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by Mindi Sherman (Author)
A teenage girl is searching for belonging and to feel loved because of the absence of acceptance in her family life-especially from her father. In the midst of her search, she meets an older teen who showers her with compliments and makes her feel wanted. The young girl chooses to follow this young man, and the unthinkable happens-she is raped The chapters wind along her life's path, which often reaches dark depths or spirals out of control with relationships, drugs, and the other choices that define her new life. The story shows a very raw side of the lingering effects of rape: the vulnerability, insecurity, loss of self-worth. After finally labeling what happened to her, she thinks perhaps her life will get better. However, she continues to lose touch with her faith and her family. Eventually, she meets a much older man and succumbs to his "grooming." Following a short courtship, she marries the man. Yet even before the honeymoon is over, she finds herself looking into the eyes of a different man, one who begins to verbally abuse her. She is an adult now, but feels she has no one to turn to. Instead of saving her, the marriage becomes a culmination of the struggles and depression that have been building in her since she was traumatized as a teen. Soon they have a child together, and it is that child who begins to change the young woman and help her to fight to get her life back. Combining a fierce need to overcome these trials, numerous hours of counseling, and the will to reclaim her faith, the woman is able to finally overcome the trauma of being a victim and claim herself as a survivor.
