A Deep Dark Secret
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Morrow, Oct 2009, $19.99
ISBN 9780061443091
Her mom Roxanne remarried when Jillian Maxwell was seven years old. When her mother gave birth to Layla, her stepfather Byron turned to Jillian for sexual relief starting with fondling her. Now twelve, Jillian is terrorized by her stepfather’s abuse but also fears telling her mom; as Byron points out who will she believe a child or a caring adult. He also tells her if he has to he will turn to Layla next to Jillian’s horror. To the tweener’s relief, Byron's pedophile abuse of another little one becomes known and Roxanne kicks him out of the house. However, he pleads with her and to Jillian’s horror, her mom takes him back into their home.
Jillian’s BFF confident Nikki is euphoric as she dances with Marcus at a school event. However, he arranges “running a train” with her as the sexual culprit for him and two of his buddies. The trio struts like peacocks at school, which leaves stunned Nikki as a joke contemplating suicide until Jillian steps in for her, Layla and herself against these sexual predators who have turned them into abuse victims.
This is a gripping stunning thriller as the voice of the novel is Jillian who pulls no punches with her fears and horrors as a sexual abuse victim for several years and not quite a teen yet. Jillian makes the tale with her heart-wrenching accounts of her abuse, the blackmail to keep her younger stepsister from becoming abused, and the gangbanging of her best friend. Fans will be stunned with the intensity of this profound tale as Kimberla Lawson Roby provides a deep look at a social issue that many in society prefer to ignore. The sexual abuse of tweeners by friends and family.
Harriet Klausner
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