How We See the Gray
Product details
- ISBN 9780810149892
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 133 x 203mm
- Publication Date: 15 May 2026
- Publisher: Northwestern University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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A riveting story about parenthood, substance abuse, and the strength it takes to come back from our mistakes
Foster care is a disaster in Rockford, Illinois. Meredith, a social worker and single mom, is stretched beyond thin but determined to protect her kids: not only her son, but those on her caseload too. When the stress of the job has her breaking her sobriety, the foundations of her life begin to tremble. After drinking too much, she makes a mistake that puts her preschooler in jeopardy, and Meredith finds herself in a situation that mirrors her clients' as she loses custody of her son. In her fight to get him back, Meredith experiences the system from the outside—while still working for the kids inside of it. Set over the course of a year, this riveting documentary-esque novel is told from multiple perspectives, including those of case workers, birth parents, foster parents, and foster children. Written with the working-class humor and heart that defines the Midwest, How We See the Gray is a story about mistakes, second chances, and trying to do better in a system that seems doomed to fail.
Rachel León has worked in the foster care system for more than a decade. She serves as managing director for the Chicago Review of Books and fiction director for Arcturus. Her work has appeared in Catapult, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Foglifter, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere. She hails from Rockford, Illinois, and is the editor of The Rockford Anthology.
