Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

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Audience: Middle School

Rating: A-

Synopsis: This is a memoir of a girl who survived the foster care system. Despite being mistreated and shuffled for years, Ashley has emerged as a survivor with a powerful story to tell.

Chatter:

(Spoiler Alerts! ) This story had so many elements of fiction, that I had to keep reminding myself that it was true. That does not mean the story is unbelievable – just that I didn’t want to believe that there were foster parents who wielded hot sauce and exercise as punishments or that there was so much mismanagement in the foster care system. I didn’t want to think about the fact that all of this happened to Ashley, because it was easier to maintain that emotional distance that fiction permits.

I was so impressed by Ashley’s ability to write with such emotion, but also perspective. If I were in here shoes, I don’t know that I could have been so honest, and there are very few places where I felt that Ashley’s bias or judgement slipped into her narrative. That’s a skill that many adult non-fiction writers struggle with, and Ashley mastered it at a young age.

For example, the scene where Ashley attempts to drug her adopted parents was so painfully honest that it was excruciating to read. I just wanted to yell at the book, “Don’t do it! What are you thinking?” Ashley could have chosen to leave this anecdote out; it certainly didn’t paint her character in a positive light. But in the interest of telling a complete story, Ashley included the good along with the bad. The situations were she was faultless and the situations in which she were to blame. This balance made the book ultimately more human – shattering that emotional distance and causing me to root for her the whole way through.

Questions:

If you could ask Ashley one question, what would it be?

What was the funniest part of this book? The saddest?

Keep reading!

Paige