Placed in care at a very early age after his mother's breakdown, Paolo Hewitt experienced a traumatic, often abusive relationship with his foster mother. Moved to an orphanage at the age of ten, he vividly documents what life was like for children growing up in care in the 1970s and addresses the emotional struggles, the fear and rejection that so many children without a normal family life experience. Moving and humorous and with a cast of memorable characters, "The Looked After Kid" is a book about love and luck, broken promises and loyalty amongst friends. It is about the strength and compassion in all of us. It is a book written from the heart and is dedicated to all those who "go to sleep at night believing the world to be a dark and terrible place".