--- product_id: 1699982 title: "Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island" price: "106.31 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1699982-etched-in-sand-a-true-story-of-five-siblings-who store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # 4.5/5 Star Rating Top 25 in Child Abuse Books International Bestseller Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island **Price:** 106.31 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🔥 Etched in Sand: Where grit meets grace in a story you can’t afford to miss! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island - **How much does it cost?** 106.31 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1699982-etched-in-sand-a-true-story-of-five-siblings-who) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Raw, Unfiltered Truth:** Experience a brutally honest account of survival and resilience. - • **A #1 International Bestseller:** Join thousands who’ve been moved by Regina’s unforgettable memoir. - • **Inspiring Rags-to-Riches Journey:** From homelessness to legal success—proof that hope wins. - • **Top-Ranked in Child Abuse & Memoirs:** Discover a story that’s reshaping conversations on foster care and family bonds. - • **A Testament to Unbreakable Sibling Bonds:** Feel the power of family loyalty against all odds. ## Overview Etched in Sand is Regina Calcaterra’s internationally bestselling memoir chronicling her and her four siblings’ harrowing childhood marked by abuse, foster care, and homelessness on Long Island. Rising from unimaginable adversity, Regina’s story is a powerful testament to resilience, sibling loyalty, and the pursuit of the American Dream, earning top ranks in Child Abuse and Memoir categories with a 4.5-star rating from over 14,000 readers. ## Description #1 International Bestseller Regina’s Calcaterra memoir, Etched in Sand , is an inspiring and triumphant coming-of-age story of tenacity and hope. Regina Calcaterra is a successful lawyer, former New York State official, and foster youth activist. Her painful early life, however, was quite different. Regina and her four siblings survived an abusive and painful childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system and intermittent homelessness in the shadows of Manhattan and the Hamptons. A true-life rags-to-riches story, Etched in Sand chronicles Regina’s rising above her past, while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together through it all. Beautifully written, with heartbreaking honesty, this inspiring memoir is an unforgettable reminder that regardless of social status, the American Dream is still within reach for those who have the desire and the determination to succeed. This story of five siblings determined to stay together against all odds explores: The Foster Care System: The heartbreaking reality of being a ward of the state, and the constant fight to keep five siblings from being separated. Child Abuse Survival: An unflinching account of surviving a profoundly troubled and abusive mother and the intermittent homelessness that followed. From Homelessness to Hope: A true rags-to-riches journey from wandering the beaches of Long Island to becoming a successful lawyer and New York State official. An Unbreakable Bond: How Regina and her four siblings―Cherie, Camille, Norman, and Rosie―relied on each other as a scrappy pack, creating their own family when no one else would. Review: Riveting, terrifying, heartbreaking and yet...courageous! - Do not fail to read this book. Regina's story takes place on Long Island, where people tend to think "nothing like this happens here". Well, it does. This tale takes us on a journey of her own personal heartbreak, terror, and the constant fear she has for the well being of her siblings who she believes she must protect. Her mother is an abusive, alcoholic who beats and verbally abuses her children. She often leaves them either alone, or totally homeless to fend for themselves. Regina takes it upon herself, after her sisters leave to protect the little ones, Rosie and Norman. But she eventually reports this abuse when she is beaten so brutally that her younger siblings are removed from her presence. She is placed in foster homes, where she is sexually abused. What rang true with this book is that the author not only tells her tale with conviction, but she delineates all the emotions she feels such as guilt, hatred and love towards her mother, and a desire to find her real father. Indeed she does, but only after she goes to court and he rejects her. But the knowing is everything. This is a story of perseverance in every aspect of her life to succeed and reconcile with her siblings after her mother passes away. In the shadow of affluent Long Island where people turn the other cheek (I grew up there), the author takes us on one powerful emotional ride; one that will may you cry, and make you cringe, but on the other hand, admire her courage to handle all she handled successfully. Law school, college, followed by highly successful positions in government. The identification in my life with parts of this book was so painful, I almost put it down, but I am glad I didn't. It is a healthy thing to purge your demons, and I am certain that Regina felt that way in sharing her story with us all. This is a story of true survival, and a lesson for us all any time we may lose hope. You have done us all a great service by writing this book, Regina, and thank you for allowing us to become such a part of your story with you. Review: Lightly, lightly written in sand... - But, Etched in Sand in tragic, detrimental ways to children every day, that the system fails them. The fact that ANY child, EVER, must go hungry, be in any kind of abusive situation, be homeless, in THIS country is beyond any kind of reason, or excuse. While I have tremendous admiration for Regina and her siblings, I find myself questioning where the "system" was for these five children and how they managed to remain off the system's radar? How did the school system not "see" any of these siblings in crisis, landlords, neighbors? While I most definitely admire Regina' s success, ability to rise above her very abusive, neglectful childhood to become a very successful adult who has not only defied all the odds stacked against her, but is making a difference with her life. I am concerned that her book "glossed" over, and maybe leaves one with the impression that if in a similar situation you should be able to rise above your situation and circumstances and do the same as Regina. I am certainly not saying Regina is wrong to have written an account of her life. And her account is not wrong, as it depicts her life, and her feelings, and we all know feelings are not right or wrong, they are just what we feel. And I am not saying she should not have a written account of her life as it occurred. I just wonder where the balance might be for those children who do not have four siblings and/or the same encouragement from teachers, etc. Now, lest someone think I am speaking in complete oblivion, I would like to share that I worked as a social worker for 20+ yrs with the first part of my career in child protective services/ foster care system. I investigated physical abuse/ neglect, sexual abuse task force team in my county, worked with intact families to hook them with available services to keep children in the home, worked with terminating parental rights to free children for adoption so they did not linger in the system and thus "age out of" the system. My point being, I am not ignorant of how the system works, and how it does not work. Do I think Regina and her siblings would have "faired" any better in the system and if the system had intervened? Not necessarily. Unfortunately I am all too aware of the abuse, physical, sexual, mental, neglect that occurs in the system. I, unequivocally, can say that the system can at times do more harm than good. But, it also, can stop a child's abuse, neglect and give them the solid, secure foundation they need to flourish. The system absolutely failed Regina, but what it then went on to do to Rosie was downright criminal. When I worked investigations our supervisors worked under the rule of, we always erred on the side of the child. This was not to say the adult was automatically guilty, but that for everyone's protection we would first and foremost protect the child. So in Rosie' s case there would have been too much "smoke", where there's smoke there's fire, and she would have been removed from the situation until we could better assess her safety, which most of the time allowed the child to speak freely in a safe environment away from the person(s) abusing them. Maybe Regina' s book leaves me feeling ashamed that I was a part of a system that could leave her and her siblings in a situation of ongoing abuse and neglect and allow it to continue on and on. ## Features - Used Book in Good Condition ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #40,932 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #24 in Child Abuse (Books) #163 in Women's Biographies #1,092 in Memoirs (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 14,420 Reviews | ## Images ![Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81SH3jTPJtL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Riveting, terrifying, heartbreaking and yet...courageous! *by H***R on March 19, 2014* Do not fail to read this book. Regina's story takes place on Long Island, where people tend to think "nothing like this happens here". Well, it does. This tale takes us on a journey of her own personal heartbreak, terror, and the constant fear she has for the well being of her siblings who she believes she must protect. Her mother is an abusive, alcoholic who beats and verbally abuses her children. She often leaves them either alone, or totally homeless to fend for themselves. Regina takes it upon herself, after her sisters leave to protect the little ones, Rosie and Norman. But she eventually reports this abuse when she is beaten so brutally that her younger siblings are removed from her presence. She is placed in foster homes, where she is sexually abused. What rang true with this book is that the author not only tells her tale with conviction, but she delineates all the emotions she feels such as guilt, hatred and love towards her mother, and a desire to find her real father. Indeed she does, but only after she goes to court and he rejects her. But the knowing is everything. This is a story of perseverance in every aspect of her life to succeed and reconcile with her siblings after her mother passes away. In the shadow of affluent Long Island where people turn the other cheek (I grew up there), the author takes us on one powerful emotional ride; one that will may you cry, and make you cringe, but on the other hand, admire her courage to handle all she handled successfully. Law school, college, followed by highly successful positions in government. The identification in my life with parts of this book was so painful, I almost put it down, but I am glad I didn't. It is a healthy thing to purge your demons, and I am certain that Regina felt that way in sharing her story with us all. This is a story of true survival, and a lesson for us all any time we may lose hope. You have done us all a great service by writing this book, Regina, and thank you for allowing us to become such a part of your story with you. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lightly, lightly written in sand... *by M***Y on November 16, 2014* But, Etched in Sand in tragic, detrimental ways to children every day, that the system fails them. The fact that ANY child, EVER, must go hungry, be in any kind of abusive situation, be homeless, in THIS country is beyond any kind of reason, or excuse. While I have tremendous admiration for Regina and her siblings, I find myself questioning where the "system" was for these five children and how they managed to remain off the system's radar? How did the school system not "see" any of these siblings in crisis, landlords, neighbors? While I most definitely admire Regina' s success, ability to rise above her very abusive, neglectful childhood to become a very successful adult who has not only defied all the odds stacked against her, but is making a difference with her life. I am concerned that her book "glossed" over, and maybe leaves one with the impression that if in a similar situation you should be able to rise above your situation and circumstances and do the same as Regina. I am certainly not saying Regina is wrong to have written an account of her life. And her account is not wrong, as it depicts her life, and her feelings, and we all know feelings are not right or wrong, they are just what we feel. And I am not saying she should not have a written account of her life as it occurred. I just wonder where the balance might be for those children who do not have four siblings and/or the same encouragement from teachers, etc. Now, lest someone think I am speaking in complete oblivion, I would like to share that I worked as a social worker for 20+ yrs with the first part of my career in child protective services/ foster care system. I investigated physical abuse/ neglect, sexual abuse task force team in my county, worked with intact families to hook them with available services to keep children in the home, worked with terminating parental rights to free children for adoption so they did not linger in the system and thus "age out of" the system. My point being, I am not ignorant of how the system works, and how it does not work. Do I think Regina and her siblings would have "faired" any better in the system and if the system had intervened? Not necessarily. Unfortunately I am all too aware of the abuse, physical, sexual, mental, neglect that occurs in the system. I, unequivocally, can say that the system can at times do more harm than good. But, it also, can stop a child's abuse, neglect and give them the solid, secure foundation they need to flourish. The system absolutely failed Regina, but what it then went on to do to Rosie was downright criminal. When I worked investigations our supervisors worked under the rule of, we always erred on the side of the child. This was not to say the adult was automatically guilty, but that for everyone's protection we would first and foremost protect the child. So in Rosie' s case there would have been too much "smoke", where there's smoke there's fire, and she would have been removed from the situation until we could better assess her safety, which most of the time allowed the child to speak freely in a safe environment away from the person(s) abusing them. Maybe Regina' s book leaves me feeling ashamed that I was a part of a system that could leave her and her siblings in a situation of ongoing abuse and neglect and allow it to continue on and on. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Etched in Sand *by J***E on May 5, 2026* Loves loved this book although soo many disturbing situations! I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability which gets portrayed throughout. It’s so well written def kept me going until the end. I just ordered the other book. Thank you for sharing your story!! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1699982-etched-in-sand-a-true-story-of-five-siblings-who](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1699982-etched-in-sand-a-true-story-of-five-siblings-who) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-07-09*