Strong At The Heart

I just finished reading Sold, a free verse novel by Patricia McCormick, published by Hyperion for young adults.  It’s the first book of fiction–or nonfiction–that I’ve seen for teens that deals with child sex trafficking.

The author has done a fantastic job.  She really gets the accomodation that sexually exploited kids must go through and the role of hope in keeping a sense of self alive, even when that hope is misplaced.

A lot of fiction that treats sexual abuse is from an “outsider” perspective.  Even when it is written in the voice of a young survivor, the characters and action can seem to fulfill outsider needs to feel pity and to rescue.  And I have to say there is a powerful outsider thread in Sold.

Lakshmi is a young Tibetan girl sold into sexual slavery in India by her stepfather to pay his gambling debts.  She struggles against her fate and when she is forced to comply she finds reason for hope in the small kindnesses around her.  If you’ve seen the movie Born in the Brothel, you’ll have a good idea of Lakshmi’s world.

The research behind the story is scrupulous.  Ultimately, Lakshmi’s only hope is an American rescue project.  Her struggle is to take the step that will allow her would-be rescuers to help her.  And this is her struggle, her choice.

Tough but good.  Check it out.

Today I’ve been working on my presentation for the Healthy Teen Network Conference in Anaheim on Thursday. But now that I’ve figured out how to get download photos onto this computer from my camera, I wanted to get up the pictures from the Instituto and CLA.

Then, as I was working, I got an e-mail from Liz Bohm, one of the organizers of the event at Instituto Familiar de la Raza in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her description is so evocative. I’ll quote from it in italics below:

These two marvelous women are the executive director of the Instituto, Dr. Estela Garcia, and the founder, Dr. Concha Saucedo. They opened the event with a greeting and with smudging and a Nhuatl prayer to create a sacred space for the proceedings.

“…a beautiful altar ran the length of one whole wall, still up from Dia de los Muertos, with candles, vases full of marigolds, painted skulls, pictures and mementoes of loved ones… As people entered the room they shared good local food, homemade cookies and hot tea… The atmosphere was safe, positive, hopeful, respectful and energetic, and it was created by the healing wisdom of the elders, the brave sharing of the survivors, and the dedication of the organizers, staff and volunteers.”

We really didn’t plan to wear the same outfits! These grinning people are the speakers: me, Arturo Carillo, and Rev Trinity Ordona.

“In sync with the title of the book by Carolyn Lehman, Strong at the Heart: How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse, the emphasis was on how people have come through, have healed and are creating healing for themselves and their families, and are moving on. Carolyn, herself a survivor, talked about her experience of writing these stories of real people, whose personalities, talents and voices came through loud and clear. One interviewee, Arturo, was a guest at the event…

“Watching Arturo stand up and claim his experiences as ‘an important story that needed to be told,’ and then receive respectful, loving affirmation from a male peer made me not only hopeful, but grateful to see and feel the real change happening that will positively affect the root causes of violence…There is more awareness and less silence every day.

“The drumming at the end wove it all together…For me, it felt like we were creating a living rhythm with our hands and voices, where liberation and healing took on new form and vibrated through the room. Release of the old, welcoming the new, acknowledging the pain, joy, connection, our strong heartbeat togeher. Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom. After the event I felt happy, calm and connected and was deeply appreciating the openness and awareness of the people in this city, this community that make an event like this possible…

“I’ve been to other events focused on healing from sexual abuse, but never one where both men and women have come together. It felt so natural, balanced and rich because of this shared experience. It feels like the ‘blind spots’ Carolyn talked about that we have when it comes to rape and sexual violence are getting smaller, and as we come together with all of our eyes, our vision expands, our dialog grows, our voices can get stronger in the presence of each other.”

If I tried to identify everyone in this picture, I’d be sure to get someone’s name wrong. So I will just say that in addition to the people ID-ed above, the others in this photo include Dr. Sal Nunez (the tall guy in the back–he lead the healing drumming), Jennifer Biehn, Sarah Armstrong, Liz Bohm, Brian Lum, Joan Lohman, Paula, and Mario Marquez. Others are from Trinity’s class at City College of San Francisco; they volunteered in many ways including tabling and book sales. Auden Rodriguez, who handled the tech stuff for the night, had to leave before this photo was taken.

cla

And now that I’m on a roll with photos, here’s one of the poster session from the California Library Association conference this weekend. There were ten display tables set up in the Exhibition Hall on Sunday. I was so busy talking with visitors at my own that I never got to see the others.

That’s my friend Joan Berman from Humboldt State University, checking things out just before the poster session started. She helped me set up the display, brought me water (it’s nonstop talking once the session starts) and generally cheered me on as more and more people came to talk with me about the books I’d brought, Strong at the Heart, sexual abuse issues, and collection development. I met some wonderful librarians, authors, and educators and gave out a lot of packets of information on healing books for teens.

Finally, Internet access. Just because a hotel is pricey doesn’t mean the wireless connection is free–or reliable.

I’m at the California Library Association Conference in Sacramento, part of a mini book tour.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be attending the Beatty Award breakfast thanks to my friend Joan Berman who gave me her ticket this afternoon. The Beatty Award “honors the author of a distinguished book for children or young adults that best promotes an awareness of California and its people.” This year’s winner is The Ballooon Boy, by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, a novel based on a true story about a 14 year old boy on a runaway balloon.

Afterwards I’ll set up a poster session on Sexual Abuse in Young Adult Literature. I’m looking forward to talking with librarians about the books they select in this subject area. And I’ve prepared a lot of handouts: a fact sheet on sexual abuse, a bibliography of recommended fiction and nonfiction, a copy of my article on the subject from School Library Journal, and Questions to Ask–both in evaluating books on the subject and in collection development. Whew!

I have no idea who will show up–if anyone–or what their interests will be.

instituto

The event in San Francisco’s Mission District on Thursday night was an amazing experience. I’ll write about it again when I can post the pictures (after I get home) because tonight I am just too tired to do more than a quick post and go to bed.

For now, I just have to say that the people at the Instituto Familar de la Raza planned this event incredibly well. Every detail was taken care of from feeding people beforehand (a fantastic Mexican dinner) and creating a safe and sacred space for people to speak about abuse in their lives, to a magical ending of nearly a hundred people drumming and singing together. Unbelievable.

Today I am prepping for two events coming up, one at Instituto Familiar de la Raza in San Francisco’s Mission District and the other one in Sacramento–the California Library Association’s annual convention.

The event at the Instituto is really something special. It’s billed at a celebration of women and men healing from sexual abuse and the organizers have done a fantastic job.

The evening starts at 5 p.m. with a buffet dinner. At six, the program begins with Mezzo American drumming and smudging to create a sacred space and safety for the participants. I’ll show photographs, of course, and talk about healing within a cultural context as described in Strong at the Heart. I’ll also share what I learned by listening to other survivors and hearing how they defined healing.

a man’s story

Then–and this is what everyone is especially excited about–Arturo from the book will speak. He is a very respected person in the community and his story will be especially meaningful because it takes place right there, in the Mission. Arturo still works for Walden House and he is also well known musician and community leader.

When he is done, there will be a healing drumming circle. And after that a book signing.

It’s an RSVP event and the organizers say they are already over the 80 people they planned for but they are trying to make room for a few more. The phone number there is 415-229-0500.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

BTW, the event is sponsored by Healing for a Change, San Francisco City College (CCSF), Instituto Familiar de la Raza, CCSF Concert and Lecture Series, CCSF Office of Mentoring and Service Learning, Project Survive, and the Women’s Studies, Business, Health Education and Community Health Studies, and Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Studies departments at CCSF!

It’s good to know that all these great organizations are behind an event like this.

sacramento

And then, on Sunday, I’ll be at the California Library Association.

This is my first ever poster session. This year I’ve given workshops to a wide range of audiences and key note speeches at events from child abuse conferences to take Back the Night. Now, I have to figure out how to say these subtle and layered things with a poster and handouts!

The best part in my mind right now is that this is forcing me to put together a packet of information that librarians and other book people can take with them and absorb. We’ll see how it goes.