Childhood Regained - Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers

by Jodie Renner (Editor), D. Ansing (Contributor), Della Barrett (Contributor)

“The central theme of the Childhood Regained anthology concerns one of our world’s darkest yet most deeply hidden problems. These are tales that demand to be widely read, written by authors who deserve the widest possible audience. You can’t read these stories and remain passive about the current state of child labor in Asia, or anywhere, really. Strongly recommended.”
~ Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com

Hidden in darkness and unnoticed by the rest of the world, there exists a horrible situation in South Asia - India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Millions of children as young as five, forced to work up to 16 hours a day. Barely enough food. Poor accommodations for sleep and hygiene. Working in dangerous situations – mines, quarries, factories, brickyards, and on the streets.
Governments and charitable organizations are making inroads, but poverty and natural disasters have added to the stresses that increase the number of children involved.
This collection of short stories and a poem seeks to shine light on the darkness, exposing the situation and raising awareness of the plight of these children.
You can help with your purchase of this book, as all the net proceeds will be donated to SOS Children's Villages, a respected and trusted charity that works with these children, helping them to regain their childhood, attend school, and develop skills that will allow them to live a productive life.

Genres: Middle Grade

274 pages, Paperback

Published May 10, 2016

About the author

Jodie Renner is a sought-after freelance fiction editor and award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides: the multi-award-winning CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER. She has also published two handy, clickable writers' e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: WORD USAGE - Style and Usage Tips for Busy Writers and Editors, and QUICK CLICKS: SPELLING LIST - Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips. Jodie has also organized, edited, and published two anthologies for charity to date: VOICES FROM THE VALLEYS - Stories & Poems about Life in BC's Interior, published on Nov. 24, 2015; and CHILDHOOD REGAINED - Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers, to be released on May 10, 2016.

Jodie also presents writing workshops and her craft-of-writing posts appear on various blogs.

As a freelance fiction manuscript editor, Jodie specializes in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, and other fast-paced, suspenseful fiction.

Jodie is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), the Federation of BC Writers (FBCW), and Penticton Writers & Publishers (PWAP).

Jodie's favorite authors include Robert Crais, Sandra Brown, Lee Child, Karin Slaughter, Michael Connelly, Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, Janet Evanovich, Dean Koontz, Lisa Scottoline, John Grisham, Lisa Gardner, and many more.

Jodie has had a lifelong passion for reading, especially fiction. She is a former English and French teacher and school librarian, with a master's degree.

When she's not editing, writing, or reading novels or books on writing compelling fiction, Jodie loves to pursue her two other passions, photography and traveling. She has traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East, and continues to sneak away whenever she gets the chance.
www.JodieRennerEditing.com, www.JodieRenner.com

Reviews

[Karen]

From the harsh realities of child labour to hope-filled, satisfying conclusions, the well-researched stories in this book allow the reader to grasp what Asian child workers endure. Each tale is rooted in the point of view of young labourers who work at a variety of jobs, including manually cross-pollinating cotton plants, selling fruit, crushing rock, and tying knots in carpet weaving. The book captures the hopelessness and desperation of poor families hit with disaster: the worries, fears, pain, and limited options for survival.

With authors from around the world contributing stories, their writing styles are unique and they avoid clichéd, predictable, or overly sweet endings. One author depicts the power of story to allow enslaved children to temporarily escape their daily misery. Another storyteller offers the dramatic perspective of a child sent to work at a quarry when she was so young she has no memory of life outside the quarry. Once freed, her experience of seeing flowers for the first time is profound. In another story, when the children’s creativity and desperation work together to free them, it’s a powerful tale of hope.

For readers in the younger portion of the intended audience, the poignant cover image and evocative sensory details in the writing will draw them into the book. They will be impacted by being exposed to the unfamiliar worlds in these transformative stories. As the characters experience hardship, then rescue, education that brings hope, and childhood joys restored, the reader may gain a new appreciation for all they have and a desire to help make a difference in the world.

Highly recommended.

[K. Stanley]

Not only does this collection of stories raise one's awareness of the issues many children face in the world, the stories are beautifully written, some can be uplifting, and others definitely make one think. Renner has done a wonderful job compiling the stories into a collection well worth reading.

[Eileen]

Heartwarming; revealing; some are riveting - truly inspirational and interesting! I love that the proceeds to towards such a wonderful charity that could help children like the protagonists in the book!!

[Barbara Hawley]

This collection of eye-opening stories will leave you amazed about what is happening in parts of the world. The characters are fictitious, but the facts are real: children are working in horrific conditions in mines, factories, and on the streets. Bringing about awareness is the first step toward change, and this book does that. I wish there were more books like this about every single country where children are exploited.

[Michelle Kidwell]

Childhood Regained

Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers
by Jodie Renner, organizer and editor

Cobalt Books

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Middle Grade, Teens & YA

Pub Date 10 May 2016
I was given a copy of Childhood Regained Through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

Childhood Regained deals with the plight of the Asian Child Worker in the twenty first century:

In this book a few Childhood workers in Asia are highlighted, we get a small glimpse into what these children have to endure.

This book not only talks about what these children endure but it shows too how they are finding hope, how they are receiving help and fighting for a new life for themselves.

In this book the children are helped out of the life Of Childhood labor, they are given an opportunity at an education and a better life.

If you are looking for a book that tells you about what Child Labor in Asia is really like, then I'd recommend Childhood Regained.

Five out of five stars

Happy Reading

[D]

This middle level read offers a variety of children’s stories throughout third world countries. American children will be shocked to learn that children from other countries go through at their age. In addition, it offers links and ways to acquire additional information as well as become proactive in helping children like these. A great enrichment opportunity for students, and a wonderful teaching tool for educators.
Several commonalities throughout the stories are family members selling children off without a clear understanding of what would drive a family to do such a horrific thing. Outside agencies, from other countries, intervene on the children’s behalf while many of their own countrymen appear to ignore or support their plight. Finally, this is a work of fiction based upon factual information which may take away from the credibility of the stories. Some stories are stronger, and more believable than others but middle level students would definitely find this book interesting.

[Autumn Curry]

This book is an anthology of stories about children who are child laborers throughout the world as well as a resource for people who want to become involved in helping them. I felt sad that the stories included weren’t actually from any children who were in these situations, but instead written through research; I struggled connecting with the stories realizing that the stories meant to represent children who are marginalized didn’t actually have a voice in a book meant to help them. The book proceeds go to organizations across the world that help these children which I think is excellent, however, I felt the resources that were given in the book were very limited to help others become more involved. I believe this is a cause that needs more light, but I hope that the children who are impacted can receive more of a voice while doing so.

[Tiz. T.]

Here is a book that is in my Christimas List to give to some friends.

Not even joking. This book is made of many short tales of children forced in labor. Some are worse than others, some are more heartbreaking, but all are poignant and important.

These tales must be known. They must be told.

One thing I enjoyed here is how often the fact that the parents and family of the children had literally no other choice was stressed. It is true, but most often in these kind of [his]stories the parents are treated as monster who can't wait to sell their children off. And sometimes it is true. But most often, it is simply a matter of survival.

We must understand this. Banning child labor is not going to change anything unless what is around it, the society, the economics, also change.

That is important.

This book is important.

Read it.

[Peter Eichstaedt]

Excellent fiction that provides insight into the alarming realities of child labor in south Asia.