“Tender Morsels” by Margo Lanagan

Recommended by: Meloukhia

This is a fairy tale, but no child’s story. It starts with incest and pregnancy and abortion, and continues with gang rape. Then Liga is magically placed in a world that matches her heart’s desire, peaceful and safe.

While examining the consequences of assault and the consequences of avoiding trauma, the story sings [...]

May 3rd, 2012 | Category: childhood abuse, domestic violence, fiction, survival story, trauma, young adult | Leave a comment

“Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes” by Chris Crutcher

Recommended by: Tess Alfonsin

A hard-edged book for teens that takes on multiple tough issues:

Children’s cruelty to each other for being fat or disfigured
What it’s like to grow up fat or disfigured
Surviving parental abuse and abandonment
Abortion
Hypocrisy
Religious intolerance by some Christians

While I applaud the author’s courage in addressing all these important issues, I think the book would have [...]

January 7th, 2010 | Category: childhood abuse, domestic violence, fiction, survival story, trauma, young adult | Leave a comment

“It’s My Life Now: Starting Over After an Abusive Relationship or Domestic Violence” by Meg Kennedy Dugan & Roger R. Hock

A how-to manual on starting over after leaving an abusive relationship.

This is a well-organized, well-written book for the survivor of an abusive relationship. Common myths, such as, “Anyone who could love an abusive partner must have a serious psychological problem,” are addressed and corrected in each chapter

Topics covered in the book include:

Types of [...]

January 8th, 2009 | Category: domestic violence, healing, nonfiction, trauma | Leave a comment