Abuse Books

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a parent, or cares for children of any age. It is easy to read, well laid out, and gives separate chapters which discuss children at different ages, for quick reference.

The book highlights what you can do for children to help them avoid the world of drugs and alcohol and the peer pressure they might experience as they become teenagers and young adults.

Emphasis is put on what you can do no matter what age your children are, and that it is never too late to begin making changes that will help your children to resist drugs. It also offers advice to parents where children or young adults have already become dependent on drugs.

Aside form helping children to avoid drugs and alcohol, this non-punitive approach to parenting helps children to develop into emotionally healthy, co-operative and autonomous adults.

Dr Solter is an expert in her field of developmental psychology. She is also the author of three other books; The Aware Baby, Tears and Tantrums, and Helping Young Children Flourish. All of these books are well written, well researched and offer invaluable information and advice to parents and carers, and anyone involved with children and young adults.

I have found Dr Solter's approach to parenting both liberating and highly beneficial for my children and myself. Highly recommended reading.

This is a great book! It contains lots of practical tips for parents, and suggestions for how to talk about drugs with kids. This is an innovative cooperative approach.

As a mental health professional, I was impressed by how well grounded in research and developmental theory Dr. Solter's approach was. As the parent of three former teen-agers, I wished I had read her book twenty-five years ago. Dr. Solter provides clear, simple, practical suggestions for innoculating your child against the need for drugs in adolescence, beginning at birth. Her advice is divided into developmentally age-appropriate categories and is specific enough to leave no doubt about how you can handle almost any situation. It is also an easy read, with concise, short (less than two-page) "Tips" arranged in a sequence that builds upon itself logically. She offers the kind of hope and encouragement that all parents need, even demonstrating that "It's never too late," with ideas for relating to your young adult children after they've turned to drugs in their teen years. I have not seen a more user-friendly, hopeful, practical guide to navigating the territory of raising drug-free children. I recommend the book most highly.

Aletha Solter's fourth and latest book is another excellent resource for your parenting tool belt! Packed with a wealth of invaluable tips, "Raising Drug-Free Kids" differs from most parenting advice on the subject. Many parenting books suggest children need more discipline, meaning punishment, for breaking rules or for misbehavior. But strict authoritarian control and punishment, Solter stresses throughout the book, can cause children to harbor anger and resentment and often "teaches" them to hide their feelings from their parents and rebel.

A Swiss American developmental psychologist and founder of the Aware Parenting Institute, Solter contends the root cause of most behavioral problems, including substance abuse, is not a lack of "discipline" but rather a lack of connection. She emphasizes that it doesn't matter how much punishment you dole out to them, children who don't have a relationship with at least one loving parent where they feel heard and understood are at risk for substance abuse.

Throughout this book the message is consistent: listening, really listening to your children's problems and upsets nonjudgmentally, spending time with them, using a non-punitive approach to discipline and accepting your children's emotions will foster a meaningful connection with them that will both prevent and heal behavioral and emotional problems. She calls this approach Aware Parenting.

My husband and I can attest to the benefits of this philosophy. We have a 10-year old son who is about to turn 11. We first came across Solter's work when he was 2 years old. In so many ways, it validated for us what we knew in our hearts was the way to treat children. Her first three books: "Aware Baby;" "Tears and Tantrums: what to do when babies and children cry;" and "Helping Young Children Flourish," lay the groundwork for creating this kind of mutual respect between children and adults. And we have experienced first-hand how effective this approach is in doing that. The close connection we have formed with our son throughout his young life has helped us give him the support he has needed during difficult times. We don't always do it right but we always try to make it right by listening to him and valuing his feelings and needs. He has always amazed us by his awareness and expression of what is really going on with him. We are so grateful as we head into his teen years that we have such a strong connection with him!

For us, Solter's latest book couldn't have come at a better time. It's armed with tips on how to give drug-related information to children at different ages and on how to continue to build a strong relationship with your child, one that will help your child resist the onslaught of peer and media pressure to do drugs. From information on addiction and the brain to the signs of depression to teaching your child stress-management skills to learning to communicate your own feelings and needs, this book is a must read for any parent wanting to improve their relationship with their child.

In the book, Solter, who spent two years studying with Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, shows how parents can teach their children from birth on emotional literacy, meaning the ability to accept and release painful feelings. One of the major causes of substance abuse in adolescents and adults is the desire to not feel painful emotions. So it makes perfect sense that children who are free to express their emotions will have less of a need to use alcohol, drugs, sex, food or any of the other addictions out there, to escape their pain as they get older. Instead, they will have the skill to process negative emotions from a childhood of practice!

Solter suggests you can help your child identify feelings and needs by reflecting back verbally what you think your child needs or feels. This invaluable tool can remove some of the mystery and confusion around emotions and help your child feel understood. One of the keys to emotional literacy is allowing your child to cry and express fear and anger. Solter explains that just like sadness, bottled-up fear and anger can lead to problems later on, including the tendency to control painful feelings with alcohol or drugs. Expressing feelings freely during childhood helps reduce the amount of emotional baggage your child will carry with him as he grows older. In fact, Solter stresses that contrary to what many parents fear, the more you allow your child to express angry emotions with you, the less likely your child will be to use hurtful words or actions with others. The message they will learn is that painful feelings are nothing to be afraid of and that it is okay to express them safely. When they are older, they won't need to numb painful feelings with mind-altering drugs to keep them at bay. Instead, they will have learned that painful feelings have a beginning and an end and the pain will eventually go away if they can express their discomfort freely. This is an important lesson, Solter says, that many alcoholics and drug addicts never learned as children.

Solter so aptly illustrates how important it is to value the need to address children's painful feelings while they are young by describing what it takes to heal from drug addictions. The one thing former addicts must learn in substance abuse recovery programs is to accept their painful emotions without trying to suppress them with drugs. Most people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs or any other type of addiction struggle with pent-up feelings of grief, fear, or anger and don't know how to cope with them other than to mask them with the drug of their preference. During the process of withdrawal, the person must experience the reservoir of painful emotions, which are no longer blocked by the drug. In successful recovery programs, former addicts must learn how to identify and express these long-suppressed feelings. The recovery programs do this by creating a supportive and safe environment for the participants to talk and cry without being judged. Therefore, it makes perfect sense from a preventive standpoint that anything a parent can do to help their children identify and express painful emotions through talking, raging or crying in an emotionally safe environment will strengthen their resistance to drugs.

Solter also gives tips on what not to do and what to do if your child has already tried drugs, as well as outlines the symptoms that indicate your child is addicted to them. You also will find tips for specific steps you can take to strengthen your child's bond to you, your family and a community of other caring families. This network of emotional connections is at the root of drug-resistant parenting. If your relationship with your child is strained, Solter says to realize that it is never too late to repair it. She offers suggestions on how to do that and much more, including role play scenarios to go over with your child on how to refuse drugs if pressured by peers to do them No matter what stage of development your child is at, this book will be a valuable asset that you will not regret having on your book shelf for quick reference at any time!

Peter is so creative! His book is captivating and interesting from cover to cover. Buy this book and you won't be disappointed. I couldn't put it down!

This is an excellent read. In fact, it is one of the best books I have ever read. I could not put it down; I read it in one sitting. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew the characters. It also made me think very hard about my own mortality. It ran the whole gamut of emotions; it is only the second book to ever make me cry. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially anyone that has been through tough situations in life.

Mr. West invites his readers along for the ride. Readers don't simply witness the emotional ups and downs during Richard's journey, they share in this emotional roller-coaster ride. And just when the reader thinks she might know the outcome, Mr. West takes her through another turn of events. A quick read, but packed full of emotion, love, loss and irony.

I really enjoyed Reluctant Journey by Peter West. It is a book that really is worth the price of admission. This book was written with alot of imagination and thought and obviously took some time to write. If this is any indication of Peter's writing abilities, the next two books in the trilogy should be terrific!

Recommended reading for young adult survivors and their therapists. Forty persons who have overcome severe childhood abuse whom today live succesfully in long term, committed relationships and hold respected positions in their career fields are the subjects of the author's research.

As a forty-eight year old womens' health professional who struggled with an abusive childhood and recently left an abusive marriage of 27 years, I found great validation and hope in this book. Ms. O'Connell Higgins protrays the resilient who successfully avoided repeating the terror of their upbringing. Yet her focus on faith and her description of "the Sea Beyond the Sirens" are invaluable supports to anyone- young or old- who has decided to rid themself of the deamons of abuse.

Finally, the descrptions the resilient and their role as "helpers" explains the activites of many who struggle to survive. They give back the fruits of their labors to others who are in need of example and assistance.

Most importantly, her work incorporates the notion that no person abused should be viewed only as a victim. The survivor status may not come to all, but is always available to those who have the desire to change.

The hope this book inspires makes it an excellent text for anyone who is involved in treating the traumatized or who is personnaly at any stage of abuse recovery.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It moved me and inspired me. The author uses real examples of people she knows/has worked with. It is a fairly easy read and I have already suggested that it be a recommend/required reading for my Master's program courses.

Accurate, Helpful, Reassuring

Arlether Wilson tells a story in this captivating and heart wrenching true-life story - her story. How she was the one, at a young age, fending for her younger brother, while her mom was gone at all hours of the night. Her mother, Maggie, puts more into her men than her own children. When Arlether tells her mother her boyfriend did something no child should ever endure, her mother does nothing, still keeping her man. As the years go by, Arlether is in and out of foster care, enduring physical, mental and sexual abuse. The beatings get so bad she constantly runs away to receive help, but no one wants to listen to her and they keep returning her to the abuse. Through it all, she strives for her education and wants more out of life than how she has been living. She is determined to get out. In her senior year, she runs into another hurdle that sets her back. Despite everyone telling her she would never be able to overcome her obstacles, she proves them wrong by defying the odds.

I honestly was gripped from the very first page. In reading REWRITING THE SCRIPT, I had to keep in mind these are true accounts of the Wilson's story. At times, I was horrified at some of the things she had to endure when she was younger. She refused to let her past determine her future! She was so determined and motivated that she defied her odds and made something positive out of her life. This was a great inspirational read. Definitely a 5 star read.

Reviewed by Leona Romich
for THE RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

As I was reading "Rewriting the Script" by Arlether Wilson I would put it down because the things she went through I could feel it. But then I would pick it up because I knew she survived. Afterall I'm reading her book. She tells a the story of her childhood and teenage years. It truly touches the heart and every emontion within you. You see very vividly the struggles that she has endured. As I finished reading and seeing where she is now, this is a true inspiration for all.

Thank you Arlether for sharing!!!!

Because of Rewriting the Script I will never be able to excuse my own lack of involvement in the welfare of a child. I won't tell myself I'm not his or her mother, or it's none of my business. So many times while I read this book, I wondered what I would have done if I had met little Arlether. And what will I do now that I know what she looks like.

My emotions couldn't handle her powerful testimony. I laughed and cried. I was frightened and relieved. I was overwhelmed with an intense feeling of love and a very strong compulsion to hate. The visuals are so intense. They hit you hard and fast. I would have to take a breath, a pause, knowing each time I put the book down I wouldn't be satisfied until I continued her journey.

I find myself looking for her in the faces of children I encounter. Arlether Wilson painted such a vivid picture of her incredible life. How could I ever miss the signs of abuse? She has given me the courage to be fearless in coming to a child's assistance. I'm sorry Arlether had to suffer to become the Advocate. But I'm so pleased she has arrived.

This book is an excellent teaching tool. I hope the right organizations are able to recognize what a tremendous aid it could be for educating the public, social workers and Ministers. God is going to use Arlether's testimony to help so many hurting people. And bring awareness to the abuse so many children live with each day.

It's a courageous tale of an amazing woman. I can't wait to see what God has planned next for Ms. Wilson. I'm sure she's prepared for the challenge.

Sometimes she ate. Sometimes she slept but rarely alone. Sometimes she was beaten for no apparent reason... and sometimes she even felt a little loved. In Arlether Wilson's memoir, Rewriting the Script, she allows you to travel back to times when her life was barely livable. Back to when she was a five year-old who understood survival.

Arlether endured all types of abuse; verbal, physical, mental, and sexual at an age when most children were starting kindergarten and at the hands of people who were suppose to love and protect her. When calls were made to social services regarding her mother's, Maggie, neglect, Arlether and her brother, Paul, were placed into foster care. The vicious cycle began again when they were returned to Maggie, only to eventually be surrendered back to the system and endure the same mistreatment from others.

Through it all, Arlether maintained hope. She wanted to overcome her past and seemed to find the key when she immersed herself in high school studies and extracurricular activities. She was smart, pretty, popular, and eventually pregnant. Arlether knew that motherhood could not be a part of her equation and had a decision to make. If she kept the baby, how would she care for it? Was it not hard enough fending for herself? How much of a future could she have being a teenage mother with no support and a past like hers?

Rewriting the Script is a story that shows the true meaning of motivation and faith. Wilson takes you deep into her world in a very detailed, very intimate way. It forced me to face the realities of victimized children. Oftentimes when reading memoirs, I get a general picture of what the author went through and I am left to my own feelings about the events. This memoir pushed the envelope and not only painted pictures, but evoked emotions. It is not an easy story to digest and it should not be. The only flaws in Rewriting the Script were the editing and pacing. The most significant editing issue was there were sentences written in multiple points of view. The pacing toward the end of the book seemed a little rushed. I would have loved to know more about her as an adult and mother but was disappointed to quickly find her children graduating from high school. Even so, I recommend Rewriting the Script to individuals who like emotional and empowering reads.

Reviewed by Darnetta Frazier
APOOO BookClub

Reviewer - Sidne Kingston, United Book Club of America, founder of DivineSisterz of Chicago Christian Book Club

It's unconceivable to the mind, devastating to the heart, and a T-K-O to the body.

Rewriting the Script will have you flipping the script! A page-turner that's guaranteed to make you do two out of three things: Throw the book, rip up the book or cry through the book. If you never read a novel that made you call out Jesus name, prepare yourself, for all there is left to say is "JESUS".

This poignant novel is a heart-breaking riveting life story that begins for a young girl at the tender age of five. Can you imagine a five-year-old saying, "He shoved it deeply down my throat."?
Can you imagine being forced to drink a concoction of dead roaches in some form of liquid? These incidents don't even touch the surface beholding in this novel.

The story grips at the core of your imagination vividly of the inhuman characters responsible for the incessant turmoil of emotional and physical damages penetrating the young girl life. As the author chronicles the story, she depicts the demons that plagued her life in such detail that you feel her fear, anxiety and struggles from within those pages. Several times you will cry out, "no more, dear Lord, she can't take no more, please help her!

From within the author, this novel serves as a living witness that you can survive against the threatening obstacles of life's cruelty that steals your self - worth. This novel serves as a walking testimony of faith and strength defying the "generational curses." This novel offers HOPE. A hope that you will succumb to Rewriting your Script as you hopes it to be, not as life circumstances depicts.

I applaud the author; Arlether Wilson for her courageous willingness to expose her life of violence, sexual abuse, abandonment, devastating deaths, incest, & deceit that are now hurdles of victories.

Once you finish reading this novel, you will be compelled to never complain against another thing in your life.
The novel is shocking, its powerful, its heartfelt and it's A Must READ!!

The rating for Rewriting the Script on a scale of 1-5 is a 5+

"Right Behind You" has to be without a doubt one of Gail Giles' best novels. The story of a boy making a mistake that would affect him for the rest of his life. His mistake was murdering a child. Now, of course, you think, 'What a monster?!', but would you opnion change if you found out that he was a child when he murdered the other boy? Would youe opnion change if you found out that it was an accident? When you hear stories of young boys going to mental hospitals, you angry and feel as though they're getting off easy, but do you ever consider what he as a human being is going through? The inner battle that he/she has to go through for the rest of their lives? That's all answered in "Right Behind You".

This novel by Gail Giles is an excellent read for teenagers and adults alike. It captures you in so easily and you won't be able to put it down. The only problem it has is that it was too short, I just wish it could've gone on longer, it was that great! The first page and the last chapter all come together in the end and I'll definitely try to read this superb book again. I absolutely recommend this to anyone over the age of 13.

5 stars

Reviewed by Michaila Hamilton (age 17) for Reader Views (12/07)

"Right Behind You" starts off with the murder of a young boy in Alaska. Kip McFarland sets his friend on fire over a silly birthday gift: a baseball glove. The boy dies an agonizing three days later and Kip is sent to a psychiatric institution for the criminally insane. He undergoes years of therapy and is released. When he is released, all of his family has to change their names because of vigilante justice. People have burned the family's home, chased his dad out of town, and deliver horrible threats. When Kip is released from the hospital the family moves to a small town in Indiana. Soon, Kip (now called Wade) makes friends. He does great in school, has a girlfriend, and is a star swimmer on the swim team. It all comes crashing down though, when Wade spills his secret at a campfire one night.

Once again the whole family is targeted with threats. The swim team refused to swim with a child murderer, his stepmom is fired from her teaching job, and his dad is forced to leave his job. The family moves again, this time to a beach in Texas. Wade decides not to go to public school. He stays home and keeps to himself in the hopes of not hurting his family again. But, there is a girl next door with her own set of secrets. Over time, she teaches him to sail and to trust. She also learns to trust him. After she confides in him about her past, he decides that he must tell her. With the support of his family and therapist, he writes his whole life down and gives her the stacks of books. After many days, when he is preparing to move away by himself, he finds out that Sam is "Right Behind You."

The book "Right Behind You" has the reader hooked from the very beginning. The format is in short diary-like chapters, but with titles instead of dates. It flows very nicely and is easy reading. I like the fact that everything is in chronological order. The only thing I didn't care for was about Wade's homeschooling in Texas. As a home-schooled student in Texas, I know the law. There is no set amount of credits or classes needed for a home school, high school diploma. Texas does not strictly govern their home schools. Ms. Giles writes an outstanding book, and I really bonded with the characters, almost immediately. I highly recommend "Right Behind You" and look forward to reading more from this author.

Gail Giles is the queen of psychological thrillers for teens. And I know that with her last release, I stated that What Happened to Cass McBride? was my new favorite Giles book. However, I've taken the liberty of changing my mind (yes, again!) and saying that RIGHT BEHIND YOU tops even that great read.

Kip McFarland lived in Alaska with his dad. His mother had gotten sick and died. His Aunt Jemma, his mother's sister, tried to insist that Kip's dad stop living like an animal in the wilds of Alaska, and instead move somewhere proper to raise her nephew. And then he did, because nine-year-old Kip killed Bobby Clarke by setting him on fire.

In Indiana, he was Wade Madison, and he lived with his father and stepmother, Carrie. He became best friends with Dave, a teacher's son. He had a pretty hot girlfriend, Lindsey (also known as AC, for Absolutely Cutest). He was the star of the swim team. And then he couldn't take his own happiness anymore, went slightly ballistic with a group of his friends, and admitted to murdering a child. It was time to leave Indiana.

Carrie's own stepfather had died, leaving her a house in Texas. In Texas, he was still Wade, but he wasn't the Wade from Indiana. And then he met Sam, a girl with tragic secrets of her own, and life changed yet again. He didn't want to be Wade, he wanted to be Kip. But not the Kip that the newspapers had made out to be a monster, and not even the Kip who had once been Wade who was friendly and outgoing and happy-go-lucky. All he wanted was a life that allowed him to accept what he had done without dying from the guilt.

Get a copy of RIGHT BEHIND YOU. Read it and cry, and read it and think. Kip isn't a monster, but neither is he innocent. Kip is a boy who made a costly mistake, and has been paying for it ever since. This is his story, and it's an unforgettable one.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

I came across this book a couple of years ago. It is an excellent resource for improving a child's awareness towards becoming independently secure as much as possible. As Dr. Kraizer notes in this book, the only person a child can rely on ALL the time is him- or herself. The very practical method prescribed by Dr. Kraizer helps a child become more aware of potential dangers without alarming them. I highly recommend this book for any parent or teacher.

I am a social worker and am always looking for ways to help kids learn how to keep themselves safe when safe adults are not available. This book gives great tips on how to teach kids how to do just that. Parents aren't always able to be there and this book gives kids tools they need to be able to rely on themselves if/when needed. I have read this book several times since receiving it and have used the methods with my own 4 year old child as well as the foster kids I work with. The book is able to be used with kids as young as 2 on up....great book with very practical and life saving advice.

This is a great book to read. It is helpful to understand the problem that parents cause by sending conflicting signals to children. It also gives practical advice in how to teach your children to speak to stranges and others to avoid sexual abuse or abduction. It teaches you the ideas and concepts you need to better equip your children with the skills they need. Very helpful.

This is a great book with very practical advice for educating your child on how to keep safe. It provides clear ways to educate and empower without instilling fear!

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher of Reader Views (2/07)

Congratulations to Barry Goldstein for writing "Scared to Leave, Afraid to Stay," a book that gives hope to women caught in domestic violence that they can successfully leave. Goldstein, an attorney in New York who has become an expert on domestic violence issues and long time board member and past chairman of My Sisters Place, certainly has the experience and background to write this book.

The information is broken down into ten real-life case studies of heroic women who had the courage to leave their abusers and start over. The lack of support that the women received through the courts, and the quagmire of red tape that the women had to go through in custody cases, was shocking in several of the case studies. I was appalled to read in one case where a report of a father inappropriately kissing his four and six year old daughters on their vaginas was allowed unrestricted visitation. He had full sexual relations with one of the daughters on their next visit. I was also amazed at how often the abusers were allowed to get away with continued harassment. The author does show that the laws are finally getting better for protecting women, but we still have a long way to go.

Goldstein did a great job of breaking the cases studies down into sections on the history of the divorce, the divorce itself, custody issues, financial issues and many more topics. He takes a very caring approach to his cases and really goes the extra mile to ensure the women and children's safety. These stories really show that people can get away from these awful situations and find safety and happiness for them and their children.

The final chapters of the book give great advice on how to get help and find the right people to get out of a bad situation. I highly recommend "Scared to Leave, Afraid to Stay" for people suffering from domestic violence and those that are trying to help them get out of it. It may not be an easy road, but definitely worth it at the end.

From the dungeon of misery in abusive relationships, ten women and their children broke their way to the surface and found light.

The process was not easy, as Barry Goldstein, an attorney specializing in helping battered women find hope, demonstrates in this straight-talk book.

But in "Scared To Leave, Afraid To Stay" Goldstein also reveals in user-friendly legalese that behind the mountains of paperwork and lengthy court appearances, callous judges and biased experts, there are people like him who care. Mostly, in the follow-up to each case Goldstein tells how these women were able to rebuild their lives and the lives of their children. They found happiness, they found meaning, they found themselves. They found hope.

They gave their children the future that their fathers were intent on robbing.

The book also contains practical information and resources.

I recommend SCARED TO STAY, AFRAID TO LEAVE to anyone who is living the hell of abusive relationship or has a loved one that is scared to leave. I recommend the book to all others who should learn to understand the secretive dark side of love gone awry--and our society's failure to respond and treat it.

If you think you know about marital abuse the true life stories in this book will shock you. It gives the inside story of judicial crimes against abused women from an attorney with years of experience in the field, as well as sensible recommendations for reform.

Scared To Leave, Afraid To Stay is a book that shows what it is like for a woman to leave the man that is abusing her. While there are many good domestic violence books, none combine an understanding of domestic violence with knowledge of the law like this book does. I found myself caring about the women described in the book and wishing all women could have an attorney as caring as the author. This book will be popular with domestic violence victims and their advocates. I only hope some judges read it also.

An emotional and disturbing tale of scoutmasters who have deceived whole communities, the boys they've molested, the parents who were somehow oblivious until it was too late, and the scout officials who didn't understand their own policies and for years underestimated the scope of the organization's problem.

Something a previous reviewer seems to have missed, and perhaps one of the reasons these things often go unreported, is that these guys aren't always forcing themselves upon the youngsters. Sometimes the men are master manipulators who convince the boys that what they are doing is normal and that they care for them more than their own parents. This is the case with one of the main characters in this book. Of course, this isn't always the case. Sometimes they use intimidation and fear to keep the boys quiet.

In any case, years later some such boys grow up to be abusers too and there is a cycle that goes on. This is also detailed in the book.

Fortunately, the Boy Scouts have put into place new policies in recent years, probably in part thanks to this book. Basically, it is against BSA policy for adult leaders to ever be alone with a boy or sleep in the same tent with boys. Also, leaders now have to go through a criminal background check.

Unfortunately, the fixes won't stop every molester, especially when parents aren't on the ball. It's important that the parents be aware of these rules and not just always trust the leaders to be following the rules. There was one story in the book of a group of pedophiles who worked together to start a scout troop, so if you see a troop where none of the leaders are parents you should be cautious. Make sure to know who these people are.

Finally, the main character in this book was not just a boy scout leader, he was also a junior high school teacher, and many of the boys he molested were not scouts. Bottom line is that parents should in general not trust other adults to be alone with their kids and watch out for any warning signs.

I think parents and community leaders should read this book to have a better understanding of the problem.

A word of warning to the reader: this book includes graphic details of molestation and can be disturbing.

Patrick Boyle does a masterful job of illustrating how adult male homosexual pedophiles could fool whole communities of parents into thinking they had the best interests of their boys at heart while at the same time were intimidating their boys into having non-consensual sex right under the parent's noses. It's chilling to learn how the parents defended pedophile after pedophile as being "falsely accused" or "good men" while often refusing to take the boys' word that the Scout leader had coerced them into having sex. When I read the newpaper articles about how the Roman Catholic church hid their pedophile problem for years, as did the Boy Scouts, I see the same play but with different actors. If you want to get an insight into how pedophiles think, work, and act, read Scouts Honor. Don't, however, make the mistake of thinking that when the Boy Scouts got rid of their pedophiles, the pedophiles quit molesting. They are probably just "working" another youth organization using the same methods they used to infiltrate the Boy Scouts. Good book.

As a victim and scout myself, I found this book to be an investigative feet with stories from all sides. It is a must read if you want to know how so many molesters can offend the nation's most trustworthy and honest youth in the worst way.

I wish there were books like it that dicussed abuse in other organizations such as church, and sports.

This was one of the most unique and interesting books i have ever read. It follows the life of the author, Greg Everett, from childhood to present-day, and kept my interest from the first page until the last. I think that Greg's life has aspects that almost anyone can relate to, and his life's story is one that will entertain everyone who cares to read it. His life is filled with hard choices and big decisions about everything from his love life to his drug habit and, although some might say disagree, paints a relatively accurate picture of adolescent life. I would recommend this book to anyone, regardless of their age or background.

This is the autobiographical story of one person's journey through 1990s youth culture.

Greg is your average resident of the Bay Area of San Francisco, more interested in drugs and the opposite sex than school. A couple of teachers along the way attempt to "reach" him, thinking that he is some sort of troubled teen, when a much better diagnosis might be "smart but bored with school."

He has a variety of jobs during this time, including spending a couple of years working behind the counter of a local bike shop. It's the sort of place where items like air guns and super glue are used in all sorts of intesesting ways. After high school, he intentionally gets out of town and enrolls in a sort of alternative college in Arizona to learn search and rescue. He leaves there after he finds that the school is the sort of place where the faculty would rather look at the goodness inside each of the students than actually teach search and rescue. During this time, Grundle Ink Publications is born, as Greg hand binds copies of his writings and hands them out to friends.

Everett eventually ends up in the college town of Chico, California, where Grundle Ink becomes more of a "full-time" job. The fact that he knows absolutely nothing about the publishing business is irrelevant; nothing like learning the hard way. He also makes several attempts to get off drugs.

Throughout this book are many relationships with the opposite sex. Some of the women Everett meets are decent, reasonable people, while others can best be described as one-dimensional idiots. He is unable to break off the relationship, so he intentionally acts like a jerk until the woman gets frustrated and does the breaking up. The conversations recounted are not literary masterpieces; sometimes, they consist of little more than "dude" and "(insert swear word)."

Because of the very large amounts of drugs and swearing in this book, it is not for the faint of heart. To attempt to understand youth culture of the 1990s, this does an infinitely better job than the various stories and films of adolescent hijinks. The writing is honest, sobering, and, in places, very funny. I loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page. I found the writing to be very entertaining, insightful and on that selfish level, was able to identify with most of it. It kept me totally entertained for the last week and a half. I have quite a bit more to say about it, but suffice to say, it was damn good on many levels.

Greg Everett's Screaming At A Wall is a dark and intensely personal memoir of sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, and offers today's readings uncanny insights into the out-of-control aspect of the so-called "90s youth culture". From stealing a key as a middle school prank, to using cocaine for recreation, and flipping through a string of girlfriends, Screaming At A Wall is a remarkably candid account of Everett's blind obsessions with breaking the rules. Screaming At A Wall is a disturbing yet compelling account, and as difficult to look away from as a house on fire or a twenty car pileup on the freeway.

Excellent book that I used as a guide for the my early recovery. Must have for the struggles and challenges of recovery.

Having recently celebrated my 1 year anniversary in AA, this book really helped me understand where I am. There just aren't many people with my sobriety time in the fellowships I attend. They seem to have more or less time, so it has been difficult for me to understand why I feel the way I do. Those that came into AA when I did all seem to be gone and anybody with about my sobriety has been there before. I have a great sponsor, a solid Big Book Program, great fellowship and a constantly improving "life", but why do I feel different than I did a few months ago? Not bad, not great, but just good.
This book was an incredible experience of being able to feel comfortable with the fact that I am "normal" at this stage.
The author has a nice mix of his feelings and some testimony from real, live AA members sharing their experiences and feelings. I would read a little each night after my meetings and feel like I had gone to another meeting. It left me calm and hopeful, like most of my AA experiences on my path. I rarely read a book that I appreciate, but this is one. Thank you, Guy.

I received this book after my first year of sobriety. It was incredibly useful to understand the transitions that I went through after just focusing on being clean & sober. I highly recommend to anyone who starts becoming more aware of feelings and life circumstances that we had years of not dealing with.

I bought this book after I celebrated my first abstinence Bday and didn't read it for another 6 months. I was so comforted by the stories of recovering folk in their 2nd year of sobriety, all who were experiencing difficulties in recovery that I could relate to. One of the most important things this book helped me to see is that it's okay to struggle. Now that I have 21 months of sobriety, it's not all about how do I take a shower or cook for myself; rather, I'm learning how to be a part of the world. This book was a welcome reminder that the issues I struggle with are akin to those that many 2nd-year recoverers struggle with.