Overview

Awards: 2023 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards Gold Medal Winner Non-Fiction - Memoir 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards (Winter) Third-Place Winner Best Non-Fiction Book 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards (Winter) First-Place Winner in Family 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards (Winter) Second-Place Winner in Autobiographies and Memoirs 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards (Winter) Third-Place Winner in Women's Non-Fiction & Women's Issues 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards (Winter) Third-Place Winner in Motivational / Inspirational 2023 PenCraft Awards Seasonal Winner (Winter 2023) in Memoir 2022 Memoir Prize for Books Winner in Resilience 2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Parenting and Family 2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Coming of Age 2022 Firebird Book Awards First-Place Winner in Psychiatry/Psychology Summary: This award-winning work of narrative nonfiction is a raw and haunting account of one girl's journey through madness, loss, and a broken child welfare system in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Seven-year-old Leslie has a serious problem. Someone is trying to kill her. Her mother Roberta suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and she writes rambling manifestos and forces her children to live on the run to evade capture by the Russian spies she believes are after them. With every psychotic break, Leslie and her younger brother face terrifying circumstances despite the fact that Roberta's only wish is to protect them. Who will help them when she is convinced that killing them will save them from a worse fate? When separated from her family and thrust into foster care for the foreseeable future, Leslie navigates a new kind of fear and loneliness. All she wants is to be loved, but how can her mother ever love her when she is so far away? How can she love her now that Leslie has betrayed her in so many ways? Will Leslie ever see her again? Ultimately, Leslie remains at the mercy of the adults in her life who can effect change, and she wonders if she will ever find a safe place to land. Nobody will talk about her mother's mental illness, and nothing seems to be able to fix her dysfunctional family. But her sixth-grade teacher gives her hope every day, so Leslie pretends she is-and always has been-her daughter. An unbelievable true story of grit and heart, When I Was Her Daughter is, at its core, a tale about how the redemptive power of patience and courage leads to unconditional love for a lost and angry child desperate to understand where she belongs.

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9781952112782

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Reviews

"""This multilayered and nuanced memoir is a stunning account of family love and sacrifice."" -Book Life Reviews ""It felt like a deep dive into the world of child welfare, abuse, and mental illness from a totally unique perspective, and it was delivered with the eloquence and emotional balance of someone who wants to help others whilst sharing her experiences."" -Readers' Favorite Five-Star Review ""This brilliant memoir, a debut no less, has the insights, the epiphanies, and the ability to let the reader really live the life being documented. Not only is this an extraordinary narrative about a family challenged by mental illness and foster care, it gives voice to a greater sense of displacement and alienation. It also offers hope, love, and forgiveness. It is a book for our time-for all time-in that it's heartbreakingly beautiful and genuinely unforgettable. This memoir is absolutely not to be missed. There are not enough thumbs-up to give it. Read it! Now!"" -Sue William Silverman, award-winning author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences ""When I Was Her Daughter is a gripping, visceral, page-turning memoir. With humor and heart, Ferguson tells the story of growing up with a seriously dangerous mentally ill mother, navigating the sometimes-terrifying-often-lonely foster care system, and ultimately finding a home. Unflinching, powerful, lyrical, and raw, this memoir is both heartbreaking and triumphant."" -Marni Freedman, co-founder of The San Diego Writers Festival ""When I Was Her Daughter is a powerful and compelling memoir. Ferguson's gifted storytelling transports the reader to her childhood, a time filled with confusion, imagination, grief, and hope. This is a story that will break your heart and put it back together again."" -Holly Kammier, best-selling author of Lost Girl ""In this haunting and heroic memoir, Ferguson captures the reader with her intense storytelling skills and invites us to cheer her on every step of the way. The book leaves inspiring moments of strength and resilience throughout to be captured and called on for our own forever. Brilliant breakout book!"" -Sunny Rey, owner and creator of Poets Underground and Poets Underground Press"

This brilliant memoir, a debut no less, has the insights, the epiphanies, and the ability to let the reader really live the life being documented. Not only is this an extraordinary narrative about a family challenged by mental illness and foster care, it gives voice to a greater sense of displacement and alienation. It also offers hope, love, and forgiveness. It is a book for our time-for all time-in that it's heartbreakingly beautiful and genuinely unforgettable. This memoir is absolutely not to be missed. There are not enough thumbs-up to give it. Read it! Now! -Sue William Silverman, award-winning author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences When I Was Her Daughter is a gripping, visceral, page-turning memoir. With humor and heart, Ferguson tells the story of growing up with a seriously dangerous mentally ill mother, navigating the sometimes-terrifying-often-lonely foster care system, and ultimately finding a home. Unflinching, powerful, lyrical, and raw, this memoir is both heartbreaking and triumphant. -Marni Freedman, co-founder of The San Diego Writers Festival When I Was Her Daughter is a powerful and compelling memoir. Ferguson's gifted storytelling transports the reader to her childhood, a time filled with confusion, imagination, grief, and hope. This is a story that will break your heart and put it back together again. -Holly Kammier, best-selling author of Lost Girl In this haunting and heroic memoir, Ferguson captures the reader with her intense storytelling skills and invites us to cheer her on every step of the way. The book leaves inspiring moments of strength and resilience throughout to be captured and called on for our own forever. Brilliant breakout book! - Sunny Rey, owner and creator of Poets Underground and Poets Underground Press

Author Information

Award-winning author Leslie Ferguson is an accomplished educator, editor, and writing coach. As a youth in foster care, she dreamed about becoming a teacher. She earned her credential at the University of Redlands and returned to her alma mater to teach advanced English before obtaining a master's degree in English literature and an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. A board member of the International Memoir Writers Association and an active member of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, Leslie enjoys performing her poetry and stories for live audiences. She lives with one husband and two cats in the greater San Diego area, where she binge-watches dark character dramas and reminisces about her glory days as an All-American basketball player and collegiate Hall-of-Fame athlete. When I Was Her Daughter is her first book. For more, visit LeslieFergusonAuthor.com

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