When I Was Her Daughter

Awards: 2023 PenCraft Awards Seasonal Winner (Winter 2023) in Memoir2022 Memoir Prize for Books Winner in Resilience2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Parenting and Family2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Coming of Age2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Psychiatry/PsychologySummary: Seven-year-old Leslie has a serious problem. Someone is trying to kill her. She and her little brother must confront the stark reality of living with their mothers raging psychosis. Other family members try to help but they are no match for the violence and unpredictability that comes with mental illness. Once in foster care Leslie learns that life doesnt improve just because shes free of her mom. All seems lost . . . until one simple and unexpected question changes Leslies world forever and guides her home. When I Was Her Daughter is an award-winning found-family story of compassion and forgiveness. With raw honesty Ferguson depicts herjourney through madness loss and a broken child-welfare system where only the lucky and most resilient survive.