In STAINED (A Bank Street College Best Book of the Year (2014), Sarah thinks she knows what fear is–until she’s abducted and must find a way to rescue herself. I drew on my experience with cults and ritual abuse in creating the world that Caitlyn lives in. And I know what it’s like to have to decide between hiding my true self or being who I am, even if that means danger to myself. Like Caitlyn, I know what it’s like to have my life threatened, to face oppression, to experience torture, and to break free from cult or from a group of oppressors. In my teen paranormal fantasy/dystopian, HUNTED (WestSide, Oct 2011), Caitlyn is a telepath in a world where that is illegal, and she must choose between saving herself or saving the world. There’s a lot of me in SCARS like my main character, Kendra, I am an incest survivor, I used self-harm to cope, and I”m queer. In SCARS (WestSide, 2010), Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself before it’s too late. But I also write about healing, hope, and love, and finding courage and strength. I write about some of the harsh things teens go through…things that I think shouldn’t be hidden. All of my books have fragments of the abuse I experienced. My fantasy books often hold hope that I need, and feel others might need, too, while my realistic fiction is gritty, intense, and emotional. (Adults are welcome to read them, too many do!) I write both edgy, suspenseful fiction and fantasy books for teens. I am a nonbinary lesbian author (they/she pronouns), and I write the books I needed as a teen and couldn’t find. Scars is the unforgettable story of one girl's frightening path to the truth.Books helped me survive my childhood of abuse, trauma, and torture. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping.
If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands.
Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail- her abuser's identity.
0 kommentar(er)
