Cruel to Be Kind: Part 1 of 3: Saying no can save a child’s life. Cathy Glass
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       Copyright

      Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

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      HarperElement

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published by HarperElement 2017

      FIRST EDITION

      © Cathy Glass 2017

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

      Cover photograph © Iwona Podlasińska/Arcangel Images (boy, posed by a model)

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

      Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

       www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

      Source ISBN: 9780008252007

      Ebook Edition © August 2017 ISBN: 9780008252045

      Version: 2017-07-18

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Acknowledgements

       Prologue

       Chapter One: A Bad Start

       Chapter Two: Max

       Chapter Three: Amazed

       Chapter Four: A Healthy Appetite?

       Chapter Five: Restless Night

       Chapter Six: Hostile

       Chapter Seven: Joining In

       Chapter Eight: Tears

       Moving Memoirs eNewsletter

       About the Publisher

       Acknowledgements

      A big thank you to my family; my editors, Carolyn and Holly; my literary agent, Andrew; my UK publishers HarperCollins, and my overseas publishers who are now too numerous to list by name. Last, but definitely not least, a big thank you to my readers for your unfailing support and kind words. They are much appreciated.

       Prologue

      Since I began writing my fostering memoirs ten years ago, the number of children in care in the UK has risen to an all-time high of 70,000. Children come into care for many reasons, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect or a crisis in the family where there is no one to look after them. It is always very sad when a family is separated, and of course the child suffers. This is the story of one of those children: Max.

      Chapter One

       A Bad Start

      ‘His mother is in hospital having two toes amputated and there have been complications.’

      ‘Oh dear. I am sorry,’ I said.

      ‘Max is going to be very upset when I tell him he won’t be going home,’ Jo, Max’s social worker, continued. ‘It will be the first time he’s been in foster care, although his family are known to the social services. I’m anticipating collecting him at the end of school and then bringing him straight to you, so I’m afraid he’ll just have what he stands up in.’

      ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of spare clothes.’ I already knew that Max was six years old.

      ‘Good. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some of his belongings tomorrow. I’m going to see his mother, Caz, this evening after I’ve brought Max to you. She wants him to visit her in hospital.’

      ‘This evening?’ I asked, aware that it would be late and Max would already be very unsettled.

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