Strong at the Heart: How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse [Hardcover]

Carolyn Lehman (Author), Laura Davis (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2005

“This book is an absolute gift to the world.” – Jacqueline Woodson
Every year more than half a million young people are sexually abused or assaulted in North America. This groundbreaking book brings readers face-to-face with nine survivors who speak with candor and courage about the abuse they experienced, how they have healed, and how they are moving forward with their lives. White, black, Latino, and Native American, these everyday heroes come from a wide range of communities and have found different ways to cope with and overcome sexual trauma. Through moving personal stories and striking photographs they take readers into their lives, offering insight and hope for anyone affected by this all-too-common childhood experience.

In this book about healing, young readers and their families will find additional information in the resource section, a comprehensive guide to the best help lines, books, films, and Web sites on healing and resilience.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Primarily about the experience of healing and recovery, Heart gathers 11 personal stories by young men and women who experienced rape, molestation, or incest and found healing through speaking out about their abuse. Lehman, a child-sexual-abuse survivor herself, emphasizes the importance of consciously choosing to tell what happened and meeting with others who have had similar experiences, and shows the wide variety of ways to express feelings and find community. Clearly and candidly written, the narratives recounted here include sufficient details of abuse to be authentic, but never titillating. The clear message to other victims is that they are not alone and that recovery is possible. An attractive, accessible format and black-and-white portraits throughout personalize the presentation. Extensive appendixes list organizations and annotated resources for further reading that offer help. Patti Feuereisen and Caroline Pincus's Invisible Girls: The Truth about Sexual Abuse (Seal, 2005) also includes powerful personal stories within a larger context of more generalized discussion of child/teen sexual abuse.–Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Lehman's powerful collection of 11 testimonials from survivors of sexual abuse packs a strong emotional punch. Ranging in age from teen to adult, survivors^B candidly discuss circumstances and recovery. Although the descriptions of abuse aren't graphic, they will disturb some readers. Photographs of the individuals with their families or friends accompany each testimonial. In the hopeful last chapter, three teens who help run the Survivors and Allies for Education on Childhood Sexual Abuse and Incest organization on the Smith College campus speak about their activism and commitment to the cause. Ultimately, the strength of this sensitive, evenhanded book comes from its increasing awareness about something teens may be silently suffering, and encouraging teens to speak up and move forward--the only way to heal the hurt. An annotated list of hotlines, books, films, Web sites, and organizations that readers can go to for more information is appended. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374372829
• ISBN-13: 978-0374372828
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #402,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what a blessing, November 22, 2005

By 

Molly Fisk (Nevada City, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strong at the Heart: How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse (Hardcover)

How I wish I had had Strong at the Heart in my house during the ten years I was wrestling with incest memories and trying to rebuild my life. I might not even have needed to read the book, although its words are amazing solace and inspiration. If all I had had were the photographs of these survivors to look at, I would have been so encouraged to believe that I, too, could recover. They are so clear-eyed! They look exactly like themselves, which is one of the gifts of recovery. You lose so much when you are, or find out you were, abused - it is soul-shattering, and feels so impossible to get over. But what you find if you can keep going is that you become/create/discover a new self, much more together and vivid and real than the old one. It's clear from their faces that these survivors have found their true selves. When you read their stories, you'll see how brave they are to have endured what they had to. I'm so proud of them! Strong at the Heart is courageous, inspirational, and beautifully done. My love to the teens and young adults who told their stories so others of us could be healed, and to Carolyn Lehman, for bringing them to us with such generosity.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive and Ground Breaking, January 14, 2008

By 

Padma Moyer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strong at the Heart: How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse (Hardcover)

As a therapist who has done considerable work with incest and sexual abuse, I give this the highest rating. I think it makes an important contribution to the field and particularly to people of any age, gender or sexual orientation that are dealing with their own recovery. It is sensitive and soulful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for non-survivors too, November 29, 2005

By 

Gen of North Coast Gardening (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strong at the Heart: How It Feels to Heal from Sexual Abuse (Hardcover)

Like many women, I have had a lot of friends who were sexually abused. If you are anything like me, you want to be there for your friends, reassure them that you believe them, are there for them, and love them, but it is very hard to know what you could possibly say and do to help someone you love get through something like this. It is hard to know what someone might want or need from their friends in order to help them recover.

So for me, reading about these incredibly strong, interesting, and diverse men and women really helped me know what someone might be feeling and thinking but feel unable to express. I saw what people said and did for them that was helpful in their recovery, and it helped me feel more prepared to talk with my friends about sexual abuse and to support those who are recovering from it.

The book is written for teens on up, but doesn't talk down to you or oversimplify the feelings and issues involved, so it is a great resource for adults as well. The conversational style makes it a quick and simple read, so even people who don't enjoy reading would still get a lot out of this book.

I particularly liked the diversity shown. There are people from many races and ethnicities, men and women from different cultural and religious backgrounds, people who were abused at different ages and by different kinds of people in their lives. The diversity didn't feel like tokenism; I felt like we really got at some important kernal of humanity and shared experience which made every single entry an experience that anybody could relate to.

I recommend this book for survivors, those who work with children, teens, and young adults, and people like me who would like to help their friends or relatives in their recovery but aren't sure what support we might be able to offer that would be of value to our loved ones.

The author's website offers additional resources:
http://www.strongattheheart.com/