Review of From Foster Care to College: Navigating Educational Challenges and Creating Possibilities, by Royel M. Johnson

In From Foster Care to College, Royel M. Johnson offers a variety of inspiring narratives on how young people in foster care have navigated the education system.Through stories and lived experiences of 49 individuals, Johnson acknowledges how systems have failed our youth.However, the focus is on the students' perseverance, resilience and hope as well as highlighting the need for advocacy and action for young people in foster care.Johnson writes of his own lived experiences growing up in kinship care, which provides a unique perspective and emotional depth to what youth in foster care are truly experiencing.Similar to those in these stories, he has overcome adversity and is now a scholar, speaker, and consultant, as well as Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern California.Prior to this book, Johnson wrote a systemic review of literature researching undergraduate youth formerly in foster care, the most underserved student population in higher education.Johnson's research pointed to the challenge in prioritizing college access and completion for youth formerly in foster care is due to a lack of public awareness about the child welfare system.In fact, 83% of adults know very little about the experiences of youth in foster care, let alone their postsecondary education experiences.Johnson organizes this book into six chapters with two forewords and an appendix.Tyrone C. Howard, a UCLA professor wrote the main foreword and James A. Banks, the book series editor, wrote the series foreword.The forewords provide a history and purpose of the foster care system and how the lives of young people