Stealing Innocence

Continuing his ongoing social critique, Henry Giroux now looks at the way corporate culture is encroaching on the lives of children by exploring three myths prevalent in our society: that the triumph of democracy is related to the triumph of the market; that children are unaffected by power and politics; that teaching and learning are no longer linked to improving the world. Looking at childhood beauty pageants, school shootings and the omnipresent nihilistic chic of advertising, Giroux paints a disturbing picture of the world surrounding our children. Ultimately, he turns to the work of Antonio Gramsci, Paulo Freire and Stuart Hall for lessons about how we can reinstitute a realistic childhood for our children.

Eleven-year-old Erin Merryn's life was transformed on the night she was sexually abused by her cousin, someone she loved and trusted. As the abuse continued, and as she was forced to see her abuser over and over again in social situations, she struggled with self-doubt, panic attacks, nightmares and the weight of whether or not to tell her terrible secret. It wasn't until a traumatic series of events showed her the cost of silence that she chose to speak out-in the process destroying both her family and the last of her innocence. Through her personal diary, written during the years of her abuse, Erin Merryn shares her journey through pain and confusion to inner strength and, ultimately, forgiveness. Raw, powerful and unflinchingly honest, Stolen Innocence is the inspiring story of one girl's struggle to become a woman, and a bright light on the pain and devastation of abuse. Stolen Innocence is written with conviction and clarity. [Erin Merryn] doesn't hold back, and I respect her honesty and openness...By the end of the book, I thought I was reading passages from a much older adult than a high school senior. Erin has grown into a strong, wise, intelligent, perceptive, spiritual, caring adult." —Susan Reedquist, The Children's Advocacy Center

“Both creepy…and quite moving.” —New York Times Book Review “Wall’s story couldn’t be more timely.” —People Stolen Innocence is the gripping New York Times bestselling memoir of Elissa Wall, the courageous former member of Utah’s infamous FLDS polygamist sect whose powerful courtroom testimony helped convict controversial sect leader Warren Jeffs in September 2007. At once shocking, heartbreaking, and inspiring, Wall’s story of subjugation and survival exposes the darkness at the root of this rebel offshoot of the Mormon faith.

This is a story of the survival of two young children who were abducted by their mother. Lisa, nine and Sean, eight were abducted during a weekend visit on November 14, 1980. This is Lisa's story of the worst five years of her life. Lisa and Sean were moved back and forth across the U.S.A. and Canada. They were relocated every one to six months, in order to avoid being found. Stolen Innocence is a collection of Lisa's memories of those five years.

I was sold like property on the day of my father’s funeral. I’d thought his death would set me free, but I’d never truly understood what it meant to have all my freedoms stripped away. Until that day, I’d been living in a child’s fantasy. Then, my brother sells me, and I don’t have the luxury of being a child anymore. I’m taken to Vicente Rodríguez’s estate, to be kept as his plaything. When I’m old enough, he’ll claim my innocence. My only reprieve from my hellish reality is in the strained companionship I share with his son, Adrián. Sometimes, I think he hates me. He can be cold and cruel, his burning green eyes glowering when he looks at me. But the longer I’m trapped in his home, the more heated those looks become, and not just with hatred. They make something burn within me, too. My innocence is no longer mine to give, but Adrián might be the first one to claim it for himself. Note: Stolen Innocence is the prequel to Stealing Beauty.

"This is an academic look at the contribution of popular culture to the loss if innocence in today's children."--Publisher.

Kimberly could not believe what her uncle wanted her to do. In order to keep the inheritance of her husband's; her uncle wanted her to get pregnant. Yet, when the new spouse dies unexpectedly, Uncle Charles kidnaps a man who resembles Kimberly's decease husband, ties him to a bed, and orders Kimberly to steal his seed. Uncle Charles would kill him after the deed was done so no one would ever know the truth.Surly, mean tempered Jaelen can't believe someone had the nerve to do this to him. When his cold eyes fall on the beautiful, angelic Kimberly and he realizes her intentions, he vows to escape and get revenge if it takes the rest of his life.

Just as women in the Bible have been overlooked for much of interpretative history, children in the Bible have fascinating and compelling stories that scholars have largely ignored. This groundbreaking book focuses on children in the Hebrew Bible. The author argues that the biblical writers recognized children as different from adults and used these ideas to shape their stories. She provides conceptual and historical frameworks for understanding children and childhood, and examines Hebrew terms related to children and youth. The book introduces a new methodology of childist interpretation and applies it to the Elisha cycle (2 Kings 2-8), which contains forty-nine child characters. Combining literary insights with social-scientific evidence, the author demonstrates that children play critical roles in the world of the text as well as the culture that produced it.