June 11, 2007
Sitting through months of probing therapy sessions can be an intense experience—especially when you're not the patient. In her abused-girl-on-the-run story, debut novelist Phillips piles on the requisite ingredients of a teenage melodrama: sexual abuse, prostitution, an incompetent mother and a brief stint in foster care. The story begins as 17-year-old Chloe is placed in the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls following an arrest for prostitution. She is belligerent, indignant and won't open up to anyone. But as her therapist chips away at her steely exterior, Chloe begins to reveal memories she never thought she'd share with anyone: her mother's dizzying train of live-in boyfriends, her stepfather's wandering hands and the first time she pleasures a john for money after running away from home. As Chloe relives each of these moments from her past, teens are given full access to her thoughts and emotions, thanks to Phillips's clear understanding of Chloe's tough yet vulnerable character. Unfortunately, the most shocking revelation of all—the reason Chloe severs ties with her family in the first place—isn't explained until the very end, which may leave many to wish they had learned the truth earlier. An exhausting but nonetheless authentic read. Ages 15-up.
October 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Caught hustling on the streets, 17-year-old Chloe Doe isn't quite sure that the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls is the ideal place for her to be. She is determined to resist the efforts of Dr. Dearborn to convert her into "a good girl-woman." The product of an abusive home, Chloe is an expert at hiding her emotions behind the facade of an ice-cold streetwalker, turning tricks to pay her rent and buy food. She must face her disturbing past before she can erase the hurt and pain that have driven her into the clutches of pimp Manny Marquez. Told through alternating chapters in the past and present, Chloe reevaluates her childhood and the mother who allowed "bad" things to happen to her and her sister. Throughout the novel, Phillips uses harsh, cold language to portray the frightening scenarios of this teen's life. As Chloe finds the courage to stay the course of therapy and discover the girl she used to be, readers are drawn to this young woman who must make a most painful journeyof self-discovery."Caryl Soriano, New York Public Library"
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