Reviews
We’re pleased to introduce a new Reviews section on our website, showcasing reviews of books, films, TV, podcasts and other media that feature the lives and experiences of children in care and care‑experienced young people.
Stories shape understanding. They influence how care‑experienced people are seen — by professionals, by the public, and sometimes by themselves. This section aims to explore how care is represented in the media: what feels authentic, what challenges stereotypes, and where there is room for growth.
Interested in writing a review?
Get in touch with us at hello@liveunlimited.org.uk
Together, we can help build a more informed, nuanced picture of care and care‑experienced lives.
​Book review by Rachel Century:
The Story of Tracy Beaker
The Dare Game
Starring Tracy Beaker
My Mum Tracy Beaker
We Are the Beaker Girls
By Jacqueline Wilson
Penguin Books
I first read The Story of Tracy Beaker when I was a child, and then came back to it years later after I started working at Live Unlimited. Reading it again as an adult — and through the lens of working with care‑experienced young people — made it land very differently. So much of it felt more real, and in places, more heart-breaking than I’d remembered.
Movie Review by Jenni Mohammadi
Instant Family (2018)
Comedy/Drama
​​As someone who is care experienced, I’m always a little cautious about films about foster care. Care-experienced children are often shown as either damaged and difficult, or as children waiting for the right family to come along and “save” them.
Instant Family isn’t perfect, but I was surprised by how much of it resonated with me. The film follows Pete and Ellie, who become foster carers to three siblings: Lizzy, Juan and Lita.