In this book, journalist Jennifer Toth has spoken with the children and young people caught up in America's foster care system. A 1997 review in the New York Times made the observations:
"Orphanages and foster homes are sometimes called substitute care, but Jennifer Toth makes it heartbreakingly plain in "Orphans of the Living" that there is no substitute for the love and security of a family...

Ms Toth is outraged by society's failure to care properly for its victimized children..."