Just for fun and just because I can and just to say thank you to all of you who use this book with teen and adult survivors of abuse...just because I'm putting the book on sale for 30% off for the month of May. So check out the sales page. Be sure to use the [...]
Here's a nifty project that needs the attention of people who want to stop child child sexual abuse, raise awareness of the issue, and support survivors in their healing Dr. Michael Irving has been working on a monument for survivors. His metal sculpture, built on the artwork of survivors, needs to receive votes at the [...]
Okay, this is the third novel about a young teen girl who escapes from forced marriage in a polygamist cult that has cross my desk in the space of a year. Keep Sweet, by Michele Dominguez Greene, is a good read. Like the other two I've reviewed here, this book has its virtues, but laid [...]
Two new young adult novels deal with teenage girls in polygamist cults. This is right from the headlines stuff, of course. The authors take very different approaches, in ways that are of interest to CSA survivors and anyone who has been exploited by organized groups. The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams (May, 2008) is [...]
For some reason, readers at this site tend to write emails directly to me, rather than post their thoughts here. For me that's great, but then others miss out on the conversation. Today I heard from a gentleman who attended a book event that Arturo and I did a few days ago in the Bay [...]
I'm still grinning from a lovely three day retreat that my sister and I took last week. She lives in another state, so we met in the Portland airport and drove together to Breitenbush Hot Springs. We hiked in the luscious hills, relaxed in the hot springs, got massages, did yoga, ate quantities of food [...]
Here's a young adult book to look for. SAFE, by Susan Shaw, won't be out until October, but I'm reading it now in publisher's galleys for a book review. There is no mystery about what happened. Walking home on the last day of 7th grade, Tracy is abducted by an older teen, raped, and left [...]
As many of you know, I was a judge on the Cybils Awards this year. I also had the great good fortune to be asked to interview our nonfiction winner, Russell Freedman. His book, Freedom Walkers, is an awesome testimony to the power that ordinary people can have when they work together to overcome injustice. [...]
Saturday's event in Westhaven went really, really well. There was a lovely audience, including friends from various parts of my life. It's a real treat to do a book event in my own community! Sam and Pearl Oliner, two sociologists who study and write about altruism came and contributed to the discussion. So did Paige Alisen, the founder of The Emma Center. One woman asked me to post the statistics on child sexual abuse...
Bloggers who are fans of children's YA literature have started a new award, the Cybil. Check it out and nominate your favorite book from the past year. I am homored to serve on the Middle Grade/YA Non-fiction award committee. And, no, Strong at the Heart is not eligible. Closer to home, I'm speaking at the Westhaven Center for the Arts, in Westhaven, California, this Saturday from 3-4:30 p.m...