{"id":311082,"date":"2026-05-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=311082"},"modified":"2026-05-13T12:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:40:31","slug":"this-novels-shifting-perspectives-examine-foster-care-from-all-sides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/this-novels-shifting-perspectives-examine-foster-care-from-all-sides\/","title":{"rendered":"This Novel\u2019s Shifting Perspectives Examine Foster Care from All Sides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I drove a little over an hour past barns and water towers to Rockford, Illinois: home to Anderson Japanese Gardens, Pig Mind Brewing (best vegan food in the Midwest, according to the internet), and social worker\/parent\/editor\/debut author Rachel Le\u00f3n. I have long admired Rachel as my editor at Chicago Review of Books, <\/em>and know her to be kind, intelligent, generous, and thorough. They have also worked in child welfare for almost two decades. So it came as no surprise to me that their Rockford-set novel about the foster care system, How We See the Gray<\/a>, <\/em>is a compassionate and nuanced portrayal of the people impacted by the system, its limitations, and its shortcomings. The story is also about second chances: who gets them, and who is wrongfully denied them. <\/p>\n\n\n

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With sharp, funny, and heartbreaking prose, Rachel builds a cast of characters readers will root for. Their disappointments and dreams are deeply felt, and the stakes of their stories tangle. If a completely happy ending is impossible in this web of stories about the trauma of fractured families, How We See the Gray <\/em>delivers the next best thing, or perhaps something even better: satisfying, realistic paths towards forgiveness, healing, and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was eager to speak with Rachel about the many perspectives, vibrant characters, and not-so-miserable city at the heart of the novel. I was terribly grateful she met me at Pig Mind Brewing (which I can confirm is incredible) to discuss their book, out May 15th<\/sup> from Northwestern University Press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jen St. Jude: Let\u2019s start with Rockford! The city is so clearly a character in the story as well; it hums behind all of the action and dictates the landscape of these characters\u2019 lives. Why did you set it here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Le\u00f3n: <\/strong>When I began writing fiction, I set everything I wrote elsewhere. While I was born and raised in Rockford, and still live here, for a long time, I felt shame about where I\u2019m from. Historically, the narrative about my hometown hasn\u2019t been good\u2014we\u2019ve made national lists for our high unemployment and crime rates (higher per capita than Chicago) and [are] on a \u201cmost miserable cities in the U.S.\u201d list. When I was in high school, the goal was to get the hell out. And when that didn\u2019t happen, I felt like a loser for a long time. So when I started writing, all my stories were set in other Midwestern cities I knew: Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this novel deals with the foster care system, which I\u2019ve worked in on and off for a long time\u2014I started way back in 2004. And the foster care system varies widely from state to state, even county to county. I\u2019ve had a few Cook county cases and was surprised how differently things were handled\u2014in the same state! Which is all to say, despite my wealth of child welfare experience, I knew I couldn\u2019t set this story anywhere but Rockford. Originally, I wrote it without mentioning place. I had a writing mentor Karen E. Bender who read a draft and noted I was avoiding setting\u2014at times the characters seemed to be floating in space. I wasn\u2019t conscious of my shame about writing Rockford until it was pointed out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m ruthless with my own work. It makes me happy to tear it to shreds.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So I tentatively added Rockford. Not much\u2014and that was still too much for some agents, who wanted mention of my hometown taken out. They felt that this story needed to feel like it could happen anywhere for it to have universal appeal for readers. But ultimately, this story and these people are very specific to this place. The characters are shaped by this town too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Stielstra is the editor who acquired the novel for Northwestern\u2019s University\u2019s Curbstone imprint, where they focus on craft-forward writing that engages with social justice issues, and in our initial conversation, her only real note about what the novel needed was more<\/em> Rockford. I was thrilled. It gave me permission to lean in, offer specificity of this place, and in the process, it actually helped me get over my shame and become proud of where I\u2019m from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: I was so impressed by the way you layered the story and developed so many arcs over the course of the book. With so many stories intertwining and threads to tie up, how did you think about plotting?
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RL:<\/strong> Obsessively! I know it\u2019s not cool to like plot in literary fiction, but I love it. While I\u2019ve enjoyed many plotless novels, the books I love best have strong narrative arcs, so I wanted to offer that to my readers. But plot is hard! Not formulaic plot, but authentic, character driven plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t like outlining, but I did a lot of it to map out each character\u2019s story on its own, but also outlines where I\u2019d put everyone\u2019s story together to look at the overall arc. I was also looking at emotional beats and the emotional textures of each chapter. I wanted to follow heavier moments with lighter scenes, so I did emotional outlines too. I used notecards with different color markers for different characters and emotions and filled my walls. At one point I had one room full of the character outlines, and in another room the emotional beats. It was meticulous and a little mad scientist-y. But that\u2019s how I discovered what was missing from the novel, which helped guide my many, many revisions.

JSJ: Speaking of revision, I\u2019ve had the best time working with you at Chicago Review of Books, <\/em>where you serve as Managing Director. So I wanted to ask, how do you think being an editor shapes your work as a writer?<\/strong>

RL:<\/strong> I must admit, I love editing more than I like writing. And that\u2019s partially because I don\u2019t consider myself a very good writer! My first drafts are truly embarrassing in their awfulness. It\u2019s through the work of shaping and refining that I turn what I write into something (hopefully) worth reading. I do think I\u2019m a pretty good editor. I can see possibilities in drafts\u2014I typically have no shortage of ideas on how to sharpen a piece. I love editing other people\u2019s work, but I\u2019m also hyper aware that the piece is theirs and it\u2019s my role to help them make it the best it can be while maintaining their voice and intent. Maybe it\u2019s the social worker in me, but when I\u2019m editing someone\u2019s work, I\u2019m very cognizant of their feelings and the trust they\u2019re putting in me so I treat the work with care. But I\u2019m ruthless with my own work. It makes me happy to tear it to shreds. I\u2019m always eager to just get a draft done, so I can get to the fun part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: One of the main characters is Meredith, a case worker who, after drinking too much to cope with the stress of the job, almost loses custody of her own son. Did you see her as a bridge, from those scrutinized by the system to those managing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> Absolutely. Meredith\u2019s character was the genesis of the novel. Like Meredith, I was a single parent who drank to cope with the stress of working in foster care. And at that time, I felt like the line separating me from my clients was so thin\u2014I was only on my side of that line because of my privilege and support systems. I empathized with my clients but also saw how close I was to them, divided by my skin color and education. And other privileges too: Most people see me as cis and hetero, and I present as non-disabled. This novel made me really interrogate my privileges and my own complicity in upholding systems of oppression. Of all the times I\u2019ve let people make assumptions about my sexuality and gender identity because it seemed easier or safer\u2014even when it also hurts. Which brings us back to shame . . . I have a lot of internalized shame for not being out in different spaces. But again, it\u2019s a double edged sword\u2014which goes back to safety and privilege. Even though Meredith is living paycheck to paycheck and lacks family support, she still has a lot of privilege. The same privileges I do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: Another main character is Ebony, a lesbian teen in foster care. I loved her scenes; they felt so close to a teen\u2019s voice, and though I was rooting for her, I understood why she made some self-punishing choices. What do you think she brings to the chorus of voices in these pages?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This novel made me really interrogate my privileges and my own complicity in upholding systems of oppression.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> I had a lot of fun writing Ebony\u2019s character. She felt really important to the novel. I wrote a draft where she was the one telling the story, but realistically, she wouldn\u2019t have access to most of the characters\u2019 stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I hope she brings to the chorus of voices is a vital perspective in foster care. I mean, if my goal was to offer the reader a bird\u2019s-eye view of the system, it\u2019d be weird to only have adult characters. The system is built for the protection of these kids. And yet because of confidentiality\u2014which is obviously critical\u2014youth in care are faceless and nameless in the media. I wanted to humanize someone impacted by the system, and show that these are real kids with real stories. And like any real person with a real story, there is a lot of complexity and contradictions.

JSJ: Speaking of the bird\u2019s-eye-view, how did you decide on whose perspectives to include, and how to show different sides of the foster care system and these characters\u2019 relationships to it? I\u2019m assuming you wanted to show people who played different roles: worker, birth parents, foster parent, etc., yes? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> The novel began as a dual POV story about a caseworker and her former client. As I dug into revisions, I tried pretty much every possibility with POV\u2014I tried it as a single perspective, I wrote it in first person, added some sections in second, tried varying degrees of closeness in third . . . And I played around with how many perspectives to include. At one point there were 13 perspectives. Ultimately, I settled on nine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was important to include a range of diverse voices not only because I think it matters, but also because it reflects the reality of my life. Of Rockford. Of the foster care system. The novel\u2019s diversity is reflective of my world. I grew up on the West side of Rockford, in a diverse neighborhood. In the single block where I grew up were people of different races, ethnicities\u2014plus, two gay couples. That\u2019s how I think neighborhoods should be (and books!): with different people coexisting. I notice in novels by white authors that every character is white. It seems odd and makes me wonder if that\u2019s how they experience the world. Because I\u2019m very aware when I\u2019m in all-white spaces. They don\u2019t feel normal or comfortable to me. I\u2019d rather be the only white person in a room, and have had that experience many, many times. I\u2019m grateful for those experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, diversity was a must. I was concerned about writing about the perspective of people who are different than I am, but they deserved their place in the story. I read as many books as I could find about the topic\u2014Paisley Rekdal\u2019s Appropriate: A Provocation<\/a>, <\/em>David Mura\u2019s A Stranger\u2019s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing<\/a><\/em>, Toni Morrison\u2019s Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination <\/a>. . . <\/em>I approached it with a great deal of caution and anxiety. I really wanted to get it right and knew I had limitations, as all writers do. So, I wrote and rewrote the book many times. I did a lot of research and hired sensitivity readers. Some of my research actually helped me realize one character in particular was closer to me than I\u2019d initially thought: Writing Nel helped me understand my own gender identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still have a lot of anxiety about whether or not I got it right and how readers will respond to it. But I know I approached it with a lot of caution, and hopefully, sensitivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: You mentioned nonfiction books, what about fiction? What works were <\/strong>How We See the Gray <\/em><\/strong>inspired by? With which books is it in conversation? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> I was inspired by Justin Torres\u2019s We the Animals<\/a><\/em>, which might be obvious with the \u201cwe,\u201d and also \u00a1Yo!<\/em> by Julia Alvarez. (One of the chapters in that novel is actually set in Rockford!) \u00a1Yo!<\/em> is a fascinating character study of one woman writer through the perspectives of other people in her life: family, friends, a stalker . . . you get a shifting\u2014yet more complete\u2014portrait of this character through the different lenses. I wanted to also let shifting perspectives complicate what the reader thought they knew about certain characters. Gloria Naylor\u2019s The Women of Brewster Place<\/a> <\/em>and Tommy Orange\u2019s There There<\/a> <\/em>were two other touchstone novels for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for which the book feels in conversation with, I like to think it talks to Kristin Arnett\u2019s With Teeth<\/a>, <\/em>Jessamine Chan\u2019s The School for Good Mothers<\/a>,<\/em> Catherine Hernandez\u2019s Scarborough<\/a>, <\/em>and another novel Curbstone Books published called God Went Like That<\/a> <\/em>by Yxta Maya Murray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: Another interesting voice in the story is the \u201cWe\u201d POV, similar to one of the voices in We the Animals<\/em>. When and why did this get added to the story?
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RL: <\/strong>What\u2019s funny is that I had the title even before a single \u201cwe\u201d appeared on the page. The title just felt right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a long time the novel was written in third person, and a friend observed the narrator was super opinionated about the system, so much so that it was unclear whose opinion it was: the author\u2019s or the narrator\u2019s. She suggested I check out David Ambroz\u2019s memoir, A Place Called Home<\/em><\/a>, because it steps back and editorializes in the way she could tell I wanted to do. And after reading the book, I decided to lean into that. It was too hard for me to write about the foster care system without including commentary. Enter this chorus of opinionated caseworkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see an interplay between both my roles: as a writer and social worker.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I also wanted to show the limitations of narration. Foster care has influenced my writing even when I\u2019m not writing about it, because as a case worker, I\u2019m always collecting stories and looking for their limitations. One perspective stories are limited and fall short. It\u2019s why I love multiple POV novels so much. My work in foster care has also been about shaping stories in a way that has a direct impact on my clients. The novel\u2019s opening says it, but it\u2019s true: This work revolves around stories. I see an interplay between both my roles: as a writer and social worker. I think I\u2019m better at both jobs because of my work in the other. I believe being a writer makes me more empathetic in my day job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: What I love so much about all of your characters is that they\u2019re allowed to be flawed and human, and like you said, the line between the clients and the case workers is so thin. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL: <\/strong>Right. The thing that I always go back to in my writing is the theme of mistakes, second chances, and trying to do better. I have perfectionist tendencies where I beat myself up over my mistakes, yet have no problem giving other people grace for theirs. But I believe most of us do the best we can in the moment. Second chances are an obsession in my work no matter what I\u2019m writing about, especially because I think a lot about inherited trauma\u2014substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and other very human struggles. These things also shaped the novel.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSJ: Along those lines, the story made me think about support networks as a type of inherited wealth. Some people have folks they can call for support in their lower moments, and some don\u2019t. It really matters, and that\u2019s shown here with Meredith and many of the characters who are parents.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n