I am Stone

Seventeen-year-old Dylan Ryder has been in foster care since she was an infant, and every minute, day, and year has been a trial of survival. Especially, after being placed under the care of Harley and Francis Carlton, a couple with no children of their own and who treat Dylan more like a servant and a punching bag than a child.

For over seven years, their abuses and threats forced Dylan to remain silent. But when Dylan ends up in the hospital, her new caseworker grows suspicious of the Carltons. Dylan wants to confide in Whitney and tell her everything. She wants to be set free. But the failures and negligence of her previous caseworkers make it hard to trust anyone.

But the Carltons aren’t the only threats in Dylan’s life. Forbidden to have friends, and a lack of nice clothes that fit, Dylan is the number-one “untouchable” at school, as deemed by the school’s bully. But one particular run-in with Tracy doesn’t sit well with one of the girls from her inner circle and things at school are about to change.

While Dylan goes through the motions, just trying to survive and keep her grades up in school, Whitney devises a plot to try to learn the truth and improve Dylan’s circumstances, something her previous caseworkers never tried to do. And that difference doesn’t go unnoticed by the Carltons, and Dylan will be the one to pay.

Dylan survives the Carltons, but only just.

But Dylan will heal. She’ll learn that it’s always worth fighting for the next day. She’ll gain a family and friends. And the future has never looked brighter.


Trigger warning: This book deals with subjects that may be difficult for some people, including physical and verbal abuse of a minor, bullying, starvation, brief discussions on sexual assault of a minor, depression, and discussions on suicide.