I learned about this memoir from my friend Nikki, and it was as powerful as she described in her review. One of the main aspects that I’m trying to grow in my advocacy is to seek out survivor stories and listen. Reading this memoir with a listening posture was a way for me to practice that. This story is really difficult to read, but it’s important to witness. At the age of 13, Sara experienced an abusive home and was groomed into prostitution. She murdered her pimp and was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile, which meant that she would die in prison. There’s so much tragedy there. Thanks to the intervention and advocacy from many people that allowed her to share her whole story, Sara was released from prison after serving 19 years, and she continues to be an advocate for survivors of trafficking and incarcerated women. 

And then I learned that only 27 states and DC have laws against prosecuting child trafficking victims for commercial sex. It’s overwhelming that so much wrong can be in the world. But it does no good to stay overwhelmed or grieved or even angry. I think about this quote from Audre Lorde in Sister Outsider: “Hatred is the fury of those who do not share our goals, and its object is death and destruction. Anger is a grief of distortions between peers, and its object is change.” So let us listen, learn, and channel our anger toward change. 

Content warnings: child sex trafficking, violence, murder, rape, abuse