Book Review: Dandelion by America DeFleur

Autobiographies and memoirs have always been my favorites genre. I can’t remember the first one I ever read, but I do remember thinking, “Wow, this is what the author wanted to make sure was left behind of their life.” As I’ve grown up, I’ve realized those who write autobiographies and memoirs often have a weighty reason for sharing a particular story – sometimes to clear the air, sometimes to commemorate an event or loved one, and sometimes to inspire people to think or act.

When I first encountered America DeFleur on Twitter and she suggested I add her book Dandelion to my To Be Read pile, I did a quick Kindle search. After I found the book, I immediately judged it by a simple phrase on the cover: “Once a foster child, always a foster child.”

The book was on my Kindle within moments, the digital cover open as I quickly scrolled to the first page. Once I began reading, I couldn’t put it down.

America tells a heart-wrenching story. Eloquently and bluntly written, Dandelion begins with one of America’s most difficult moments before taking the reader back in time to walk alongside her throughout her youth. From a dangerously negligent home life to the perils of life as a street kid, from a foster facility to an abusive and gas-lit experience with her father, to a seemingly perfect foster mother to juvenile hall, the reader feels the confusion and chaos of America’s youth with every word. As America recalls each potentially-defining experience of her life, she begins to feel hope – something the reader knows has been all too rare in the author’s life.

As a survivor of child abuse myself, reading America’s story was bittersweetly familiar. At times, her story was comforting to know someone else had felt the way I had as a child and still do today as an adult. However, it was also painful to realize my story is not unique – that so many others feel lost, abandoned, and “numbered” by an imperfect system that stereotypes many of those who pass through it.

The amount of courage it must’ve taken America to share her story is remarkable and worthy of so much praise. It is our duty, as citizens of the world, to read it (and the others like it) so that we may begin to recognize the footsteps of our peers and the paths that so many walk. We must discuss these lives and encourage those who are living them. We must work to improve our foster care system as well as our communities to embrace all members, no matter how difficult or messy their lives have been. And we can begin this process by reading Dandelion because America’s story is so similar to that of so many of our children.