Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
At once disturbing and empowering, the memoir of a courageous woman who was abused, groomed and trafficked for sex from age 11 to age 16, who killed her trafficker/father figure and was sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without parole. "I was 11 when I met GG. I realized later that he had to have been aware of the chaos that was my life... because he played me perfectly. I was walking home after school... I heard his red Mustang purring like a huge lion behind me before it pulled up catty corner and cut off my path. He leaned out of the open window and motioned with his right hand that I should come closer. 'Hey, excuse me.' I popped down to the window and politely, cheerfully and helpfully replied, 'Yes?' He said, 'I've been noticing you a lot, and I just want to talk to you. I'm gonna go get some ice cream and go to the park. I would love for you to come and join me. We won't be gone long. Is that okay with you?' The appeal of ice cream for me was like, 'YES I want ice cream.' He leaned over and opened the passenger door, 'What's your name? People call me GG.' I shyly answered, 'Sara.'"
Synopsis
There is perhaps no crime more disturbing than the abuse of a child--and no court cases as upsetting as those in which juveniles who have faced abuse are tried for fighting back. In this gripping memoir Sara Kruzan, a survivor of childhood abuse and sex trafficking, tells the honest, disturbing, and ultimately empowering story of her journey from abuse to incarceration without parole for killing her abuser to finally gaining her liberation. As someone who has worked with trafficking survivors in the developing world, I am struck by how vividly Kruzan's memoir shows us how easily these same atrocities take place, barely noticed, beneath the sophisticated veneer of life in the U.S. A brilliant and illuminating read.--Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and author of Mighty Be Our Powers
Sara is currently an advocate for the rights of incarcerated women and children, and the inspiration behind Sara's Law, a bill currently in the House of Representative seeking to protect children of abuse from facing life sentences.
I was eleven when I first met GG. I realized later that he had to have been aware of the chaos that was my life because he played me perfectly. I was walking home after school ... I heard a red Mustang purring like a huge lion behind me as I turned onto my block. When it caught up with me, a man leaned out of the window and motioned for me to come closer. 'Hey, excuse me, ' he said. I approached the window and politely and cheerfully replied, 'Yes?' He said, 'I've been noticing you a lot, and I just want to talk to you. I'm gonna go get some ice cream and go to the park. I would love for you to come and join me. We won't be gone long. Is that okay with you?' Ice cream I found his offer irresistible. GG leaned over and opened the passenger door, 'What's your name? People call me GG.' 'Sara, ' I said shyly.'--from I Cried to Dream Again