It wasn’t realistic for me to think that I could change the world. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t get my hands a little dirty and save all the children who came across my desk. That’s why I became a social worker; to make a difference in kids’ lives. I was doing it—one day, one kid at a time—until I met Faith.

Faith changed everything. For a kid too young to even really talk, her smile said everything I needed to hear. The way she reached for me as I shuffled her from visit to visit with her drug-addicted mom spoke louder than any plea she could have shouted. I heard her. Even the guardian ad litem, the guy appointed to protect her, knew. Everyone did, except the law.

The day I handed her back was one of the hardest of my life. It’s this pesky thing called ‘minimum standard of care.’ It’s the law and the law doesn’t listen to one-year-olds who’d probably rather not grow up in shelters with mothers who don’t believe in daily feedings.

They told me I couldn’t save the world. They told me not to try. I took it as a dare and said, “watch me.”

***

Losing Faith is the story of social worker Aster Henderson and her battle to save a little girl known as Faith. Fighting against a broken system and people who’ve simply given up, Aster finds herself with a decision to make – to break the very laws she’s sworn to work within, or, to follow the rules. Sometimes, when a child’s life depends on it, things get murky . . . At least, for the ones who really care.

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