Three works. One continuing story.
At its center, a memoir for anyone who has had to rebuild a life from scratch — joined by a workbook to carry the story forward and a free essay for the adults in a foster youth’s life.
Dreamer’s Trash Bag
A memoir of displacement, survival, Ameslan identity, faith, and hope.
At eight, James B. Smith’s life changed suddenly. What he could carry went into a black trash bag. From the rural edges of Nevada to the middle of the city, he was moved through foster homes, family fracture, and a childhood he had to survive before he could understand it.
Told from inside the moments as they unfold, Dreamer’s Trash Bag brings readers into the Ameslan world of a child searching for belonging, holding onto faith, and reaching toward a life beyond the bag.
This memoir is for readers drawn to true stories of childhood survival, foster care, family fracture, identity, healing, and the quiet strength it takes to keep dreaming after everything familiar has been taken away.
“Not the heaviness of being discarded, but the heaviness of choosing what pieces I would carry forward — and which ones I would leave behind.”
Chapter Twenty-Two ~ Torn Promises
Inside the memoir: The story unfolds in three parts.
01 — The Leaving: A life in a trash bag
At eight, James — an Ameslan boy — flees with his mother and brothers to rural Nevada. What begins as escape turns into separation. His life is packed into a black trash bag, his brothers are sent to different homes, and James is moved house to house, trying to understand how everything familiar could vanish so quickly.
02 — The Reckoning: What the child carried
House by house, James carries more than what fits inside the black trash bag. He carries loss, betrayal, unanswered questions, and a faith tested by the weight of childhood trauma. Through the eyes of a boy searching for belonging, this part of the memoir follows what nearly broke him — and the dream that kept rising anyway.
03 — The Choosing: The chain-breaker
As James grows, he begins to name what happened, face what was broken, and choose what he will carry forward. He claims his story, breaks the cycle, and builds what the system never planned for him: a life he chose, a family of his own, and a future no longer defined by the bag.
“An incredible journey into the Ameslan world with a young Ameslan boy, torn from his mother and brothers, as he tries to make sense of all the challenges that follow wherever life takes him. You’ll know his fears, his sorrows, his joys, and his triumphs. You’ll see what he sees, you’ll feel what he feels and you’ll be there when he “…reads danger the way other children read faces — through the soles of my feet.”
LeAnn
A note to readers
This memoir includes themes of childhood trauma, family separation, foster care, personal crisis, grief, faith, and survival. It is written with care, but some moments may be difficult for readers with lived experience of trauma or for those who support young people who have lived through trauma.
The workbook: Carrying It Forward
A reflective companion workbook for Dreamer’s Trash Bag.
After reading the memoir, Carrying It Forward gives readers space to turn inward.
Through guided prompts and open writing pages, the workbook invites you to name your crossings, your leavings, your losses, and the things you are still learning how to carry. It is built for individual reflection, book clubs, classrooms, support groups, and community conversations.
Use it to sit with the memoir, reflect on your own story, and carry the conversation forward.
What Foster Youth Wish Adults Understood
A free, trauma-informed essay for adults in a foster youth’s life.
Foster youth often carry more than adults can see.
This short companion essay is written for foster parents, teachers, social workers, mentors, church leaders, relatives, and anyone standing beside a young person in care. Written from lived experience, it names what often stays hidden beneath behavior, silence, anger, fear, or distance.
Read the PDF for free, share it widely, or keep the paperback within reach for a few dollars as a resource for reflection, conversation, and care.
Start with the memoir
Begin with Dreamer’s Trash Bag, then continue with the workbook or free essay.
You must be logged in to post a comment.