Hope in Patience

Gr 8 Up—Ashley Asher lives with her father and stepmother in a tiny town in East Texas. She wants what any 15-year-old might want: friends, a supportive family, a special relationship with a boy. But Ashley struggles to stop harming herself, to stop dissociating, to accept the support of the people around her. Before she came to Patience, Ashley spent most of her childhood with an indifferent mother and an abusive stepfather. Now she faces the huge challenge of healing from emotional neglect, as well as sexual and physical abuse. She tries, but trust is so hard to come by. And the challenges keep coming. There's a court date when she must face her abuser and the mother who rejects her for reporting the assaults. And a first date on Halloween turns into a disaster when an actor playing a ghoul triggers a posttraumatic reaction in Ashley. All this is tough stuff, but very real to anyone who has lived with abuse or suffered from PTSD. The author is to be applauded for her courageous and accurate portrayal of the many small steps that lead toward psychological healing. It is Ashley's friendships with other "misfits," as much as the support of her new family and her unconventional therapist, that help Ashley understand that she is not alone and that she, too, deserves love. Teens who are attracted by her honesty and her compelling story will come away with a deeper understanding of trauma and healing. This book will open hearts and might well save lives.—Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA