Valerie Howard

Picking Daisy Valerie Howard

Fans of Karen Kingsbury, Cynthia Ruchti, and Katie Powner will also enjoy the true-to-life characters and faith-driven stories written by Valerie Howard.



Elise Gilpatrick's husband left long ago, and she's lived alone ever since, but when she signs up to be a foster parent, she wonders if she's made a huge mistake when her first placement comes straight from the police station in the middle of the night. Dealing with a fear of failure and trying to maintain her perfectly ordered life, Elise struggles to care for the angry teenager who is more difficult to love than anyone she's met before.



Fifteen-year-old DJ Paulson has lived a harder life than most orphans her age. A terrifying step-father and a string of foster parents who gave up on her at best and abused her at worst leaves DJ with a bruised heart that keeps its distance so no one can hurt her ever again.



When DJ is sent to live with Elise as a temporary placement, the two struggle to connect, and DJ plans to run away as soon as she can get her driver's license, but as Elise shares God's love with DJ, both hearts begins to soften and believe that it's never too late to find the love of a family. Editorial Review:

"I had the privilege of working on this book with Valerie. On the surface, it is a story of a woman who takes in a foster child. They both learn a lot about themselves and each other. It may not be a romance, but it is a love story. Below the surface, Picking Daisy shows the reality of the system where children bounce from home to home at the mercy of adults who do their best, but are all too human. The emotional scars from going through any long-term foster care may never heal. The day a child ages out of the system is, at the same time, the anticipated day of freedom, and the terrifying day when they are pushed into the world without support. Deeper yet, the story is one of redemption, of loving past the brokenness in our lives. It's about second, and third chances, of a refusal to give up on hope, and learning when we are in the darkest of places, we are not alone. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books which brought tears to my eyes. Picking Daisy is one of them."