“An absorbing piece of narrative nonfiction . . . A rare glimpse of what it is like to man these front lines of the war on child abuse—and what it does to a person’s soul. . . . Devastating [and] mesmerizing.”—The Los Angeles Times Featuring a new Afterword by the author
Why does an infant die of malnutrition? Why does an eight-year-old hold a knife to his brother’s throat? Or a mother push her cherished daughter twenty-three floors to her death? Marc Parent, a city caseworker, searched the streets—and his heart—for the answers, and shares them in this powerful, vivid, beautifully written book.
“A revelatory and affirmative work, a grace note played against the darkest passages of family life.”—Newsday “Riveting . . . combines humor and pathos, horror and joy . . . This book is not the observation of a journalist. This comes straight from the heart.”—Denver Free Press “Turning Stones is by turns discomforting and painful, comical and hopeful. Marc Parent’s unblinking honesty made me wince. His deft storytelling made me sit up and listen. And his love for the children—and yes, their parents—made me want to turn stones as well.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here
“An absorbing piece of narrative nonfiction . . . A rare glimpse of what it is like to man these front lines of the war on child abuse—and what it does to a person’s soul. . . . Devastating [and] mesmerizing.”—The Los Angeles Times Featuring a new Afterword by the author
Why does an infant die of malnutrition? Why does an eight-year-old hold a knife to his brother’s throat? Or a mother push her cherished daughter twenty-three floors to her death? Marc Parent, a city caseworker, searched the streets—and his heart—for the answers, and shares them in this powerful, vivid, beautifully written book.
Praise
“A revelatory and affirmative work, a grace note played against the darkest passages of family life.”—Newsday “Riveting . . . combines humor and pathos, horror and joy . . . This book is not the observation of a journalist. This comes straight from the heart.”—Denver Free Press “Turning Stones is by turns discomforting and painful, comical and hopeful. Marc Parent’s unblinking honesty made me wince. His deft storytelling made me sit up and listen. And his love for the children—and yes, their parents—made me want to turn stones as well.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here
