Skin Deep: All She Wanted Was a Mummy, But Was She Too Ugly to Be Loved?

Skin Deep: All She Wanted Was a Mummy, But Was She Too Ugly to Be Loved?
Casey Watson

Rejected by her mother and excluded by her school, Flip is a little girl desperate to be loved.‘Am I ugly, Mummy?’ are the first words that little Phillipa says to Mike and Casey as she stomps into their lives on a hot August afternoon. She has a Barbie doll in one hand and a pink vanity case in the other and the bemused Watsons can only stare in amazement at this tiny eight year old girl who is being guided into the room by her social worker.Phillipa, known as Flip has Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and life with her single mother has come to an abrupt end after a fire burned the house down. When Casey meets Flip, the child seems remarkably unfazed by what has happened and the thing that seems to worry her is that Casey might find her ugly.Casey has come across children with FAS in her previous job in a high school behaviour unit, but is now realising that fostering Flip is going to be full of challenges which will test her and Mike’s skills to the limit.

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Copyright (#u81e70186-59ed-5c0d-a807-33f5f39c13ac)

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the author’s experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

HarperElement

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First published by HarperElement 2015

FIRST EDITION

© Casey Watson 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

Cover photograph © Cultura Limited/SuperStock (posed by model)

Casey Watson asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780007595099

Ebook Edition © October 2015 ISBN: 9780007595105

Version: 2016-10-19

Contents

Cover (#u50d76840-bf8c-5242-bc36-00275c1bea9b)

Title Page (#ulink_f220deb6-1466-5560-829c-1af4d6287b98)

Copyright (#ulink_4d4ae44b-fc89-5ba3-b170-9b7b6ed55674)

Dedication (#ulink_1a11aa5b-02db-51cd-a7db-45a61935412b)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_b8609b3d-648c-5afd-ab92-c51177301b4f)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_9c40d355-14d3-53de-9175-7cb6e6a21f78)

Chapter 2 (#ulink_b3a29dd1-be53-5b15-a9c6-91b18d7ad176)

Chapter 3 (#ulink_80deb09f-5968-5510-8152-d1d4230ff66b)

Chapter 4 (#ulink_8bf4d5ba-4dd8-5693-b697-b214cc3ef45f)

Chapter 5 (#ulink_15a0c4f5-e24a-5560-8de8-aa44118ff61a)

Chapter 6 (#ulink_1114a374-2475-599c-8ee5-283e7871eee2)

Chapter 7 (#ulink_97f6e919-e3c2-5537-a75d-c64ec3bd90de)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)