"You are not broken, you're becoming."--Back cover.

Abuse in any form is devastating, and stories of abuse are never easy to tell—and they are certainly never easy to live. Yet there are many avenues that people take to seek a deep, inner healing of the heart, mind, body, and spirit, and for Ruth Almada, telling her story would be part of her journey. Strength in Scars is one mother’s story of facing, defeating, and moving beyond the many accounts of abuse in her family. Author Ruth Almada shares a raw and authentic story about the realities of abuse that she and many others have faced—realties that many are far too ashamed to even talk about. Yet she boldly speaks her mind and brings hidden abuses to the surface, where she is able to bring hope to those suffering the same fate. Amid personal tragedy, and with God’s grace, she discovered a purpose that was so profound that it changed the course of her life—and no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. It can be overwhelming and difficult to share your greatest and deepest, darkest pain completely to help another, especially when it exposes generational lines of shame and humiliation. Yet hope can come from these fires of pain, and enough is enough—especially when the answer is much easier than some choose to believe.

Relatable, heartbreaking, and real, this is a story of resilience--the perfect novel for readers of powerful contemporary fiction like Girl in Pieces and Every Last Word. Before, I was a million things. Now I'm only one. The Burned Girl. Ava Lee has lost everything there is to lose: Her parents. Her best friend. Her home. Even her face. She doesn't need a mirror to know what she looks like--she can see her reflection in the eyes of everyone around her. A year after the fire that destroyed her world, her aunt and uncle have decided she should go back to high school. Be "normal" again. Whatever that is. Ava knows better. There is no normal for someone like her. And forget making friends--no one wants to be seen with the Burned Girl, now or ever. But when Ava meets a fellow survivor named Piper, she begins to feel like maybe she doesn't have to face the nightmare alone. Sarcastic and blunt, Piper isn't afraid to push Ava out of her comfort zone. Piper introduces Ava to Asad, a boy who loves theater just as much as she does, and slowly, Ava tries to create a life again. Yet Piper is fighting her own battle, and soon Ava must decide if she's going to fade back into her scars . . . or let the people by her side help her fly. "A heartfelt and unflinching look at the reality of being a burn survivor and at the scars we all carry. This book is for everyone, burned or not, who has ever searched for a light in the darkness." --Stephanie Nielson, New York Times bestselling author of Heaven Is Here and a burn survivor

James A. Harnish, from the Introduction: “I’m broken. So are you. We’re all broken people who live in a broken world. The critical question is, how do we find strength to put broken things back together again? This book is an invitation to touch the scars that mark the broken places in our lives, in the same way the risen Christ invited a doubting disciple to touch the nail scars in his hands. It is a challenge to explore some of the dark places in our human experience, to uncover the sinister power of sin, and to experience the way the grace of God meets us in our broken places to bring new life.”

Social Poetics documents the imaginative militancy and emergent solidarities of a new, insurgent working class poetry community rising up across the globe. Part autobiography, part literary criticism, part Marxist theory, Social Poetics presents a people’s history of the poetry workshop from the founding director of the Worker Writers School. Nowak illustrates not just what poetry means, but what it does to and for people outside traditional literary spaces, from taxi drivers to street vendors, and other workers of the world.

Teen girl cuts to cope with memories of sexual abuse