Wednesday, November 12, 2008

LIVING DEAD GIRL by Elizabeth Scott



LIVING DEAD GIRL is the heart-wrenching story of a girl whose life ended when she was abducted by a stranger. Alice tells the story of the five terrible years she spends as the prisoner of a sick, pedophile. Her emotional experience will tear at your heart and send chills down your back.


Not quite 10 years old, Alice is on a school field trip to the aquarium. After an argument with her friends, she finds herself alone - the perfect opportunity for Ray. He offers to help her find her classmates, and she is soon trapped in a terrifying situation.


Ray has done this once before. The other Alice spent years as his captive until she was no longer the "little" girl he desired. Now he has found a new Alice to take her place. He uses threats to her family's safety to manipulate her. His abuse is both emotional and physical. Although vaguely described, it is obvious how Alice suffers. Since five years have passed, Alice is no longer as pleasing as she once was, and Ray has decided to use her to help him find a replacement.


Most would think that even a young victim would find some way to escape this horrible situation, but Alice explains that an easy escape is made complicated by emotional torment and the general apathy of those around us. This is a powerful story very carefully created. It has been adverstised as YA (young adult) and does have it's place in that genre, however, I would caution it deals with an incredibly sensitive and heinous topic suited for the mature reader.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen a post about "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clarke (the first book is called "City of Bones"). I picked it up after reading the Twilight series and it was pretty interesting. You might want to give it a read, your students may like it too!

Readingjunky said...

Thanks for the suggestion. I have read a little about that series, but I haven't read it.