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This one was weird/hard for me to read. In the story, "Touched," the plot is about a little boy who is sexually molested by an older man. The story is told from the points of view of the man, his wife, the boy and his mother. There is a lot of psychological trauma going on in the story that made me angry. I have heard some people saying the story line shows a sympathetic twist in regards to the molester, but hearing his rationalizations just made me more angry. I'm just not sure this book accurately depicts the situation.

Scott Campbell write about a twelve-year-old boy who is molested by a neighbor he did errands for during the summer. After everything comes out he ends up having to sit through a court hearing against his molester. He is made to tell the story, in a very detailed manner in front of the jury and the court room which of course included his parents and older brother.

Long story short a rift was made in the family of the abused child. The molester felt bad for what he did and since he claimed devout love for the child he plead guilty; he died in prison.

Since we do not often hear about boys being sexually abused I do think it is important to hear such a story. It was difficult for me to read the molester's view of what happened because even until the very end he said he loved the boy. For him he claimed all emotional, it wasn't about being an abuser or taking advantage of a child. I suppose that would be hard for anyone to hear or read. Perhaps it is a sickness like alcoholism? I don't know.

I suppose this topic was too emotional for me to be objective about. It's well written for the most part I just don't feel it was accurate nor do I feel it would help anyone in a similar situation. =o/

Labels: abuse, scott campbell

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| 6:49 PM | 0 comment(s)!

Sarak Weeks is the author of "So B. It" but I read her book "Jumping the Scratch." In this book it related to the skip of a record after having been scratched. As easy a read as this book was and as simple as it had been written, it sure did knock me for a loop.

"Jumping the Scratch" is primarily about a little boy, Jamie, who moves from Battlecreek where he was "normal as cornflakes" into a tiny trailer far away where people treated him like dirt. His Dad left him and his Mom for a cashier and then his Mom's sister had a tragic accident at a cherry factory where she ended up losing her short term memory. So, they moved in with her and began a new life.

Jamie's aunt's name is Sapphire and they call her Sapphy. She has an amazing memory of everything up to the accident, but everything after is quickly forgotten. Every morning she wakes up and asks why Jamie and his Mom are a her house. Jamie is saddened by this deeply because his Aunt Sapphy had been his confidante of sorts, someone who truly listened and understood him.

In addition to the children bullying Jamie they also pick on a little girl named Audrey. Audrey claims she knows ESP and she wears black framed glasses that are missing the lens'. She clearly takes a liking to Jamie and sticks up for him often, much to his dismay.

There was a person in the story who came to his 5th grade class for a day to teach them about descriptive writing. Jamie referred to this man as Arthur even though that was not his name. Arthur, an outsider, made Jamie feel "normal" more himself then he had in a long time. It was from that point in the book that things began to mend.

Through the story there are references to something that happened to Jamie at this trailer park, something dreadful. Though it was obvious to me he must have been abused in some way, it wasn't clarified until the end of the book. The owner of the trailer park had sexually abused him while decorating the office for Christmas. This was explained in the middle of the night when during a bad dream Jamie had woken his Aunt Sapphy up. She stumbled into the living room and tripped over his cherry cans. Yes, Jamie placed stacks of empty cherry cans around his bed as a sort of security system. She asked him was was wrong and since he figured she would never remember he decided to tell her everything. Turns out the "trigger" Aunt Sapphy needed to regain all memory, what she needed to jump that scratch in her record was to hear what happened to Jamie. It was his tragic story which brought her out of her short term amnesia. Justice was served once Aunt Saphhy explained everything to Jamie's Mom.

The story hit home on many accounts. Jamies felt perfectly normal as he was until having been uprooted and placed in an environment where people treated him as a misfit. After the bullying and abuse from the owner of the trailer park, Jamie simply gave in and gave up. His dreams and best memories were about Battlecreek where he and his family were "normal as cornflakes." Though what he doesn't realize is just because his location changed doesn't mean he did.

Having only touched on key points in the book I have to insist you check it out, borrow it or buy it because it's really a fantastic story. It isn't life altering or anything but for me it was a tad bit therapeutic. And you know something...cornflakes are normal, but they are also very boring. =o)

Labels: abuse, adolescence, bully, fiction, memory, Sarah Weeks

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| 8:52 PM | 1 comment(s)!

Last night I finished Elizabeth Flock's novel "Me & Emma."

This is the second Elizabeth Flock book that I have read and I'm sensing a deep psychological theme to her writing. Delving into corners of the mind intrigues me. And yet I find it upsetting and disturbing at times. Reading this novel was no different. In fact, the entire book ended up being very painful to read.

The "me" is Carrie Parker, she is an eight-year-old girl who does everything with her little sister Emma. Emma is six-years-old but acts much older at times. Both girls are very tough children. Not that they have ever had a choice. Robbers killed their dad when they were very young. After his death their Mom died in a sense, too. She sank into a deep depression which she denied to face. She stayed in her room, didn't cook or clean and when she did some out all she did was yell and hit her girls.

Their Mom remarried a man named Richard. If ever a demon lived on earth, I'd say he was this character.

**spoiler alert from here on out**

Richard was an abusive, alcoholic. He destroyed everything he touched and never had a nice word to say. When he was being sweet it was just to bait Carrie or Emma into doing something for him. Something evil. Something disgusting. Behind closed doors. I'm sure you are getting what I mean, right?

Carrie and Emma try to runaway at one point, but Richard finds them, drags them back home and chains them outside like dogs. Not only do they have to eat dog food, but the chains are so tight and get to hot it leaves burns around their neck. The abuse gets worse after they move out into the country when Richard gets a new job. But Carrie makes friends with Mr. Wilson, an old man who lives down the street a ways. He teaches her how to shoot a rifle. He says she will be able to protect herself and Emma with a gun if she knows how to use it and respect it.

Carrie and Emma stay away from home as much as they can as the beating grow worse and worse. Carrie's teachers at school ask about the marks on her arms and face, but she lies and says everything is okay.

One day Carrie comes home and their house is a mess. It looks as if everything is broken and torn apart. She calls for Emma and her Mom. Emma doesn't come, but she sees her Mom lying on the kitchen floor in a puddle of blood. Her Mom whispers to her and tells her to get out of the house. But before Carrie can run, Richard sees her and she screams for Emma. But Richard tells her that he has killed Emma.

The next thing we read is that Carrie hears a loud pop, she knows it is the sound of a gun. She sees that Richard has been shot and killed. She runs out of the house for help.

During the final chapters, police are questioning Carrie as she wakes up. It is at this point that we find out Emma never existed. Carrie made up Emma as a means of coping with having witnessed her dad being murdered and having been abused for years. Everyone had been playing along throughout the whole book because they didn't know what else to do and they thought Carrie would some day snap out of it. She didn't. So when Richard said he killed Emma...well...8-year-old Carrie found a rifle and she shot him.

I wish I could say the book ended in some kind of happy way, but it didn't. As Carrie and her Mom drive away at the end, Carrie begins to write in a notebook. She writes to Emma and says she is so glad that Emma has learned how to write.

Labels: abuse, depression, Elizabeth Flock

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| 1:28 PM | 0 comment(s)!