Paula McMillen, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
This is indeed a memoir, pieced together from personal memories, scavenged photographs, recollections of relatives, and piles of state documents. It is also a powerful indictment of the worst failings of the systems that are charged with protecting our most precious resource--our nation’s children. Taken from her mother at three years old and adopted at age 12, Ashley tells a nearly unbelievable tale of foster care personnel who repeatedly violated protocols for checking on children in their care, ignored charges of abuse and even doctored documents, all to the detriment of the children in the foster care system. This is a very personal and vulnerable tale that will touch teens and adults alike. Ashley continues to hold out hope that she will be reunited with her birth mother as she is shuffled, sometimes with her younger brother and sometimes separately, from one placement to another--more than a dozen over the course of nine years. The “three little words” of the title are not the ones you expect, but are the ones that change her life, finally, for the better. What is perhaps most remarkable about this book is that Ashley eventually triumphs, thanks to the help of a dedicated guardian ad litem and her adoptive parents. She becomes a crusader to hold the guilty accountable and to give voice to all the children who feel they have been lost in the system. This is a book that can help readers to better understand the challenges that children in foster care may face and can serve to promote belief in and strategies for self-empowerment. 2008, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Publishing, $17.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 22))
This heartbreaking memoir recounts 21-year-old Rhodes-Courter's horrific experience while living in Florida's foster-care system. She was three when police took her away from her irresponsible mother and placed her in foster care. She endured 13 placements in nine years. Many caseworkers turned a blind eye to the neglect and abuse dispensed by foster families. For instance, one family poured hot sauce down children's throats as a punishment for misbehaving. The author's life improved after being adopted at age 12 by Gay and Phil Courter. Through their love and support, she was able to heal. Rhodes-Courter's anger is evident in her writing as she recalls every injustice and misfortune, while only briefly mentioning major accomplishments that allowed her to meet J.K. Rowling and other notable dignitaries. While this book is not likely to be of interest to casual readers, and the writing is pedestrian, the story is a powerful indictment. The author hopes it will be a source of inspiration and hope to the countless children lost in the foster-care system. (photos, author note) 2008, Atheneum, 320p, $17.99. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 12 to 15. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tracy A. Fitzwater (Library Media Connection, February 2008)
By the age of 20, the author's mother had given birth to three children, one of whom died right after birth. Immature and unable to control what was happening in her life, she gave up Ashley and her brother, who entered the foster care system. In nine years, Ashley would be in 14 different foster homes, and would be separated from her brother. Some of the homes were good, many were not, but Ashley wanted to believe her mother's promise of a home together. Foster children were displayed to prospective parents during adoption picnics, and that was how Ashley met her family. Resisting, and not trusting, when the Courter family decided to adopt her, Ashley tested them. At her adoption hearing, she finally muttered the "three little words" that made her part of the Courter family-"I guess so." Written by Ashley Rhodes-Courter as a way to understand what had happened to her, this memoir will appeal to readers who want to read about happy endings in the unhappiest of circumstances. They will appreciate what young Ashley came to understand-that people can be trusted. Some profanity is included. Recommended. 2008, Atheneum (Simon & Schuster), 320pp., $17.99 hc.. Ages 15 up.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, March 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 7))
Ashley Rhodes was, with her younger half-brother, removed from her mother’s home by Florida’s Department of Children’s Services when she was three, and she spent the subsequent nine years bouncing from foster home to foster home to relative to institution and around again. Trying to stay afloat amid occasional longed-for visits from her unreliable mother, a blend of irritation with and need for her younger brother, a sustained stay in an abusive foster home, and a high-speed revolving door of case workers and other officials, she finally acquired a champion in her court-appointed advocate and eventually found an adoptive home with the Courter family. Though settling into a new family wasn’t easy, Ashley ultimately discovered security with the Courters, and she has since become an advocate for children in care. This is a sobering chronicle, and Rhodes-Courter is candid about her own behaviors and attitudes as well as her experiences, never overdramatizing herself as a wounded innocent, just a real kid who’s understandably troubled by her experiences. The indictment of the children’s services agencies, especially Florida’s, is clear and well made, with sheer bureaucratic carelessness the source of much of the author’s lost and misplaced childhood, and the book gains considerable energy at the end when Rhodes-Courter participates in a lawsuit against Florida for their placement of children in an obviously abusive foster home. Most of the book, however, is raw and unshaped, feeling like a draft for a memoir rather than a finished product; references to people and events appear randomly and lack explanation, emotional context is often absent, and follow-through on issues raised is inconsistent. It’s a moving account nonetheless, and it’ll be an easy sell to readers fascinated by a real-life counterpart to Giff’s Pictures of Hollis Woods (BCCB 12/02) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Atheneum, 304p., $17.99. Grades 7-10.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2008)
As a young child, Rhodes-Courter was endlessly shuttled among state facilities and foster homes (some horrifyingly abusive) before finally being adopted by a loving family. Now in her early twenties, Ashley reflects on the experience in this heartfelt memoir. Her writing is unpolished, but one gets the sense that the words are fiercely, authentically her own. Category: Nonfiction-Biographies. 2008, Atheneum, 312pp, $17.99 (hb). Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Kimberly Paone (VOYA, June 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 2))
Twenty-two year old Ashley Rhodes-Courter was only a toddler when she and her younger brother were taken from their mother and put into foster care. Over the next nine years, Ashley and Luke were shuffled from home to home, some where they stayed together, others apart. Infrequent visits with her mother always left Ashley aching for a stable, normal family life, but her reality was far from those wishful thoughts. Although none of Ashley's placement experiences were especially loving, one set of foster parents was downright abusive and cruel, leaving Ashley psychologically scarred. At the age of thirteen, after nine years in foster care, Ashley was finally adopted by a wonderful family, but her issues with trust kept her from truly believing she was safe and finally had found a home until many years later. Rhodes-Courter's memoir is shocking and sad, but it will both educate those who know little about their peers in foster care and give hope to those young people in the foster care system themselves. Rhodes-Courter and her adoptive parents actually brought charges against the abusive foster parents that so tormented the children in their care, and she has given speeches on the subject of foster care all over the country. Teens will read this success story with great interest, and it will leave them feeling empowered. Ashley Rhodes-Courter, despite her difficult life, was always a good student, has graduated from college, and is quite a wonderful role model. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2008, Atheneum/S & S, 320p., $17.99. Ages 12 to 18.