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

by Carolyn Lehman (Author), Laura Davis (Foreword) "WHAT HAPPENED WAS THIS: the summer before tenth grade my girlfriends and I went to a party..." (more)
Key Phrases: Father Jim, Auntie Jane, Walden House

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: Young Adult
  
• 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: 9.1 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #30 in	Books > Teens > Social Issues > Sexual Abuse
  #76 in	Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Fiction
  #85 in	Books > Children's Books > Issues > Drugs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 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

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.

3 of 3 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)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Gen of www.LibraryOfEden.com (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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/