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X-WR-CALDESC:* Reading the book is not required to join us!\n\nWards of the
  State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe\n\nThis bo
 ok is a must-read for anyone interested in child welfare\, social justice\
 , and the transformative power of the best narrative nonfiction.\n\nIn War
 ds of the State\, award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe's storytelling is 
 both vivid and unflinching\, offering readers a deep understanding of the 
 foster care-to-prison pipeline. Through interviews with psychologists\, ad
 vocates\, judges\, and the former foster children themselves\, Rowe paints
  a heartbreaking picture of the lives shaped by this broken system.\n\nBy 
 the time Maryanne was 16 years old\, she had been arrested for murder. In 
 and out of foster and adoptive homes since age 10\, she’d run away\, been 
 trafficked and assaulted\, and finally pointed a gun at a man and pulled t
 he trigger. She fled\, but it didn’t take long for the police to catch up 
 with her.\n\nIn court\, the defense blamed neither traffickers\, nor Marya
 nne\, but Washington state itself—or rather\, its foster care system\, whi
 ch parents thousands of children every year. The courts didn’t listen to t
 hat argument\, but award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe did.  Washington 
 state isn’t alone. Each year\, hundreds of thousands of children grow up i
 n America’s $30 billion foster care system\, only to leave and enter its p
 risons\, where a quarter of all inmates are former foster youth.\n\nWeavin
 g Maryanne’s story with those of five other foster kids across the country
 —including an 18-year-old sleeping on the New York City subways\; a dropou
 t turned graduate student\; and a foster child who is now a policy advisor
  to the White House—Rowe paints a visceral survival narrative showing exac
 tly where\, when\, and how the system channels children into locked cells.
 \n\nRowe brings her extensive experience and investigative prowess to this
  eye-opening work. With a career spanning over 25 years\, Rowe has written
  for publications such as The New York Times and Mother Jones\, and her re
 porting has influenced policy changes in Washington State. Her previous bo
 ok\, The Spider and the Fly\, was a gripping true-crime memoir that showca
 sed her ability to blend personal narrative with broader social issues.
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BEGIN:VEVENT
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DTSTAMP:20260416T014303Z
DESCRIPTION:* Reading the book is not required to join us!\n\nWards of the 
 State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe\n\nThis boo
 k is a must-read for anyone interested in child welfare\, social justice\,
  and the transformative power of the best narrative nonfiction.\n\nIn Ward
 s of the State\, award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe's storytelling is b
 oth vivid and unflinching\, offering readers a deep understanding of the f
 oster care-to-prison pipeline. Through interviews with psychologists\, adv
 ocates\, judges\, and the former foster children themselves\, Rowe paints 
 a heartbreaking picture of the lives shaped by this broken system.\n\nBy t
 he time Maryanne was 16 years old\, she had been arrested for murder. In a
 nd out of foster and adoptive homes since age 10\, she’d run away\, been t
 rafficked and assaulted\, and finally pointed a gun at a man and pulled th
 e trigger. She fled\, but it didn’t take long for the police to catch up w
 ith her.\n\nIn court\, the defense blamed neither traffickers\, nor Maryan
 ne\, but Washington state itself—or rather\, its foster care system\, whic
 h parents thousands of children every year. The courts didn’t listen to th
 at argument\, but award-winning journalist Claudia Rowe did.  Washington s
 tate isn’t alone. Each year\, hundreds of thousands of children grow up in
  America’s $30 billion foster care system\, only to leave and enter its pr
 isons\, where a quarter of all inmates are former foster youth.\n\nWeaving
  Maryanne’s story with those of five other foster kids across the country—
 including an 18-year-old sleeping on the New York City subways\; a dropout
  turned graduate student\; and a foster child who is now a policy advisor 
 to the White House—Rowe paints a visceral survival narrative showing exact
 ly where\, when\, and how the system channels children into locked cells.
 \n\nRowe brings her extensive experience and investigative prowess to this
  eye-opening work. With a career spanning over 25 years\, Rowe has written
  for publications such as The New York Times and Mother Jones\, and her re
 porting has influenced policy changes in Washington State. Her previous bo
 ok\, The Spider and the Fly\, was a gripping true-crime memoir that showca
 sed her ability to blend personal narrative with broader social issues.
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260318T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260318T193000
LOCATION:1211 E. Alder St.\, Suite 4100\, Seattle\, WA 98122 US
SUMMARY:ESJ Book Group
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