I am a huge fan of Cathy Glass, so it gives me great pleasure to be today’s stop on the blog tour for her new release, ‘Finding Stevie’. Many thanks to Rosie and the team at HarperNonFic for the blog tour invite and review copy.
Finding Stevie is a dark and poignant true story that highlights the dangers lurking on online.
When Stevie’s social worker tells Cathy, an experienced foster carer, that Stevie, 14, is gender fluid she isn’t sure what that term means and looks it up.
Stevie, together with his younger brother and sister, have been brought up by their grandparents as their mother is in prison. But the grandparents can no longer cope with Stevie’s behaviour so they place him in care.
Stevie is exploring his gender identity, and like many young people he spends time online. Cathy warns him about the dangers of talking to strangers online and advises him how to stay safe. When his younger siblings tell their grandmother that they have a secret they can’t tell, Cathy is worried. However, nothing could have prepared her for the truth when Stevie finally breaks down and confesses what he’s done.
What does TWG think?
Wow – this book knocked me for six. Now, as a fully fledged Cathy Glass fan, I am well aware of just how emotional her books can be, yet nothing prepared me for what my eyes were going to digest in ‘Finding Stevie’.
Stevie has been put into care voluntarily, and it’s now Cathy’s job to guide the lost boy that he is. I say ‘lost’ because underneath of the bravado, Stevie is incredibly lost. He’s at a point in his life where he isn’t sure about his gender, identity, and doesn’t quite understand that his actions can have disastrous outcomes. That said, it angered me at times how Stevie just couldn’t see how much danger he had put his loved ones in. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that he may not have had the guidance regarding technology, like other teenagers, but he clearly knew his actions were wrong so why go through with it?
I’m not shaming at all as I do appreciate how much of a uncertain personality he was, which was heartbreaking to see. I wanted him to do well, and I wanted him to finally be comfortable in himself to be happy.
The undercurrent theme in this book really got under my skin and I won’t lie, I couldn’t shake the feeling of my skin crawling long after I had finished the book. With that in mind, it just goes to show how close to the bone and real Cathy’s stories are because, of you aren’t already aware, they are true stories and the fact that she was able to convey that on paper was utterly mind blowing.
I have never ‘seen’ Cathy lose her cool in any of the books I’ve read, yet my heart went out to her and her family because they couldn’t help but be affected by the choices that Stevie made.
Cathy Glass has written a book which makes you think just how difficult life can be if you don’t have the correct guidance. I admire Cathy for what she does and how much she gives to all of the children she fosters. Yes, ‘Finding Stevie’ played with my emotions and had me cuddling my daughter even tighter, but Cathy Glass has outdone herself once again with this eye opening, poignant, and heartbreaking read. Never mind Cathy giving others hugs, I want to give her one!!
The Writing Garnet 