I Speak for This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate

How Gay Courter (The Midwife) became a guardian ad litem, a court-appointed advocate for children caught up in the Florida justice system, is detailed with almost Dickensian touches of abuse and familial neglect in the lives of her charges. A serendipitous event led Courter to volunteer for this relatively new position in American justice. Inexperienced in the ways of the courts but fired with idealism and courage, Courter embarked on a mission to right wrongs for victimized children who fell between the cracks of foster care and the law. Here we follow her unflagging efforts to win the trust of her understandably wary clients, tireless travels through the maze of guardianship and, in one case, a hard-won victory in dismissal. No happy endings here: ``most of them are in flux,'' reports Courter, whose heartwarming interventions should inspire others to volunteer in state judicial systems. Author tour. (Feb.)