety net to prevent disaster. In this penetrating exposé of the inner workings of the U.S. family court system, two award-winning journalists provide an intimate look at the lives of the children whose fate it decides.
-
-
great overview of foster care & judicial system
- By Mommyof3heros on 12-22-16
By: Jill Wolfson, and others
-
Neglected
- Scared, Hungry and Alone, Jamey Craves Affection
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little Jamey, two and a half years old, is placed with experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, as an emergency. The police and social services had no choice after a neighbour reported Jamey had been left alone all night while his mother went out partying. Scared, hungry and withdrawn, Jamey has spent so much time in his cot that his leg muscles haven’t developed, and he can barely walk. He is craving affection, and Cathy and her family find him very easy to love. However, as Jamey begins to settle in and make progress a new threat emerges. Coronavirus and lockdown change everything.
-
-
I usually enjoy these books
- By Jennifer Noles on 02-18-22
By: Cathy Glass
-
Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- By: J. D. Vance
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
-
-
A story about us, but not for us
- By Kevin Lee Patrick Jr on 11-19-19
By: J. D. Vance
-
An Innocent Baby
- Why would anyone abandon little Darcy-May?
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denieca Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When foster carer Cathy Glass is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day-old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from the hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort, as it’s vital her extended family don't know where she is.
-
-
C GLASS Books Still Influence in UK and Everywhere
- By Mary Burnight on 12-25-21
By: Cathy Glass
-
Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
- By: Louise Allen
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
-
-
Good book
- By Melissa on 08-09-22
By: Louise Allen
-
Behind Closed Doors
- By: Maggie Hartley
- Narrated by: Penny MacDonald
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand-new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and quiet is interrupted by an urgent call from Social Services. A man has been stabbed, and Social Services need to find an emergency placement for his little girl. Maggie is used to children arriving on her doorstep at all times of the day and night, but nothing can prepare her for the sight of 11-year-old Nancy.
-
-
Thoroughly loved this story
- By Anonymous User on 08-08-22
By: Maggie Hartley
-
Spilled Milk
- Based on a True Story
- By: K. L. Randis
- Narrated by: K. L. Randis
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brooke Nolan is a battered child who makes an anonymous phone call about the escalating brutality in her home. When social services jeopardize her safety, condemning her to keep her father's secret, it's a glass of spilled milk at the dinner table that forces her to speak about the cruelty she's been hiding. In her pursuit of safety and justice, Brooke battles a broken system that pushes to keep her father in the home.
-
-
Wow!
- By Sharey on 04-06-17
By: K. L. Randis
-
Who Will Love Me Now?
- By: Maggie Hartley
- Narrated by: Penny MacDonald
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At just 10 years old, Kirsty has suffered a lifetime of heartache. Neglected by her teenage mother and taken into care, Kirsty thought she had found her forever family when she was fostered by Pat and Mike. But when Pat has a heart attack and collapses in front of her, Kirsty's foster family say it's her fault. Kirsty is still reeling from this rejection when she comes to live with foster carer Maggie Hartley. She acts out, smashing up Maggie's home, and even threatens to hurt the baby boy Maggie has fostered since birth.
-
-
Tear Jerker
- By adriana on 11-14-20
By: Maggie Hartley
-
One Perfect Day
- A Mother and Son's Journey of Adoption and Reunion
- By: Diane Burke
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The moment Diane Burke, an author and mother of two grown sons, received an unexpected certified letter in the mail, she had no idea her life would be shaken to its core. Memories of a past she had buried more than forty years ago suddenly resurfaced and she wasn't prepared to deal with them. Steve Orlandi, happily married, father of two and step-father of three, was living the typical middle class American life. But since the age of eight, when he discovered he was adopted, he had led that life dealing with inner questions about his self-identity and genetic history.
-
-
Excellent narration. Story was ok.
- By Willow on 04-03-14
By: Diane Burke
-
Confessions of an Adoptive Parent
- Hope and Help from the Trenches of Foster Care and Adoption
- By: Mike Berry
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adopting or fostering a child brings its own unique set of challenges only another parent facing the same uphill climb could possibly understand. From parenting children with traumatic pasts, to dealing with attachment issues, to raising a children with special needs, it can sometimes be a struggle just getting through the day. Mike Berry knows the loneliness and isolation you can easily feel in your particular parenting role - because he's been there.
-
-
Where’s the hope?
- By A. Dickson on 07-03-19
By: Mike Berry
-
Etched in Sand
- A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island
- By: Regina Calcaterra
- Narrated by: Regina Calcaterra
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this story of perseverance in the face of adversity, Regina Calcaterra recounts her childhood in foster care and on the streets and how she and her savvy crew of homeless siblings managed to survive years of homelessness, abandonment, and abuse. Regina Calcaterra's emotionally powerful memoir reveals how she endured a series of foster homes and intermittent homelessness in the shadow of the Hamptons, and how she rose above her past while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together.
-
-
Big eye-opener about our Foster Care system
- By Jo L. on 09-14-16
-
Parenting Children of Trauma
- The Foster-Adoption Guide to Understanding Attachment Disorder
- By: Marcy Pusey
- Narrated by: Dana DiAngelo
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many foster and adoptive parents are raising children with complex emotional trauma, desperate for answers to heal their families. Caught off guard, these families find themselves with shattered dreams, shattered homes, and shattered hearts, with nowhere to turn for answers. Extended family members, friends, and the greater community don't understand the challenges and can, sometimes, add to the problems these families face, prolonging the healing process for all.
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Amazon Customer on 09-03-21
By: Marcy Pusey
-
American Daughter
- A Memoir
- By: Stephanie Thornton Plymale, Elissa Wald
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The sharp and surprising true story of a woman who finally sets out to understand her past, and the mother she had one day hoped to forget. Full of unexpected twists and unbelievable revelations, American Daughter is an immersive memoir that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last minute.
-
-
Powerful Memoir
- By J. v. Kirchbach on 03-30-21
By: Stephanie Thornton Plymale, and others
-
A Life Lost
- Jackson Is Haunted by a Secret from His Past
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but he just won’t engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson’s behaviour comes to light....
-
-
Excellent book, wonderfully narrated
- By Amazon Customer on 02-24-21
By: Cathy Glass
Publisher's Summary
Shenandoah Chefalo is on a wholly dysfunctional journey through a childhood with neglectful, drug- and alcohol-addicted parents. She endures numerous moves in the middle of the night with just minutes to pack, multiple changes in schools, hunger, cruelty, and loneliness.
Finally at the age of 13, Shen had had enough. After being abandoned by her mother for months at her grandmother's retirement community, she asks to be put into foster care.
Surely she would fare better at a stable home than living with her mother?
It turns out that it was not the storybook ending she had hoped for. When a car accident lands her in the hospital with grave injuries and no one comes to visit her during her three-week stay, she realizes she is truly all alone in the world.
Overcoming many adversities, Shen became part of the three percent of all foster care children who get into college, and the one percent who graduate. Despite her numerous achievements in life though, she still suffers from the long-term effects of neglect, and the coping skills that she adapted in her childhood are not always productive in her adult life.
Garbage Bag Suitcase is not only the inspiring and hair-raising story of one woman's journey to overcome her desolate childhood, but it also presents grass-root solutions on how to revamp the broken foster care system.
More from the same
What listeners say about Garbage Bag Suitcase
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 10-20-18
What an exceptional and inspiring story!
My wife and I chose this book as we are starting our journey as foster and adoptive parents. It was difficult to find a book on the subject that does not focus solely on a Christian approach, so we were excited to find this one so far exceeded our expectations. The story immediately draws one in, and the final chapter could be another great book all together.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tabitha L.
- 11-03-18
Chance Encounter
After seeing Shenandoah speak at a conference, I just knew I had to hear more about her story. It is well written and I didn't want to stop listening. Shenandoah moved me to tears multiple times but her triumph over hate made me smile with joy!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly Jewell-Glasscock
- 11-18-21
Everyone Needs to Read
This is a wonderful book that I feel all foster and adoptive parents should read!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adriana
- 04-15-21
Such a beautiful and tragic story
I loved this story. And appreciated the statistics at the end.
As a former Foster Parent for Crossnore, I love that she brought awareness to a working organization as well.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- N. Michaelson
- 10-04-20
Narrator is distracting
As a foster parent, I was very interested to listen to this. The authors story was valuable and noteworthy. However, the narrator’s manner of speaking was very distracting for me. Every time she pronounced a “d” as a “t”, I wanted to turn the book into a drinking game. Oh! She did it again! Drink!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jihae
- 05-15-19
Absolutely incredible
This book was so good, I did not want to stop listening. Heartbreaking, truthful, painful, and hopeful. Chefalo shares her story, and her heart for wanting to change the foster care system. A must read for those involved in foster care
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 03-19-19
good read
this was a good read. should be used as mandated reading for foster parents. kudos.
-
Overall
- Shannon C.
- 03-14-19
very good
very good insite into foster care and in the end it give alot of references
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Marianne
- 10-12-18
Disappointing
was terrible. won't listen again and want a refund wasn't based on child but on an adult trying to sort troubles.