Abuse Books

This book is written so that parents and their children can interact while reading it. There are portions directed at children and portions directed to adults, with "tips" for each. By breaking the lures into categories it's easier for children to recognize them if they ever encounter one. And the "what would you do if..." scenarios are a good way for kids to discriminate between safe situations and those that might be harmful. Adults will,sadly, recognize some of the real-life predators mentioned throughout the book as they are matched with the type of lure they commonly used. One of the best books I've seen on this topic!

The author does an excellent job in presenting the information needed to protect our children. We are presenting a child safety fair, and this book will be used as a door prize to those attending. Some of the information is frightening, to think that such monsters can exist in our society is unsettling. (Read the section concerning pedophile groups, you will understand!) It's time to make a stand against those that would corrupt our kids. This is a great place to start learning how. Read it & live it! Your kids just might be at stake! Thank you.

I am sorry that I am not using this space to review this book. I have read it and would recommend it to any parent with children. I would also tell anyone who has the opportunity to see Kenneth Wooden speak take the time and go. He is wonderful to listen to and has a lot of valuable information.

I am writting because I have a close friend who has two children that have been abused by their father. She can't find any reading material on this topic. If anyone knows of a good book please let me know so I can pass the information on to her.

Thank-you very much.

trgconstruction@voyager.net

I have been in the helping professions for over thirty-five years, most of which has been in Child Protection and Family Advocacy. Kenneth Wooden's book, Child Lures, was a Godsend in protecting not only children, but adults. The hour or more that it takes for you to study it, could very easily save your life, or the lives of your children. It works, I have seen it first hand. Parents love it, abusers and abductors hate it.

I met Claire when she was still in elementary school. She has come so far with her career & family. When her mother told me Claire was thinking of adopting her husband's child, I was so happy for them. Now, I have tears rolling down my face. It took so much courage to write this book about her own family. Claire's parents are considered my best friends. And when I asked her mother about what happened, I was shocked and appalled. I bought two more books to give to my family. I wanted them to know the other side of Claire. Claire is a wonderful woman, and deserves the best life can give. I believe there are special places in heaven for people like Claire. May she continue her courage and God bless her family.

Paula Fallon
Pocasset, MA

"A Child's Heart Speak" is a beautify written book. It is educational, yet also a heart felt story. This book is a must have for all survivors to see that they truly are not alone with their thoughts, as well as, for educators and caretakers to learn about the signs and how to help. This book is a true gem.

This book is an excellent eye opener and a topic that is not easily spoken about. I have great respect for Claire Silva, and her courage to share this personal tragedy with the world. I have a relative that was sexually abused by her father. He now sits behind bars, but I can only imagine how this experience has
changed her life. This book has helped me to understand the tatics of the perpetrator and the struggles one must go through as the victim. "A Child's Heart Speaks" is worth all the time, and more, Claire Silva took to write this book and I highly recommend it.

This is an excellent book. It very informative and educational -a must read for all parents. Best of luck to Claire and her family on their road to recovery and efforts to protect other Families from the same heartache.

great fun read. you can sit down and read it in a day really. the story follows some dominican kids who sell the kilos of coke. it is written like a documentary but has a TON of feeling in it. POOR CHILLE!!!!

Great book about the life of 8 young kids in New York whom changes schools and books for sealing drugs.... It tells how they became dealers,families problems and issues of friendshipp.. even thougth the book is great it does not mention in any page how society tried to help them...because they did not get any help or encoragement... any solutions any where??? more programs in such areas would definately improve the way teeneagers chooses to live their life and make their family more aware of such situations..it is not too late. quite interesting..learned more about drugs than what I ever wanted to....

Pretty good book...

A story concerning the lifes of 8 kids deeply involved in cocaine trade in NYC during the 1980's. It is told from the point of view of an outsider looking in, which I would have rather seen it documented from the 'kids' view but what can you do? Bricks of coke, cut, re-rocked, packaged, street level retail, and all the nitty-gritty details involved with the process. If your looking for a book that tells the tale of the route of cocaine from the source, into the nose/arm of a user, and the people that make it happen. This book is for you, I am a sucker for this type of literature [drug-porn] so take my review with that in mind.

http://www.junkylife.com/seedless

That movie was based on this book. I know this is probably promoting illiteracy and the ills of television, but if you like independents it's a good one. I haven't read the book. I DO READ quie a bit, but was inspired to check out the book because of the movie. The movie meanders a bit, so be prepared. Sorry I havent read the book yet but when I do I'll come back and report on what I thought

My forensic nurse colleagues have provided an outstanding resource for those of us who perform sexual assault exams and forensic evidence collection. The photographic documentation of cases and information in the Color Atlas have proved invaluable to me as a sexual assault nurse examiner. Our district attorney also purchased the book as a reference. I applaud the five authors of this text for a job well done. They have produced a professional work, accurately and well written,with outstanding photodocumentation of sexual assault cases.

This book is very complete, and has many pictures describing a variety of situations. Highly recommended.

You should also consider "Sexual Assault: The Medical-Legal Examination". This book has more information on the psychology of the assailant and the assailed, and on filling out legal forms during examination, but "Color Atlas" has more pictures.

This is a wonderful book for individuals who are examining patients who have been sexually assaulted. Shows normal anatomy and variations, including non-sexual injuries. As a Nurse Practitioner and a new Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner I find this book to be an excellent reference. It had been recommended to me by the educational coordinator of the SANE course I took.

An excellent resource book for anyone working as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. I recommend this book to all nurses new to forensic nursing. A must have book!

Linda Sifuentes, RN CA-SANE
Austin Travis County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
Austin, Texas
procardia1@aol.com

Courage to Change is an An-Anon sanctioned publication which I found extremely useful in effecting my own personal recovery from my self-inflicted personality abuse. Accepting the need to make lifelong adjustments is necessary if one desires to achieve any semblance of happiness. This daily reader works if one works it.

Speaking as someone from an alcoholic family, this book helps you "detach, with love" as they say in AA. You realize you can live life for yourself and that you deserve to. The courage to change is needed because the old patterns are familiar and comfortable, but they no longer work. The book brings together wisdom from diverse sources, is divided into 365 short sections corresponding to days of the year, and encourages you truthfully, yet warmly, every step of the way. Read this, it's time to stop beating up on yourself!!

This little book is chocked full of inspiration

I've been in recovery for five years, and I use this book to start my day. It's full of helpful recovery reminders that make it a very special source of inspiration for me. My relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible, and this little book make my recovery possible. I'd recommend it to anyone who struggles with issues of codependency.

Unbelieveable what one human will put another thru. If you haven't lived it, you might not believe it. But it happens and everytime it does, the victims need to know there is help and hope. All women should read these stories, so they can understand just a little what these abused women go thru. The courage this lady showed to go on and rebuild her life, should give other victims the will to build for themselves. We all should do what we can to help and educate the public. Especially, that there is so called professionals out there, that make the victim's worse and abuse them again, and again.

Courage truly is an inspiring auto-biography about one woman's resolve to survive - through a violent marriage, sexual abuse and repeated traumas unimaginable to most of us. She lives through it all and has found the inner strength to move forward in life to help others. This book is small enough to be discreetly read by those that may find themselves in similar situations and need a source of strength to get out. I highly recommend this book for those needing inspiration as well as for people who just enjoy reading about the strengths human nature can endure.

I found Courage: The Road To Freedom to be powerful and moving. This is a must read true story for men and women alike. It is powerful to finally see someone stand up for those who feel they cannot stand up for themselves. Gail Eynon's bold depiction of her life of bondage and abuse gives hope to the many people who are trapped in the vicious cycle of abuse. She shows that no matter how dark the journey becomes, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. There is an escape. Thank you Gail for standing up for those who cannot.

This brief book is packed with truly impressive information and insights. It tells about the author's experiences in a marriage dreadful from the start, and it quickly grows to brutal domestic violence. Then she endures a severe sexual assault. Yet through all that she preserves to earn a college degree, discovers faith and support, and becomes a successful writer and lecturer. The writing is vivid, dramatic, sparse yet specific. If you or a friend have--or may have to--endure any such dreadful events, this is a "must read" book. Recommended without any reservation.

Just when you thought literary crit. was doomed to its staid exsistence, Ronell arrives on the scene. A critic (whose name escapes me) once said that while we can pick up a book, books can throw us across the room. I'm still recovering from the flight and trip this little book sent me on...

This book is revolutionary. If you've ever wondered what an artist (Avital Ronnell is a former performance artist) might be capable of coming up with if they became an academic (a professor) but were still devoted to the idea of performance, this is the answer. Think Kitaj and how his paintings is a form of interpretation of other artists' work in referencing them in the theme of his own work. In other words, Avital Ronnel's "Crack Wars" and its "analysis" of Madame Bovary is possible because it is from a field of study that is unique in that it is devoted to the study of an artform (literary arts) while itself operating in the same medium as that artform (words). The creativity exhibited in "Crack Wars", which is its most powerful proposition, shows that an interpretive "analysis" can be offered on a work of art ("Madame Bovery") without even wanting to answer the question, "What does is mean?". Much of the creative thrust seems to come from the way in which Ronnell re-metaphorizes certain elements or metaphors related to (current) drug use and applies them in the exploration of other facets of society that alters or simulates (ex. taking a "hit" or "scoring" of literature). What this does is to expand the reading of "Madame Bovery" to a whole crop of metaphors and their current exploration whose consideration in language may not have been in circulation at the time of its writing. And though this work may be on the edge of "literary studies", Ronnell is by no means a marginal figure. As head of NYU's dept of Germanic Languages, Ronnell co-lectured a graduate seminar last fall with Derrida (she is in the "Derrida" documentary with multi-colored bobby-pins relaying an interaction with Derrida's mother). Consider the language of the extensive quote below.

"Madame Bovary I daresay is about bad drugs. Equally, it is about thinking we have properly understood them. But if the novel matches its reputation for rendering its epoch- our modernity - intelligible, then we would do well to recall that epoch also means interruption, arrest, suspension and, above all, suspension of judgement. Madame Bovary travels the razor's edge of understanding/reading protocols. In this context understanding is given as something that happens when you are no longer reading. It is not the open-ended Nietzschean echo, "Have I been understood?" but rather the "I understand" that means you have suspended judgement over a chasm of the real. Out of this collapse of judgement no genuine decision can be allowed to emerge. Madame Bovary understood too much; she understood what things were supposed to be like and suffered a series of ethical injuries for this certitude. Her understanding made her legislate closure at every step of the way. She was her own police force, finally turning herself in to the authorities. She understood when the time had come to an end [...] for Madame Bovary opens herself to an altogether different history of intelligibility, in fact, to another suicide pact, cosigned by a world that longer limits its rotting to a singular locality of the unjust."

Ronell's book is a tour-de-force on many levels: for its lucid and startling close-reading of -Madame Bovary-, for the densely glittering energy (and humor) of her prose, and above all for its insight -- never before so comprehensively and convincingly argued -- into addiction as a symptomatic structure of the modern condition. (The addict, she points out, embodies a peculiar challenge for thinking about the inside/outside, mind/body relation. Emma Bovary takes us farther into questions of expenditure and circulation.) This is a must-read not only for those interested in Flaubert's novel, but in the history of subjectivity more generally. Even in its craziest moments, the book is provocative and perceptive.

Avital Ronell examines drugs addiction & mania in this amazingly well written and concisely beautiful book. A book-as-object, containing installations, special sections and poetic-philosophic passages, Crack Wars is sure to please the patient reader. Draws from Flaubert, Heidegger and Derrida...contends that this "culture inspires and supports destructive play only to punish it." A must read!

Goes way beyond blaming individuals for the horror of abuse, and holds the violent culture that abuse is embedded in accountable. Doesn't let individuals perpetrators off the hook, but is a window into the mechanism that produces them. Other people have addressed the topic of abuse and violence, but perhaps not as comprehensively as this book. Scary topic, but information and viewpoints needed to address this systemic illness.

A very moving account of the impact of violence on our lives and what it takes to create an environment where we can recover from our wounds. Dr. Bloom's call for a therapeutic approach to violence stands in stark contrast to popular proposals for meeting violence with more violence. In a violence-traumatized society, Creating Sanctuary belongs at the top of our social agenda.

By Dr. Ian Irvine, co-editor The Animist Creating Sanctuary is a powerful piece of writing by an almost extinct professional breed - the psychiatrist/psychologist prepared to examine the bigger picture in regards to the causes of psychic distress in modern Western societies. The book undoubtably belongs to a long tradition of humanistic and Freudian writings on mental illness as produced by modern Western social structures. The title itself recalls Fromm's book 'The Sane Society' and I would argue that in many ways Bloom has given us a powerful update on themes covered in that now classic work. One also thinks of works by Arthur Janov (especially his work on trauma suppression), Alice Miller, De Mauss, Mickel Adzema, Wilhelm Reich (and the Bioenergetic tradition), Stanislav Grof and many others who have applied Freudian and Humanistic ideas to the social arena. In this sense the work is also in a kind of refracted dialogue with that great Freudian text Civilisation and its Discontents. The picture of modern society - particularly modern American society - painted for us by Bloom is not a pretty one. Sanity and psychic health is seen as a virtual impossibility in the face of a normalised climate of repression and institutionalised trauma creation. The central obsessions of our consumeristic, violence and money obsessed modern world are described in terms of a general malaise polluting and undermining the psychic integrity of individuals and collectives alike. Bloom accurately describes to us a world characterised by institutional harshness, denial (that there even is a crisis!) and outright disinterest in the truly important issues to do with trauma and violence that now shape our collective social psyches. In this climate, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other health care professionals seem all but unable to act in the best interests of their clients. In this sense, Bloom criticises the faceless bureacrats, lawyers and insurance moguls who increasingly shape and infringe upon the client patient relationship: often forcing psychiatrists to opt for functionalist alienated treatment regimes over potentially more humane and effective ones. The insight that society is not so much interested in curing people who have fallen victim to the collective (in)humanity we call a society, as in making money out of the later life effects of trauma suppression is a disturbing under-current to the book. There is a great deal to this book, far more than I could cover in a short review like this. The work is groundbreaking in its merged sociological and psychological methodology. More importantly, however, it stands as powerful indictment of the way in which modern societies act to undermine and subtly traumatise large sections of their populations. A must read.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. This is the most understandable and clearly written text I have ever read relating to the psychology field. There is no "psycho babble" here, folks. Anybody with an eighth grade education should be able to understand what the author is trying to say.

The author obviously believes in treating patients with tremendous dignity and respect. While this program is mainly inpatient focused to benefit those of us who are unfortunate enough to need more than a little help in carrying our life's baggage, as it were, reading this book makes very clear to me the way in which many situations I faced as a child effect my adult life that I have never really completely understood. The author says, in the most compassionate and definitive way, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! The author should be commended for her fine work and that of her team of obviously exceptional and gifted health care providers. The author must be one of the "real doctors" in todays environment, and they are darned hard to find.

No one is meant to lose their virginity at the age of five. "Cucumbers Have Thorns and Snakes Love Strawberries" is the shocking and depressing true tale of a five year old in a terrible world of sex, drugs, and violence. Young Janice's mind is scarcely able to process all of these vile things. Though biographical, "Cucumbers Have Thorns and Snakes Love Strawberries" is very much a story of psychological horror, with an impact upon the reader that will long be remembered.

In reading this book I was captured by the sincerity of the words and the shock of the experiences of sexual, physical and emotional abuse the author went through. This book is also shocking, and sad. I respect Janice Sullivan's honesty and strength to first, allow herself to remember these experiences and second to share them with us. She truly deserves our support in her journey to help others who are in these same situations and may feel as if they are alone and no one cares or will ever understand.

Cucumbers Have Thorns is a page turner. Janice Sullivan has achieved a feat that only the best are able to accomplish: the true art of story telling. BUT this is not a fairytale! Her story envelopes you and takes you on a journey through darkness and redemption. Her life is inspiring, a true testament to the power of faith and a blinding example of how important it is to have the support and love of family in your life.

Buy and read this book. If not for yourself...read it for all of the young people who lie homeless on the streets at night, while we are in our warm beds. Read it for all of the boys and girls who are being molested and feel that they have no one to turn to or trust. Read it for the thousands of victims of domestic violence. Read Cucumbers Have Thorns to educate yourself on the harsh realities of our world and be inspired in knowing that with faith, you too can overcome anything. Ms. Sullivan's experiences are a learning lesson for us all. Discuss this book with your children, family and friends. Some topics are not "comfortable" or typical "dinner table conversation," but they should not be ignored!

Kudos to you for having the courage to bring your story out of the darkness and into the light! Your courage and strength will bring forth change for others.

Janice E. Sullivan has exposed the unpleasantness that goes on in some families when male members abuse young girls. She was molested several times by different members of her family, starting at age five, and each one attempted to convince her that there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. Her step-grandfather was one of the men who attacked her. His abuse was rampant and she couldn't get anyone to believe her, so when her grandmother threw her out, she ended up on the streets and homeless at fifteen, begging food from her friends and an occasional bed to sleep in. As an adult, she realized that she had a difficult time being sexually involved with a man, even when she was in love with him. With a parade of men, Janice discovered she was looking for love, but the men she chose were always physically abusive toward her, and mentally destroying her self-esteem.

CUCUMBERS HAVE THORNS AND SNAKES LOVES STRAWBERRIES is a heart-rending story of one youngster's trip through sexual abuse, poverty, alcohol and a need for her mother's love. While the subject is frightening, Sullivan tells it in a manner that makes it impossible to put down. Will Janice survive? That is the critical question that keeps those pages turning. Sullivan has done a marvelous job of bringing a delicate subject to the forefront. This is a book adults should read. Maybe there is an abused child in their midst they are unaware of, who could use help.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A dying child must deal with life with courage and wisdom. Sad and inspiring.

I feel like I walked with Robyn on her journey with Jeremy. I am reminded that faith comes from unexpected places. From the most painful situations comes peace. I am inspired to go and do more for others and you will also.

Dance with an Angel is a great book! It is a very powerful story. It shows how God works with us everyday. Robyn Accetturo did a wonderful job writing this inspirational story with love and warmth. I loved Dance with an Angel and I'm sure you will too!

"Dance With an Angel" is one of the best books I've ever read! It inspires, brings hope, and reaffirms God's presence in our lives. The author, Ms. Accetturo, tells her powerfully moving story with tremendous warmth and insight. Be prepared to stay up all night -- you will not be able to put this book down!!!