#10 Laura Weiss's "Such a Pretty Girl"


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That's right; I skipped The Catcher in the Rye again.  Give me some credit though, I read this entire book today!  That should help me catch up with where I should be in this challenge a bit!  :)

The tenth book for my challenge is called Such a Pretty Girl and it was written by Laura Weiss.  I picked it up based on the cover at the Planned Parenthood book sale on Friday.  There is something sort of haunting about the picture (which fits well with the book topic).

This story is about a girl whose father is sent to jail for sexually abusing her (as well as neighborhood boys and girls).  He is supposed to be there until she is eighteen but is let out after 3 years for good behavior.  While her father is in jail, Meredith begins a relationship with a boy who is a bit older than she is but was also abused by her father.  This story tells the struggle of both of the teenagers dealing with Meredith's father's return to the neighborhood.

My honest thoughts on the story?  I'm not sure.  It was definitely a fast read and I found myself connecting with it on a professional level.  (I'm sure most of you know that I am in the social work field, so this type of situation holds a special place in my heart.)  However, I also felt dirty at times, as though I was actually reading a book that would excite a pedophile.  More often than not, this was not the case, but it was more graphic than it needed to be at times, all the while needing that information to really drive home what was going on for Meredith.

One recurrence that really annoyed me was the mother's ignorance.  I can not handle mother's who are so obsessed with being loved by their husbands that they completely ignore what might be happening to their kids, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or sexual abuse.  The mother in this story remains completely ignorant throughout.  Sadly, when it comes to these types of situations, I know that this happens more often than not.

Would I recommend this book?  Well, this book is definitely not for the faint of heart.  I know I would not recommend this book to most people, but at the same time, I know several of my blog readers work in the same field as I do and for such people I would recommend it.  So, I guess it depends on who you are.

First line teaser:  "They promised me nine years of safety, but only gave me three."

Next up:  The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (I think...)  :)

6 Responses to “#10 Laura Weiss's "Such a Pretty Girl"”

  1. Anonymous says:

    I kind of want and don't want to read this book at the same time. Maybe you should send it to me just in case, a good one day leisure reader might be a nice escape from text books for me.

  2. Unknown says:

    You've got to be kidding me! I wrote a whole response and it told me service is unavailable when I submitted it. Geez! Long story short, you might want to check out Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. I had more to say, but now my lunch break is up!

  3. Unknown says:

    Tell me more KATIE!!!

    Pam, I WILL send it to you mayhaps!

  4. Unknown says:

    Katie, I just read a review on that book. It definitely sounds interesting. I will check it out.

  5. Unknown says:

    So sometimes I forget to tell Blogger to let me know when there's been more comments. Anyway, my original message said something about how I listened to the audio book, which was good. From reading your blog entry, I think I might have gotten a similar feeling from Living Dead Girl. Also, I originally only listed to the book because the title is also title of my favorite Rob Zombie song... I feel like maybe I shouldn't admit this.

  6. Unknown says:

    You're probably right about that. I always forget to tell blogger to tell me about comments so sometimes I comment to people and ask questions and then I never remember to go back and see if they answer me. Meh... what can you do?

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