Girl Unbroken audiobook

I read "Etched in Sand" last year and had the privilege of meeting Regina Calcaterra when she came to meet with the book club that I belong to. The book was amazing and I was absolutely in awe of Regina. I have been eagerly awaiting Rosie's book and it is just as terrific. I got the chance to see Regina again when she spoke at my local library with Rosie on Skype. While both women suffered through abusive childhoods, they have managed to break the cycle of abuse to become positive,loving and successful people. They are truly inspiring! A must read!

“Girl Unbroken” is a truly horrific true story of one child growing up in multiple abusive settings. Rosie’s mother, Cookie, is mentally ill, an alcoholic and drug abuser, and reacts to anything with anger and anger brought out her violent side. Cookie had five children by five different men. None of the men stayed in her life. The three older sisters escaped- I believe their story is told in “Etched in Sand”, Regina Calcaterra’s first book. That left Rosie and her older brother Norm to live on the streets, get sent to a foster home that was almost as bad as being with Cookie, get kidnapped by Cookie and moved to Idaho, and end up living on a farm owned by Cookie’s boyfriend as basically slave labor. Rosie also was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. How all five of these people not only survived this torrent of mental, physical, and sexual abuse but turned out to be good, productive, good hearted adults is beyond me. They were born with spines of steel. Thanks to her older sisters, Rosie believes in herself despite the things her mother says to her about her worthlessness. Not only does she do all the farm chores, but she makes straight A’s and is active as a cheerleader and is in many school activities and attends church. Is she perfect? Almost but not quite. She abuses alcohol for a while in high school, but has the self-awareness to stop when confronted about it. Against all odds, she has made a good life for herself. The book, as I said, is horrific. It’s a can’t-put-it-down read because you have to know what horrible thing her mother or step father will inflict on her next. Rosie is one of the abused children who fell through the cracks of a system that is supposed to save them. My heart aches for the child she was.

I received this book through a Library Thing giveaway. And I am so thankful I was able to read this.This is the horrible true story of a child's abusive childhood. Rosie was verbally and physically abused by her alcoholic mother Cookie her whole childhood. And when she was finally taken away and put into foster care the abuse continued there until Cookie kidnapped her back and forced her to move from place to place as her mother went through men. The abuse that Rosie endured was heartbreaking and it was hard to fathom a mother treating her child the way she was treated. Through the love of her sisters and a few others she persevered. This book was an eye opener to the fact that the foster care system and child protective services doesn't always protect the way their supposed to. I couldn't put this book down!

If I ever met the Calcaterra siblings, I would want to give them a big hug. Girl Unbroken is the story of a horrific and abusive childhood, written by Regina Calcaterra and Rosie Maloney. This is the followup to Regina's book, Etched in Sand.Girl Unbroken is Rosie's story.The Calcaterrra siblings, Cherie, Camille, Regina, Norm, and Rosie, were saddled with the worst mother ever. Cookie Calcaterra gave birth to five children, but that doesn't make her a mother. She was in and out of her children's lives. She was known as "Hurricane Cookie," and that's a very accurate description. Cookie drank heavily, she stole from everyone, she wrote bad checks, and worst of all she took her anger out on her kids. Rosie was often on the receiving end of Cookie's rages.Read the rest of my review at: http://asiturnthepages.blogspot.com/2...

A powerful true story about a birth family. This subject matter was not an easy read, but optimism triumphed. Cookie, mother of 4 daughters & 1 son, had her offspringby 5 different men. One of the fathers had Mob connections, and was murdered once released from prison. Cookie had a mental illness, addiction to alcohol and later an addiction to prescription painkillers. Cookie didn't know how to nurturechildren or to be a mother. She left her children alone for months at a time. Her children went w/o food, proper clothes, heat, shelter and sometimes education. Her kids in desperation ransacked the Salvation Army donation drop-off boxes. She subjected her kids to physical & verbal abuse. One daughter was married + the other 2 stayed with the same foster care family. This story focused on Cookie's youngest, Rosie. Cookie had an unstable, vagabond life, with Rosie and son Norman. Cookie had casual relationships with mostly alcoholic men. Various adults showed true interest in Rosie IE teachers, a librarian, mothers of friends. Two of Cookie's man friends protected Rosie like a father would. Cookie seemed to envy bright, pretty Rosie. Cookie physically abused Rosie over the slightest provocation. Rosie called her older sibs "human bumpers" when they protected Rosiefrom their Mom. The foster care system had split up the sibs. Rosie voiced "I sat again and tried to shrink inside myself. If my mother didn't notice I was there, she might not hurt me." Cookie showed herself to be erratic + manipulative. At one pt she attempted to run over Rosie + her sister with her car! Cookie subjected Rosie to 2 pedophiles. Rosie outsmarted the 1st one + the 2nd forced fondling & oral sex on her. The 1st landed in Cookie's BR wearing boxer shorts. Rosie saw $6o. cash which proved Cookie's motives + complicit nature. Rosie became emotionally scarred. A Mom's supposed to protect her kids, not to feed them to wolves! Rosie's story highlighted her quick-thinking and positive actions about her future. She adjusted to news of her bi-polar diagnosis at age 20. She+her spouse created a loving family.

Another sad memoir, this way gave a bit more detail into the lives of 2 of the siblings. Well written.

We first met Cookie, a pill-popping, alcoholic with five children from five different men in, ETCHED in THE SAND: A True Story of Five Siblings who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island (William Morrow) by her oldest daughter, Regina Calcaterra. Her only son, Norman, was spared her abusive tirades that included calling her four daughters “whores’ and “sluts.” Cookie would beat the girls, 4-year-old, Regina received the most brutal, once being tied to a radiator for days. These parts of the book leave the reader wondering how Regina grew up to be the successful woman we read about in the rest of the book.girl Now Regina pairs with her youngest sister, Rosie Maloney to tell Rosie’s harrowing, yet triumphant, story of childhood abuse and survival in GIRL UNBROKEN: A Sister’s Harrowing Story of Survival from The Streets of Long Island to the Farms of Idaho (William Morrow). Through it all, they had each other. Rosie, the youngest, is protected by her older sister, Regina. Their mother, Cookie, blows in and out of their lives “like a hurricane, blind and uncaring to everything in her path.”But when Regina discloses the truth about her abusive mother to her social worker, she is separated from her younger siblings Norman and Rosie. And as Rosie discovers after Cookie kidnaps her from foster care, the one thing worse than being abandoned by her mother is living in Cookie’s presence. Beaten physically, abused emotionally, and forced to labor at the farm where Cookie settles in Idaho, Rosie refuses to give in. Rosie tries to get child welfare services to investigate her mother in Idaho, but Cookie is always able to put up a good front for their visits. Like her sister Regina, Rosie has an unimaginable strength—enough to get her out of Idaho and out of her living nightmare.Filled with maturity and grace, Rosie’s memoir continues the compelling story begun in ETCHED IN THE SAND. Both sisters are able to write about a past that would have destroyed most of us down, certainly scarred us. Perhaps writing is part of their healing.I remember being intrigued to read ETCHED IN THE SAND because I’m also from Long Island and the oldest sister. I found it so sad, but I also found a hero in Regina, and now Rosie, as well. Rosie was fiercely protective of her siblings when they were all young, and carries guilt for not doing more.

Amazing, gut-wrenching sequel to Etched in Sand. This true story had me thoroughly captivated. Oh how I wish it was just fiction. A must-read story of perseverance amidst the most unimaginable circumstances.

Gut wrenching and horrific tale about child abuse. Just when you think you've heard it all... Beautifully written as was Etched in Sand...

This book is tough to stomach, but I had a hard time putting it down.

Probably 4 1/2. If you liked Etched in Sand, you will want to read this book about what happens to the youngest of Cookie's children once she no longer has the protection of her older siblings. It is brutal to read but Rosie's honesty and courage are truly admirable. It is so incredibly sad what many children have to endure at the hands of their parents. It is also disappointing and infuriating how the systems in place to protect these children failed them. As a teacher, it is always a good reminder that we can and should be making a difference in the lives of children. In Rosie's case a teacher literally saved her!