Arcadia Public Library

"In 1948, Sally Horner was just eleven years old when she was kidnapped by a man claiming to be an FBI agent. Seven years later, Vladimir Nabokov published Lolita, perhaps the most seminal novel of the twentieth century. Sarah Weinman's investigation into how the two are connected is a thrilling, heartbreaking mix of literary scholarship and true-crime writing."--

"To their family, neighbors, and online friends, Louise and David Turpin presented a picture of domestic bliss: dressing their thirteen children in matching outfits and buying them expensive gifts. But what police discovered when they entered the Turpin family home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history. For years, David and Louise had kept their children in increasing isolation, trapping them in a sinister world of torture,...

Lenny Duncan's memoir about growing up Black and queer in the United States. He recounts his experiences hitchhiking across the country, spending tim in solitary confinement, battling addiction, and discovering a deep faith.

[This book] is [an] account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played torturous, unpredictable games - games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."--Back...

"Michelle Dowd grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest, born into an ultra-religious cult--the Field, as members called it--run by her grandfather, who believed that his chosen followers must prepare themselves to survive doomsday. Bound by the group's patriarchal rules and literal interpretation of the Bible, Michelle and her siblings lived a life of deprivation, isolated from Outsiders and starved for both love and food. She was forced...

Documents the story of the author's childhood in an abusive and impoverished family, describing how he earned a full college football scholarship and reinvented himself by embracing specific positive rules for living.

"All those years you tried your best to break me, and I'm still here. One day you'll see, I'm going to make something of myself." These words were Dave Pelzer's declaration of independence to his mother, and they represented the ultimate act of self-reliance. Dave's father never intervened as his mother abused him with shocking brutality. But even after he was rescued, his life remained haunted by memories of his years as the bruised, cowering "It"...

"We need a revolution in care. Damaged tells the painful yet inspiring story of a dedicated psychiatrist and his most challenging patient. In the authentic voices of Dr. Robert Maunder and his patient, Isaac, we hear how childhood trauma harms Isaac's health for the rest of his life. Providing readers with a window into the private world of long-term psychotherapy, we also see how deeply patients can affect the doctors who care for them. Dr. Maunder...

According to UNICEF, growing up with domestic violence is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world, affecting more than a billion people. Yet too few people are aware of the profound impact it can have. Invincible seeks to change this lack of awareness and understanding with a compelling look at this important issue, informing and inspiring anyone who grew up living with domestic violence -- and those who love them, work with...