It was only after I requested this title that I learned Cathy Glass is the author of a dozen or more similar ‘true life stories’ all inspired by her experiences as a foster mother.

Please Don’t Take My Baby is the story of seventeen year old Jade. Pregnant and homeless after one too many arguments with her mother, she enters Cathy’s care on a short time placement. Though an experienced foster carer, Cathy is out of her depth dealing with a rebellious teenager and when Jade’s daughter is born the situation becomes even more complicated.

While not entirely emotionless, I felt Please Don’t Take My Baby read like an extended set of case notes. The tone is largely wooden and bland, written with distinct middle-class British reserve. While I appreciated the lack of sensationalism, Glass is perhaps too careful to paint everyone concerned in the story in the best possible light. As a result I felt that Glass offered little in the way of insight into either the individuals or the issues on a larger scale.

Though Glass appears warm, caring and sincere there is a naivety in her portrait that seems disingenuous. Glass pleads a lack of experience with teens but I was surprised at how easily Jade was able to manipulate Cathy. Jade’s attitude and behaviour, while perhaps not entirely typical, is hardly shocking and even quite tame compared to most of the mothers featured on America’s ‘Teen Mom’.

Unless you lead a particularly sheltered life there is nothing extraordinary about Jade’s story as a pregnant teen, though it is ultimately an uplifting one. Despite the early difficulties, the epilogue and the subsequent update about the family provided on Cathy Glass’s website reveals the best of endings for all concerned. ( )