Read

READ

Books to Deepen Your Understanding

Reading is a powerful tool for gaining new perspectives and expanding your knowledge base. Explore our recommended books that address critical issues in child welfare, trauma-informed care, and effective advocacy. These resources will help you stay informed and prepared to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the children we serve. Below is a list of some CASA favorites, these books have great insight about common issues that may arise during your time as a CASA. Time spent reading can be counted as in-service credit.

Addiction & Recovery

Beautiful Boy

"What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the questions that haunted David's journey through his son's addiction to drugs."

Hey Kiddo

"A profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction, and finding the art that helps you survive."

Before I Let You Go

"A heartbreaking book about an impossible decision. It captures the anguish of addiction, the agonizing conflict between an addict’s best and worst selves. ”

Dopesick

The author chronicles the spread of addiction throughout distressed communities in Central Appalachia.

The Brain & Resiliency

The Whole-Brain Child

"Neuropsychiatrist, author, and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson offers a revolutionary approach to child rearing with twelve key strategies that foster healthy brain development.

Grace Based Discipline

"Karis shares stories of trial and triumph straight from the trenches of parenting. Karis gives desperate parents a reliable recipe for peace, boundaries, and effective discipline."

Ghosts From The Nursery

Provides scientific evidence that violence can originate in the womb and become enthralled in a child's brain by preschool.

How Children Succeed

Why do some children succeed while others fail? The author argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

Mindset

The author explores how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

Thinking in Pictures

"Introducing a groundbreaking model which analyzes people based on their patterns of thought, Grandin “charts the differences between her life and the lives of those who think in words”

Grace Based Parenting

"Rejecting rigid rules and checklists that don't work, Dr. Kimmel recommends a parenting style that mirrors God's love, reflects His forgiveness, and displaces fear as a motivator."

The Orchid and the Dandelion

This book looks at the resiliency of children and how to adapt our strategies so that all types of children can be successful.

Grit

The daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Angela Duckworth is now a celebrated researcher and professor. This book explores her hypothesis about what really drives success: not genius, but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance.

Child Welfare

No Matter How Loud I Shout

"This book discusses the Los Angeles juvenile court's failings with evidence of the system's inability to slow juvenile crime or rehabilitating offenders."

Somebody Else's Child

"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."

Seven Core Issues in Adoption & Permanency

"The first conceptual framework of its kind to offer a unifying lens that was inclusive of all individuals touched by the adoption experience."

Hole In My Heart

"The author uses her skills as a journalist to report on the social history and long-term consequences of family separation. If you like true stories with strong women narrators, you’ll love the timely and heart-rending memoir about motherhood, identity and love."

Demon Copperhead

This novel is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia and tells the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer. He braves perils such as foster care, child labor, derelict schools, and much more.

Turning Stones

"Why does an infant die of malnutrition? Why does an eight-year-old hold a knife to his brother's throat? A city caseworker, searched the streets--and his heart--for the answers."

Before We Were Yours

"Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into an orphanage, at the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty."

The Primal Wound

"This book describes and clarifies the effects of separating babies from their birth mothers as a primal loss which affects the relationships of the adopted person throughout life."

Twenty Things...

"This extraordinary book, written by a woman who was adopted herself, gives voice to children's unspoken concerns, and shows adoptive parents how to free their kids from feelings of fear, abandonment, and shame."

Cultural Awareness

Born A Crime

"Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist."

So You Want to Talk About Race

"Oluo guides readers through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities"."

Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

"An essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America."

We Are Not Yet Equal

"When America achieves milestones of progress toward black participation in democracy, the systemic response is a consistent racist backlash that rolls back those wins."

Stamped from the Beginning

"This fast-moving narrative chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history."

The Fire Next Time

"A powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative."

The Color of Water

"McBride shares recollections of his own experiences as a mixed-race child of poverty, his flirtations with drugs and violence, and his eventual self- realization and professional success."

Between the World and Me

"Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis."

Far from the Tree

"The author writes about families coping with unique characteristics that could be potentially isolating, but love triumphs over prejudice in every chapter."

A More Beautiful and Terrible History

"Historian Jeanne Theoharis dissects myth-making, teasing apart the accepted stories to show them in a different light."

One Person, No Vote

"Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws."

I'm Still Here

"In a time when nearly every institution claims to value diversity, Austin writes about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice.

The New Jim Crow

"The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States."

Just Mercy

"A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time."

The White Man's Burden

"This study attempts to answer a simple question: What were the attitudes of white men toward Negroes during the first two centuries of European and African settlement?"

A Good Kind of Trouble

"Tensions are high over the trial of a police officer who shot an unarmed Black man. When the officer is set free, Shay goes to a silent protest and starts to see that some trouble is worth making."

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

"It captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right."

How We Fight for Our Lives

The author recounts his experiences growing up as a young, black, gay man in rural Texas.

Domestic Violence

Crazy Love

"Leslie seemed to have it all: looks, a diploma, a glamorous job, and a handsome boyfriend who adored her. But behind her façade of success, this golden girl hid a dark secret."

Why Does He Do That?

"A counselor uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship."

No Visible Bruises

"Fifty women a month are shot and killed by their partners, and she explores the problem from multiple perspectives: the victims, the aggressors and a society that turns a blind eye."

The Out of Sync Child

"The groundbreaking book that explains Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)—and presents a drug-free approach that offers hope for parents—now revised and updated."

Mine Until

"The reader will be enthralled and experience a range of emotions from anger to tears, laughter to joy, and finally absolute hope in their own journey of healing, no matter their circumstances."

In The Dream House

This memoir tells the engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse.

Family Dynamics

Finding Fish

"Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse."

The Bean Trees

"A story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in seemingly empty places"

Little Fires Everywhere

"It explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the pull of motherhood— and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster."

Lizzie Lives in An Angry House

Learn how to make sense of an angry parent, show how to love them and still be able to stand up and speak up, and teach ways to keep themselves safe.

Call Me Tuesday

"Based on a true story, it recounts, with raw emotion, a young girl's physical and mental torment at the mercy of the monster in her mother's clothes--a monster she doesn't know how to stop loving."

Lost Children Archive

"As the family travels west, the bonds between them begin to fray: a fracture is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet."

The Glass Castle

"A remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant."

I'm Glad My Mom Died

A former child actor details her struggles including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her mother.

Foster Care

Three Little Words

"An inspiring true story of the tumultuous nine years she spent in the foster care system, and how she triumphed over painful memories and real-life horrors to ultimately find her own voice."

Another Place at the Table

"The story of life at social services' front lines, centered on three children who, when they come together in Harrison's home, nearly destroy it."

A Chance in the World

"Caught in the clutches of a cruel foster family and subjected to constant abuse, Steve finds his only refuge in a box of books given to him by a kind stranger."

Damaged

"Jodie is removed from her home at eight years old because of suspected child abuse by her parents. Jodie's foster parent writes about the time spent with her."

To The End of June

This book is an unforgettable portrait that takes us dep inside the lives of foster children in their search for a stable, loving family.

Troubled

A portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled, recounts the author's expectation-defying young life and juxtaposes his story with those of his friends who wound up incarcerated or killed.

Foster Girl, A Memoir

"All Georgette wants is a normal life, but it's hard to achieve that when she's forced to live with strangers while her own family is nowhere to be found."

Almost Home

"With the help of a rescue dog, a foster family, a supportive teacher; a love of poetry; Sugar comes to understand that while she can't control the hand life deals her, she can control how she responds."

Walk to Beautiful

"He didn’t just overcome great adversity in his life; he now uses his country music platform to help children everywhere, especially teenagers in foster care who are about to age out of the system."

A Child's Journey Through Placement

This book focuses on a child's feelings, needs, and behaviors once the decision has been made to place the child in foster care.

Hope's Boy

This memoir tells the story of Andrew Bridge's survival after he was taken from his mother, who struggled with schizophrenia, and was left to foster care.

Human Trafficking

Girls Like Us

"Rachel Lloyd’s riveting survivor story is the true tale of her hard-won escape from the commercial sex industry and her bold founding of GEMS, New York City’s Girls Education and Mentoring Service, to help countless other young girls escape "the life."

Runaway Girl

"By the time she was twelve, she had run away from home, dropped out of school, and fled blindly into the arms of a brutal pimp. Even though she escaped him, she could not outrun the crushing inner pain of abuse.

In Our Backyard

Through true stories and years of boots-on-the-ground experience, including at the Super Bowl, anti-trafficking expert Nita Belles teaches readers everything they need to know about human trafficking in the United States and what they can do to join the fight against it.

Renting Lacy

This book explores the trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation in the United States.

Mental Health

Growing up Sad

"Here they explain the current understanding of this devastating disorder and offer guidance for parents, teachers, and counselors on distinguishing depression from ordinary sadness and seeking appropriate treatment."

An Unquiet Mind

"Here Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication."

The Child Catcher

The Child Catcher is the true story of the fight to rescue the children confined to a violent and secretive institution in the rural south.

Girl Interrupted

"After a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. Her memoir of the next two years is a "poignant, honest, triumphantly funny, and heartbreaking story."

The American Epidemic

Dr. Granett provides new knowledge to determine the cause of behavioral symptoms prior to psychoactive drug therapy in children.

Neglect & Trauma

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog

"Dr. Perry tells a story of trauma and transformation through the lens of science, revealing the brain's capacity for healing."

The Connected Child

"The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family and addressing their special needs requires care, consideration, and compassion."

Etched in Sand

"Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness"

The Deepest Well

"Diego—a boy who had stopped growing after a sexual assault—who galvanized Dr. Nadine Burke Harris' journey to uncover the connections between toxic stress and lifelong illnesses."

News of the World

"Kidd meets Johanna, a 10-year-old who has been living with the Kiowa people for the last six years. When she is ordered to return to her biological aunt and uncle, Kidd decides to accompany her."

Cinder Girl

"Born into a large working-class family in upstate New York, Christina Meredith endured years of abuse before entering the foster care system as a teenager."

Educated

"Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her quest for knowledge took her to Harvard and to Cambridge University."

I Never Told Anyone

A book of deeply moving testimonies by women survivors of child sexual abuse.

Wonder

"Born with a facial difference that prevented him from going to a mainstream school, now he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid."

Still Waters

"Separated from her brother, Bryan, and passed from caretaker to caretaker, Jenny endures as she always has: by following the inner compass of the survivor."

Too Close to Me

"The #1 New York Times–bestselling author and child abuse survivor reveals the challenges that he still faces as an adult, as a husband, and as a father."

The Body Keeps the Score

"Dr. Kolk uses scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust."

Where Crawdads Sing

"Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand"

The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog

The authors explain what happens to the brain when a child is exposed to extreme stress, and how today's innovative treatments are helping ease children's pain, allowing them to become healthy adults.

Childhood Disrupted

"The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, but it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall wellbeing."

Poverty & Incarceration

Poorly Understood

"Few topics have as many myths, stereotypes, and misperceptions surrounding them as that of poverty. The poor have been badly misunderstood since the beginning of this country."

A Framework for Understanding Poverty

This book not only documents the facts of poverty, it provides practical yet compassionate strategies for addressing its impact on people's lives.

Maid

"A portrait of working-class poverty in America - Land scrapes by on $9 an hour cleaning houses to support herself and her young daughter."

Burning Down the House

"Bernstein introduces us to youth across the nation who have suffered violence and psychological torture at the hands of the state."

Amazing Grace

The author introduces us to devoted and unselfish teachers, dedicated ministers, and courageous and delightful children of the South Bronx.

Invisible Child

This book reads like a page-turning novel. It is an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family, and the cost of inequality.

Understanding Teens

The Grown-Up's Guide to Teenage Humans

"Stressing the need for compassion, trust, and encouragement, this book breaks down the phases of a teenage human from sixth to twelfth grade."

Reviving Ophelia

Explore the rising and empowering importance of student activism in girls' lives, the wider acceptance of diverse communities, and the growing disparities and how they can affect a sense of self-worth.

One Child

Torey fought to reach Sheila, to bring the abused child back from her nightmare. They embarked on a journey gleaming with a child's joy at discovering a world filled with love.

Why Do They Act That Way?

"Even smart kids do stupid things. It's a simple fact of life. No one makes it through the teenage years unscathed-not the teens, not their parents."

RESOURCES

Continuing Education

Thank you for engaging with our Read resources. To further enhance your advocacy skills and fulfill your continuing education requirements, be sure to explore our other educational materials. Visit our Resources page for more podcasts, movies, shows, and documentaries tailored to support your role as a CASA volunteer.

Resources