2024 the best selling books in the world review

Price: $14.56
(as of Dec 11, 2024 21:47:16 UTC - Details)

The Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Damaged tells the true story of Donna, who came into foster care aged ten, having been abused, victimised and rejected by her family.

Donna had been in foster care with her two young brothers for three weeks when she is abruptly moved to Cathy’s. When Donna arrives she is silent, withdrawn and walks with her shoulders hunched forward and her head down. Donna is clearly a very haunted child and refuses to interact with Cathy’s children Adrian and Paula.

After patience and encouragement from Cathy, Donna slowly starts to talk and tells Cathy that she blames herself for her and her brothers being placed in care. The social services were aware that Donna and her brothers had been neglected by their alcoholic mother, but no one realised the extent of the abuse they were forced to suffer. The truth of the physical torment she was put through slowly emerges, and as Donna grows to trust Cathy she tells her how her mother used to make her wash herself with wire wool so that she could get rid of her skin colour as her mother was so ashamed that Donna was mixed race.

The psychological wounds caused by the bullying she received also start to resurface when Donna starts reenacting the ways she was treated at home by hitting and bullying Paula, so much so that Cathy can’t let Donna out of her sight.

As the pressure begins to mount on Cathy to help this child, things start to get worse and Donna begins behaving in erratic ways, trashing her bedroom and being regularly abusive towards Cathy’s children. Cathy begins to wonder if she can find a way to help this child or if Donna’s scars run too deep.

Cathy Glass's book 'Helpless' was a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2024-08-26.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperElement (October 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0007281048
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007281046
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1 x 5 x 7.7 inches
Reviewer: CJ_Cin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A very good read, it pulls at your heart.
Review: I just finished reading this book and I have to say that it was a very interesting read, an inside look to what the children go through....it's a sad thing to see a child cry when they are taking into care cause their parents care more about drugs and alcohol than their own flesh and blood, but then is even worse to think that you can put your own child through all that mental abuse, to reject them and make them feel unloved and blame everything on them, Cathy tells the storie well letting us all know how Donna dealt with everything and how little by little she is still getting better, I think that you have to be a special kind of person to be able to foster all kids with all different stories and problems and to try and help them while they stay with you, I know for the most part the parents work on getting better to get their children back but then you have the special cases like this story in which the children are found a better permanent home.I recommend this book to everyone is an eye opener to a different world that some of us don't know but unfortunately exist.

Reviewer: Cleverfox
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Touches the heart, makes you thankful and think!
Review: I have read one of Glass'es books, Damaged and felt not only touched and thankful there are such excellent people out there with this talent but also educated. So I wanted to continue reading Cathy Glass's books. This one did not dissapoint.I love how her books read close to what a diary log of family happenings rather then totally emotional outpooring. I find it easier to relate to the damaged children and marvel at the ability of people who can figure out a child's drama like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. It is intriging and totally satisfactory in the end. I also enjoy the fact she doesn't pull any punches in regards to what happens to each child. Not all children are able to rebuild their lives after abuse.I am more understanding of the social dilema of workers in this arena and how each child can impact our society by producing more damaged people if not helped. Therefore I have gained more of a world view that this is occuring everywhere. It isn't a pretty picture but it has made me more aware. And for that I am thankful. perhaps Cathy's books would be good reads for older high school students for more understanding and possibly for volunteering to do more social work.When you read her books, you will be touched.

Reviewer: Intrepid Reader
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: 4 3/4 Stars from Red Adept Reviews
Review: Plot/Storyline: 5 StarsThis book told an incredibly sad story of a young girl who was taken into foster care along with her two younger brothers. Although it was heart-wrenching, it was also uplifting to know that there are people out there willing to help kids in such a situation.I was impressed with the way Ms. Glass told the story. She did not appear to be trying to embellish it using shock tactics. Instead, she told the story as it happened, only shocking the reader when she was shocked at the time with the child's incredible tales of abuse.Although Ms. Glass did mention when others gave her compliments for her work with "Donna", she never appeared to be bragging about herself. She simply did the work of a mother for a girl whose mother was extremely unfit.I cried a couple of times during this read. The treatment of Donna by her mother was simply appalling. However, I also laughed a few times when the author told of humorous portions of the tale. Ms. Glass certainly has maintained her sense of humor through the atrocities she must hear of in her work.Character Development: 4 3/4 StarsAlthough Ms. Glass certainly had no way of knowing the inner workings of Donna's mind and emotions, in her telling of Donna's story, she made me feel as though I knew Donna. She also threw in enough information about her own children to have me engrossed in their interactions with Donna. I did think that more about Ms. Glass and her children could have been revealed to give a more full story. I would have been interested to have more insight into the children's thoughts and feelings.While Ms. Glass revealed much of herself in respect to Donna, she did not tell of her feelings outside of that.Writing Style: 4 1/2 StarsThe writing style had a smooth, easy flow. At times, I did have to pause and think about certain phrases as the book is set in England. There were some verb tense issues here and there, also, some of which was just due to the "foreign language" , but at other points, it just seemed like the verb tense was inappropriate.Rating: PG-15 for Sever Child Abuse and Graphic Adult Language

Reviewer: alicia myers
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: AWESOME!!!!!
Review: This is an awesome story. Yes, the story is sad but it is an awesome read and look at the inner workings of life in a carer's life when fostering. This book is set in Europe so you will find some different wording for some foods and baby equipment. But once you start reading I promise you will not want to put it down and you will want to read ALL of the books Cathy Glass has so kindly written for us to not only enjoy but maybe learn from her love and dedication to helping foster children.

Reviewer: Janet Leonhard
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Saddest Girl in the World by Cathy Glass
Review: Wonderful! Cathy Glass stories will touch anyone who has children or works with children. She writes about how less fortunate children from homes of some kind of abuse and how she works to show them love, respect, and kindness. Her work shows how with a lot of patience and love these children can learn to live, trust, and love in a normal household. She is up front with the battles that people who take these children must face and how with time can they can go on the be successful, productive individuals. She touches the readers hearts. I can not put any of her books down till the end. Please keep writing these beautiful stories Cathy.

Reviewer: Elaine Erickson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Love the price of the books

Reviewer: michelle lockwood
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great read

Reviewer: Mme Tamara BENISTANT
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Comme tous les livres de Cathy Glass, j’étais ravie de lire celui ci

Reviewer: Michelle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book, as addictive to read as all of her books, Cathy captures the readers intrigue right from the start which results in lack of sleep until finished. Couldn’t put the book down.

Reviewer: Joanne E sawyer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Really excellent story. Love Cathy Glass’s books. , reading them all again from the beginning in order….. so nice to keep reading them. Books full of trial and tribulation, where Cathy’s love and care overcome all the odds…. so uplifting.