Scars

May 10, 2010
Fifteen-year-old Kendra is dealing with recently emerged memories of sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Kendra trusts her therapist, Carolyn, who is helping her work through her feelings and try to remember who abused her, a memory that is still repressed. Kendra uses painting as a release for her emotions, but to manage the pain she also needs to cut, which she keeps secret. On top of this, the man who abused Kendra is now stalking her to intimidate her into silence, and her family may be forced to move away from Carolyn and the fragile support system Kendra is constructing, including a girl Kendra starts dating. Emotions ring true in this thriller/survivor story, but Rainfield sometimes over-explains, rather than allowing events and feelings to speak for themselves ("I've never shown anyone so much of my art before, especially not all at once," Kendra thinks. "I've never let anyone see so much of me, revealed so much of myself. Because it's my self that I'm showing"). Still, it remains a raw and honest story. Ages 14–up.