Crocodile Mothers Eat Their Young is the story of Tina Diaz, who along with her sister Sellie, encounter unspeakable abuse at the hands of their mother and her male friends, and are forced to live in a series of foster homes. Ultimately, after the sisters experience a temporary stay with newly licensed foster parents Roberta and Harold Allen, Tina alone returns to the Allen home. Together they learn to love each other even as they learn how to manage life ruled by bureaucratic requirements even as Tina confronts the people who have harmed her in the past.