The Glider: A True Story of Survival from Heartbreak to Hope

Description

By Linda Summerford

When a sister they never knew appears, they are determined to find answers to what caused their separation. Their search leads them to discover the atrocities they endured at the hands of a broken foster care and adoption system. Will they find answers or realize that it’s still happening?

About the Author

Linda Summerford is an award-winning author residing in the mountains of Western NC with her husband Richard. While serving on a foster care review board, and a task force in SC, she realized the atrocities she and her siblings endured were still happening. Linda is working toward legislative reforms in the foster care and adoption systems. She is the President of Word Weavers, Maggie Valley, NC.

Endorsements

In this day and age, child abuse is rampant. The news and social media fill our heads with tragic events, and seldom do we hear about the ones with a positive ending. But, in The Glider, Linda Summerford—with transparency and a heart of love and forgiveness—shares her own poignant story of redemption and healing from a childhood filled with abuse. The Glider is a testimony to God’s mercy, protection, and goodness. It is a story that will stay with you forever. Grab a tissue when you read this book.
~Andrea Merrell, Author and editor.

Linda’s story caught my heart from the beginning and never let go. Powerful, inspiring and filled with hope despite the terrifying darkness she and her three siblings had to endure, her story shows how authentic love truly can conquer all.
~Jessica Brodie, Author

Linda Summerford paints a painful and poignant story made even stronger by the fact that it is her story—real, raw, and redemptive. It spotlights the dangers of a broken system and extends the hope that one person—or maybe two—can change a child’s life forever.
~Lori Hatcher, Author

The Glider shines light into dark places, revealing truths concerning the foster care system. Linda’s personal testimony, though painful, points to the redemptive nature of a Savior who promises to bring beauty from brokenness and never wastes a suffering. This true story won’t merely touch readers’ hearts, it inspires us to prayerfully consider what difference we might make in the lives of children.
~Maureen Miller, Author

Though our stories are different, mine and Linda’s have a few things in common. The best parts being we were both adopted by wonderful Christian parents, and we both have served on the Governor’s Taskforce to reform the Foster Care and Adoption services in South Carolina. The children trapped in a cycle of abuse because of a broken system is just as heart-wrenching and unacceptable today as it was when Linda and Wanda were adopted. My hope and prayer is that through Linda’s beautiful story of love and redemption, more children will be rescued from perpetual abuse and find their loving, forever families—sooner rather than later.

~ Melanie Shull, Author, publisher, and editor