Saving Joey: A True-life Story

Saving Joey: A True-life Story (1) (Joey’s Journey)

Joey’s Journey is a children’s book series based on the true story of a foundling, Mr. Joseph Wood, the current County Judge for Washington County in Arkansas.. The aim of this series is to encourage adoption, inspire young people in the foster care system, motivate parents and young children to believe for a better tomorrow, and facilitate conversations about role of the family and our ability to transform lives. Saving Joey (Book 1) is the story of a young, black, teenage girl who abandons her newborn. She wraps her baby in a blanket and places him in a basket. Leaving him on the streets of Chicago in below-freezing temperature, she waits for her baby to be found. Why? Fortunately, a man rescues the newborn, Joey, from the snow and ice-covered stairs one late evening as he was going to work. With neighbors and police involved, Joey is sure to have a future, after all.

Joseph K. Wood is a foundling. Abandoned as a newborn on the streets of Chicago, he would later be adopted from St. Vincent's Orphanage. Joseph became a teen leader in the tough neighborhood of Jeffery Manor. Since then he has grown and has held key leadership positions as a bank examiner with Illinois Commissioners of Banks, assistant director with the University of Chicago Booth School, head of recruitment at Walmart International and Deputy Secretary of State for the Arkansas Secretary of State Office. Joseph Wood is an elected official and currently serves in Arkansas as the Washington County Judge.

Wood is the author of two children's books, Saving Joey and Adopting Joey (Joey's Journey Series). He has written the forewords of two nonfiction books and he is currently writing his autobiography.

Joseph lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas with his wife June, daughters, and mother-in-law.

Illustrator: Theresa Cates is native Arkansan. She started painting as a youth and found it was a necessary expression she could share with others. Theresa Cates may be reached at: MajesticMotions.com.