A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

A Rock And A Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story by Anthony Godby Johnson.

Published: New York: Crown, 1993.

Penned by Vicki Fraginals, under the pseudonym Anthony Godby Johnson to tell the story of a sexually abused, HIV-positive 14-year-old boy, A rock and a hard place is a prime example of literary fraud, presented as a memoir. The story is unsentimental and extraordinarily depraved in its descriptions of child sexual abuse, his neglectful parents beating him and depriving him of food. Johnson eventually escapes to a life on the mean streets of New York before being rescued by a pair of social workers, finally finding a loving family. Written with maturity and wisdom, it is ultimately, an adolescent’s personal account of overcoming abuse and terror.

Sources

Cover image: Goodreads

Citation: Amazon

Annotation: Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes & Nobel

LOVE AND CONSEQUENCES

Love And Consequences: A Memoir Of Hope And Survival by Margaret B Jones. 

Published: New York: Riverhead Books, 2008.

Described as ‘Urban Fiction’, Love and Consequences is the memoir of a mixed-race young girl as she struggles to survive the brutality of life in South Central Los Angeles. The story is one of strength and hope, with the protagonist overcoming urban poverty, crime, drug abuse and violence, eventually breaking free to graduate from high school and then college. Written in the slang of the city’s most prominent street gangs -- the Bloods and Crips -- Jones explains that she chose to “write as we chose to speak in the world of my childhood." The book was later recalled by its publisher, Riverhead books and retailers after it was revealed the author was in fact, Margaret Seltzer, a white, affluent American writer who went so far as to speak in an African-American dialect during radio interviews in order to promote the book.

Sources

Cover image: Novelist

Citation: Novelist

Annotation: Literature Resource Center and Novelist

A CHILD CALLED "IT"

A Child Called "It" : One Child's Courage To Survive by David J. Pelzer 

Published: Omaha, Neb. : Omaha Press Pub. Co., 1993.

Widely considered as the first of the “misery lit” genre, A Child Called “It” is the disturbing personal account of author David Pelzer, who was tortured as a young boy by his sadistic, alcoholic mother who starved and brutally beat him, to the point of his becoming her slave. Eventually Pelzer manages to overcome the extreme abuse to lead a scarred, yet ultimately successful life. The book is well known for it's graphic and morbid content.
There remains doubt as to the veracity of Pelzer’s claims in the book, with both The New York Times and The Guardian newspapers noting the lack of details authenticating his recollections.

Sources

Cover image: Goodreads

Citation: UTS Library Catalogue

Annotation: Fiction Connection, Goodreads and Amazon.

SATAN'S UNDERGROUND

Satan's Underground: The Extraordinary Story Of One Woman's Escape by Lauren Stratford

Published: Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 1991.

Purported to be the true account of a young girl’s struggle to escape from a sadistic satanic cult, Satan’s Underground was written by Laurel Rose Wilson, who adopted the name Lauren Stratford while writing the book. The 'memoir' tells in disturbing and graphic detail, years of sexual and ritualistic abuse at the hands of Satanic cult members and acts of human sacrifice and child abuse. Eventually, Lauren’s strong faith and belief in God help her survive these horrors. Laurel Rose Wilson was later revealed to be a Christian Evangelist with a history of mental illness and making false allegations of abuse. 

Sources

Cover image: Goodreads

Citation: Goodreads

Annotation: Goodreads and Amazon