Etched in Sand describes the life story of Regina Calcaterra and how she survived abuse and neglect during her life. Regina and her four siblings did not have a normal childhood because they experienced abuse and homelessness as their mother self-medicated with alcohol and spent more time away from home with her boyfriends than she did looking after her own children. Cherie, Camille, Regina, Norman, and Rosie raised themselves and had to resort to all sorts of extreme measures to take care of themselves. Their mother Cookie, a woman who had five children by five different fathers, was a “force of nature”, who upturned their life several times. A woman who was in and out of their lives as they bounced from house to house to being homelessness
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Even though I was never put through this, I know many families that treat their children poorly. With today’s modern technology, we see child abuse in news headlines, TV shows and movies. However, many people often seem to have a unwillingness to acknowledge that child abuse and neglect happens; except in the extreme cases where there are broken bones, permanent damage, or even death. After reading this book, I now understand firsthand how painful it was living this lifestyle. I now know that these children feel hopeless, alone and afraid. Personally, I believe we as a society have the responsibility to reform the welfare system that looks out for these children. Even though it is not our fault, we should still attempt to let these children live a better and safer life. Children in foster care are extremely vulnerable, and throughout this novel you realise just how helpless they are, and how lucky Regina was in some cases. The scary thing is that the neglect and abuse Regina and her siblings experienced is not unique, and there are children all over the world who wake up everyday not knowing if they are safe, not knowing if they have enough to eat, and not knowing if one wrong move will result in a beating. Regina Calcaterra presented her story in a way that provoked greater awareness of this issue to readers. She used real examples, not holding anything back to show that these horrid events actually
Even though I was never put through this, I know many families that treat their children poorly. With today’s modern technology, we see child abuse in news headlines, TV shows and movies. However, many people often seem to have a unwillingness to acknowledge that child abuse and neglect happens; except in the extreme cases where there are broken bones, permanent damage, or even death. After reading this book, I now understand firsthand how painful it was living this lifestyle. I now know that these children feel hopeless, alone and afraid. Personally, I believe we as a society have the responsibility to reform the welfare system that looks out for these children. Even though it is not our fault, we should still attempt to let these children live a better and safer life. Children in foster care are extremely vulnerable, and throughout this novel you realise just how helpless they are, and how lucky Regina was in some cases. The scary thing is that the neglect and abuse Regina and her siblings experienced is not unique, and there are children all over the world who wake up everyday not knowing if they are safe, not knowing if they have enough to eat, and not knowing if one wrong move will result in a beating. Regina Calcaterra presented her story in a way that provoked greater awareness of this issue to readers. She used real examples, not holding anything back to show that these horrid events actually