Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut novel, The Language of Flowers, tells the story of a young woman who lived in at least 32 foster homes by the time she turned 18. She has a gift for flowers which helps her overcome her troubled past. We see similar themes in Vanessa's second novel, We Never Asked for Wings. A woman who became a mother as a teenager and never really grew up handed responsibility for her children over to her mother. The book raises questions about child protective services, poverty,