Crocodile Mothers Eat Their Young - the title comes from an actual conversation and is imeant to be ironic - is the story of sisters Tina and Selena Diaz, primarily Tina.  Tina endures years of sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's live-in lover, and she and Selena both suffer physical and mental abuse at the hands of their mother, Luz and others.  While marginally graphic, the descriptions of the sexual abuse are quite brief and very few, the aftermath being central to the story.

In and out of foster homes, both sisters at first, and later Tina alone, enter the foster care of Robert and Harold Allen.  Roberta, a teacher at the girls' middle school, had convinced her reluctant husband to become foster parents because she had witnessed several students at her school being seperated from their families.  The couple already had three grwon sons of their own and had been enjoying the empty nest, As time goes by, Harold's - Hal - reluctance is broken down and the bond between Tina and her foster parents grows.  Ultimately, she is torn between her blood ties and her love for her foster parents. She must face her predatory mother's boyfriend in court even as her own mother stands against her.  IN the end,  she musr face the prospect of going back to live with her blood family and be separated from the Roberta and Hal.

The story is told in alternating chapters of flashbacks to Tina and Selena's childhood and the current day life in foster care.  The flashbacks are written in the third person, the current day in the first person from Hal's point of view.

It's my hope that the reader will not only find the story engrossing, but also will gain some understanding of foster care situations, dealing with the foster care bureaucracy, and the sheer number of children in the United States who suffer from abuse and neglect.