The Facts Speak for Themselves [Mass Market Paperback]

Brock Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2000

At the request of her social worker, thirteen-year-old Linda gradually reveals how her life with her unstable mother and her younger brother led to her rape and the murder she witnessed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fans of Brock Cole's savvy, independent protagonist in Celine may be shocked by the raw young woman they meet in The Facts Speak for Themselves. The novel challenges our ideas about young-adult books and about young adults themselves: its story is gritty; its rhythm is oddly primitive; its level of honesty about people and events is unparalleled. Cole tells the tale of 13-year-old Linda who, when we meet her in the beginning of the book, has just come to the police station after witnessing the murder of a man--an adult who may be her lover. The situation is extreme; the nuances are deep. Linda struggles madly against everyone's presumptions about who she appears to be. She tries to tell the story straight, to let the facts speak for themselves. This important book will stimulate discussions in classrooms and between friends. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

PW's Best Books citation called this story of a sexually abused 13-year-old who witnesses the murder of the man with whom she's been having an affair a "brilliant psychological study. The author's stringent refusal to resolve disturbing questions raised by the girl's version of events gives his writing a devastating authenticity." Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (April 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141306963
• ISBN-13: 978-0141306964
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,655,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heroic Survivor, April 24, 2001

By 

todd (Columbus Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Facts Speak For Themselves (Hardcover)

Linda, the thirteen-year-old survivor of a disastrous family life, tells her story in this realistic and unblushing account. At the beginning of the novel, we find Linda going into protective services following a bloody and climactic debacle in which her alcoholic mother's sometime boyfriend commits suicide after shooting to death, in Linda's presence, Linda's middle-aged seducer/lover, who was also Linda's mother's employer. The novel is made up of Linda's subsequent telling of her life story to her caseworker.

CHARACTERS: Linda--A born survivor: capable, brave, resourceful, and cunning. In spite of all the appalling neglect and abuse to which she is subjected, one ends the novel with the impression that she is equal to the task of getting on with her life.

Sandra--Linda's mother: Good-looking, a doctor's daughter, and a complete mess. She is vain, self-centered, self-pitying, uncaring, alcoholic, depressed, willful, and incapable. She is, in fact, an exceptionally destructive train-wreck of a person, unable to manage her own life, to say nothing of the lives of her children.

COMMENTS: The book is exceptionally well written in straightforward and realistic first-person language. Caution: Four-letter words are used and sexual situations are frankly described.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars These Are The Facts, July 9, 2001

By 

"linz_ee" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Facts Speak for Themselves (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Facts Speak for Themselves" was a pretty good book. I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids who can't handle sex or violence though. I'd probably recommend it to teens 13-18.

The story is told in Linda's point of view. It is different because the story actually starts out with the conclusion, and the rest of the story tells what lead up to what is in the beginning (that sounds confusing, but once you read it, you will understand). Linda is a thirteen year old girl who was witness to the murder of her lover, who is twice her age. The killer, was actually her mother's boyfriend who was living with them. Linda tells the events in her life from the time she was little up until the murder, consisting of a very dysfunctional family life and a lot of moving around. The book was good all-in-all, but not really for children.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story of a 13 year old living through a nightmare., November 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Facts Speak For Themselves (Hardcover)

A strong, yet disturbing story of a 13 year old girl who experiences events in her young life which no one would wish a child, or adult, to experi- ence. She loses her chance of childhood while living with a dysfunctional mother, who, in turn, draws dysfunctional people into her own life and therefore Linda's. Unlike "The Goats", which was a story of innocent love, Mr.Cole makes his main character a victim of sexual abuse. She is not aware of the harm that this is doing to her now or in the future, nor do I feel the author injects anything into the story to help her under- stand that she is a victim. I feel that a stronger statement regarding the abuse should have been made by the author. I am concerned that a young person reading this book would not fully comprehend the psychological damage that has been done to Linda