The Bruised Dream

With love comes great sacrifice,
but how will Sofia know where to draw the line?

Thirteen-year-old Sofia Anderson can’t wait for her parents to open their home to children who find themselves in foster care. But when weeks go by without a call from the agency, she wonders if her family will even get the chance.

Finally, the call comes, along with the opportunity for Sofia’s family to foster two small boys. However, neither she nor her family know how much that decision will cost them.

When Sofia finds herself alone and struggling to trust God, she wonders how she’ll ever get out of the mess that’s been created. How can she forgive the same people who heartlessly try to tear her life apart?

The Bruised Dream, by Alabama Rose, is the compelling story of a family who open their hearts and home to foster children. Told with the authenticity of personal experience, The Bruised Dream takes the reader on the rollercoaster of emotions typical for foster families as children arrive and then leave again. Written from the perspective of the eldest daughter, Alabama Rose invites the reader into the hopes and dreams of a young teen as she pours out her heart for children whom she may never see again.

This fast-paced narrative gives an accurate depiction of not only a foster family, but also of the childcare system as it stands today, imperfect in many ways.

The Bruised Dream is the debut novel of this talented young author, and readers will be eagerly awaiting future works by Alabama Rose.

— Dorene Meyer
Author of The Little Ones, Deep Waters, and Bannock and Sweet Tea

Once I started reading Alabama Rose’s book The Bruised Dream, I couldn’t stop. As a worker in the North for over two decades, I found that Miss Rose’s vivid, accurate portrayal of the heart-wrenching situations that exist stirred my emotions deeply and caused me to be “right there.”

As a young writer, she has profound insight into the tensions between biological parents, the child welfare system, and the individuals and families who choose to risk loving children not their own. I am looking forward to what this gifted author will be writing in the future! I highly recommend Alabama Rose’s book!

— Claire Stone
First Nation Reserve Pastoral Caregiver

Softcover Trim Size: 5 x 8

Page Count: 104

Alabama Rose is a fifteen-year-old writer living with her family in northwestern Ontario. She’s always had a special place in her heart for the foster children that come into her home, and she hopes to raise awareness through her writing. The Bruised Dream is her first novel.