CURIOUS

A foster mother and criminal justice reform advocate blends memoir and social commentary in her debut.

Mississippi-born Dent describes herself as the “proverbial good girl” who never even smoked a cigarette growing up. Even into her early 30s, after receiving a degree in biblical studies from Jackson-based Christian college Belhaven University, the author says that she “checked all the expected boxes” of her conservative, evangelical worldview. Her decision to become a foster parent, however, drastically affected her views on crime and drug policy. She says that she remains a devout Christian (Bible verses and refences to Jesus abound throughout the book), but, unlike many political conservatives, she rejects the current criminal justice approach to addiction—one that incarcerates parents, splits families, and prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation. The book begins as a traditional memoir, but as the narrative moves toward the author’s decision to foster children, she describes her internal transformation and then centers the stories of people who overcame their addictions or fell victim to a punitive system. As she came to criticize the systemic flaws in Mississippi’s approach, Dent founded a nonprofit organization, End It for Good, in 2019, which aims to elevate health-centered approaches to addiction in policy and public education efforts. This platform brought her inside prisons, to the stage of a TEDx Talk, and into college classrooms as an invited speaker. The final chapters offer guidance for likeminded reformers. Throughout, Dent’s book effectively manages to keep a positive outlook, even while also highlighting what she sees as structural defects of the country’s justice system: “All my life I’d been taught that fear is the right response to drugs…If I was going to learn, I needed to lay down fear and get curious.” The book usefully reminds readers of individual victories won by people struggling with addiction every day, and it foregrounds confidence in the ability of people to effect change. The author writes in an accessible, engaging style and cites research to back up her convincing arguments, making for an accessible, inspirational read.

A poignant reminder of the power of personal transformation.