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SCARS Cheryl Rainfield Lodi, New Jersey: WestSide Books, 2010
REVIEWED BY ANDREA MEDOVARSKI
Cheryl Rainfield's young adult novel, Scars, is a must-read for feminists of all ages, and for anyone who desires greater insight about the tremendous impacts of incest, sexual abuse, and self-harm. The novel's literary value, however, extends well beyond the pedagogical. Rainfield has also woven an amazing story, and the beauty, passion, and power of her writing are evident in every page. Scars is an explicit and emotionally difficult read, yet the intensity of both the story and the writing make it difficult to put down.
At the heart of the story is Kendra, a fiercely intelligent and compassionate fifteen-year old girl who is also a talented artist. Throughout the novel, the pressures on her life mount as copes with both the ordinary trials of teenage life, as well as the extraordinary circumstances of her childhood sexual abuse. Deeply repressed memories of her abuse have only recently begun to surface, and she is unable to remember the most important detail: her abuser's identity. Kendra becomes increasingly fearful for her life as her abuser clandestinely stalks her, sending her threatening messages in various forms in an attempt to keep her silent. The healing progress Kendra is making with her therapist, Carolyn, is threatened by her mother's insensitivity and self-absorption, and by her family's financial instability, which may necessitate that Kendra stop attending therapy even though it feels like her only lifeline. In addition, she faces homophobia both at home and at school, sometimes in the form of physical threats or unwanted sexual advances from the boys in her...