Bianca Viola
While the characters and events of this novel are purely fiction, much of the realities of the United States foster care system portrayed in this novel are not. There is no doubt: This country's system is failing our children. According to statistics, more than 400,000 youth in the United States are in the foster care system. Evidence has shown that foster youth are far more likely to do worse in school—not because of their abilities, but because of the many unjust obstacles stacked against them due to the system—and less than 65 percent of foster care youth graduate college.
Upon learning further about the realities of the foster care system and how corrupt it is, as well as the numerous hardships such youth face, I was inspired—called—to write this novel.
In the beginning, I wasn't sure where I was going with it. All I knew was that I wanted to tell a story—a real story, one that touched on complex and unjust—sad, but true—issues of today's society. As an avid reader, I've found that I haven't seen a lot of young adult novels focusing on youth living in group homes.
While many authors say that they created their plot before their characters, there is no doubt that Julian and Theo were born first. In all honesty, it felt like I was writing their stories for them, as I let their pasts and presents and futures and dreams and fears become words on pages. Both of them shaped this story. Essentially, I wanted this to be a novel about them. The more I wrote, the more I learned more about Julian and Theo, as funny as that sounds. It was as if they had already existed, and I was telling their story to the world, getting to know them a little more with each chapter.
While it was a rewarding experience, this was hard to write. What you see on these pages is a year of drafting, revising, and editing—but also a year of learning, discovering, and growing.
Writing this has allowed me to open my eyes further to the corruption of the foster care system, as well as what it is like for orphans like Julian and Theo. Upon turning 18, 1 out of every 5 people from the foster care system end up without a home. Not only that, but foster care youth are statistically far more likely to deal with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
I wanted to create a story that felt real, with characters who could be real people, that would allow readers to feel all the emotions—happiness, sadness, fear, inspiration, frustration—all of it. I hope Dreaming of Hiraeth did that and more for you. I hope that, now, you can take with you the knowledge of the injustices of the foster care systems and have the passion to take action toward change: a system where foster children, who are more than deserving of bright futures, can find their loving homes and be given the resources and platform to fulfill their dreams.
If you can, please donate to organizations to make a difference in foster care children's lives. Here are some trustworthy non-profits to make donations to: Child Welfare League of America (cwla.org/), which provides services that aid 3.5 million neglected and abused children each year; Foster America (foster-america.org/), which improves the lives of children in the foster care or at risk of entering the system; Together We Rise (togetherwerise.org/), which assists hundreds of thousands of children in foster care; and other non-profits paving change and better futures for foster care children.
Upon learning further about the realities of the foster care system and how corrupt it is, as well as the numerous hardships such youth face, I was inspired—called—to write this novel.
In the beginning, I wasn't sure where I was going with it. All I knew was that I wanted to tell a story—a real story, one that touched on complex and unjust—sad, but true—issues of today's society. As an avid reader, I've found that I haven't seen a lot of young adult novels focusing on youth living in group homes.
While many authors say that they created their plot before their characters, there is no doubt that Julian and Theo were born first. In all honesty, it felt like I was writing their stories for them, as I let their pasts and presents and futures and dreams and fears become words on pages. Both of them shaped this story. Essentially, I wanted this to be a novel about them. The more I wrote, the more I learned more about Julian and Theo, as funny as that sounds. It was as if they had already existed, and I was telling their story to the world, getting to know them a little more with each chapter.
While it was a rewarding experience, this was hard to write. What you see on these pages is a year of drafting, revising, and editing—but also a year of learning, discovering, and growing.
Writing this has allowed me to open my eyes further to the corruption of the foster care system, as well as what it is like for orphans like Julian and Theo. Upon turning 18, 1 out of every 5 people from the foster care system end up without a home. Not only that, but foster care youth are statistically far more likely to deal with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
I wanted to create a story that felt real, with characters who could be real people, that would allow readers to feel all the emotions—happiness, sadness, fear, inspiration, frustration—all of it. I hope Dreaming of Hiraeth did that and more for you. I hope that, now, you can take with you the knowledge of the injustices of the foster care systems and have the passion to take action toward change: a system where foster children, who are more than deserving of bright futures, can find their loving homes and be given the resources and platform to fulfill their dreams.
If you can, please donate to organizations to make a difference in foster care children's lives. Here are some trustworthy non-profits to make donations to: Child Welfare League of America (cwla.org/), which provides services that aid 3.5 million neglected and abused children each year; Foster America (foster-america.org/), which improves the lives of children in the foster care or at risk of entering the system; Together We Rise (togetherwerise.org/), which assists hundreds of thousands of children in foster care; and other non-profits paving change and better futures for foster care children.
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