What I Carry

Gr 7 Up–Soon-to-be 18-year-old Muiriel (Muir) has been in Seattle’s foster care system since infancy. Moving to her final foster house before aging out, she knows exactly what to do: keep her head down, don’t get attached, and pack only what she can carry. When Muir’s new housing situation starts to feel like a real home, she must figure out if some things she carries are okay to let go. This novel begins as the story of a teen girl in the foster care system that blossoms into a book full of diverse stories on tough topics. Muir’s experience in lifelong foster care has led to attachment issues, but other characters have their own baggage to share. Her best friend, Kira (who is of Japanese descent), is bullied in school and is healing from her family’s history of being prisoners in internment camps. Zola, Muir’s former foster sister, is moved back and forth from foster homes to her family and faces prejudice as a black child in foster care, which is highlighted alongside Muir’s experience as white child. An author’s note provides more resources on the foster system and how the author’s experience inspired this story.