Strong and Tough

This real-life story by footballer Rico Hinson-King, written when he was ten years old, is a life-affirming tale of children who have had to learn at a young age to be ‘strong and tough’.  He and his two sisters were taken from their birth family at an early age, and at first he is taken to different foster parents than his sisters, and this makes him very sad and fearful.  Sometimes he cries, but his new home is nice, and he tries to be strong.  He sometimes sees his sisters at a Contact Centre or in the park, but when they must separate again, it is hard.  He is happiest when playing football, and when the three children are finally sent to a new set of foster parents – together – they are all delighted.  These new fosterers are both male, and they do lots of exciting things together.  There are still worries, though.  This is not a forever family, and the children know they may be separated again.  He repeats his mantra to be ‘strong and tough’.  But it is only on the football field that he knows he can completely be himself.  When told by a social worker that he and his sisters will ‘probably’ be split up, he is horrified and wants to ‘scream and cry’, which he does, but ‘only a little’.  The delight he feels when told that their foster parents have decided to adopt all three children can only be imagined, but the Sharratt pictures show us clearly: ‘It was like scoring the winning, sudden-death penalty in a cup final.’ Charlie in the story is, of course, Rico himself, now a Junior Premier League footballer, and his story is gentle and heart-warming.  The loving and caring LGBT adoptive parents are shown in both text and illustration as the perfect parents for these three young kids who need all the help they can get.