Book Reviews
I Hadn't Meant to Tell
You This
By Jacqueline Woodson
An excellent book for young adults addressing the issue of keeping secrets; and how to respond to someone who's been sexually abused. It's focus is on the fact that not all secrets should be kept secret.
Back cover description
"Twelve-year-old Marie is a leader among the popular black girls
in Chauncey, Ohio, a prosperous black suburb. She isn't looking for a
friend when Lena Bright, a white girl, appears in school. Yet they are
drawn to teach other because both have lost their mothers. And they know
how to keep a secret. For Lena has a secret that is terrifying, and she's
desperate to protect herself and her younger sister from their father.
Marie must decide whether she can help Lena by keeping her secret…or
telling it". Reviewed by Shannon Reese, April, 2003
Sexual Abuse Prevention:
A Course of Study for Teenagers (Revised and Updated)
Rebecca Voelkel-Haugen & Marie M. Fortune
Marie Fortune, who co-authored
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse, Ages 5-8, and Preventing Child Sexual Abuse,
Ages 9-12, collaborated with Rebecca in creating this instructor's handbook
for teenagers. The content of this book is critical and necessary for
all teenagers to know as they grow up. It has 6 sessions for which each
issue is addressed in depth:
God's Gift of Sexuality
Sexual Harassment
Good/confusing/bad touches
Danger of the media
Difference between violence and love
Portrayal of what Love is
One quote from this book says it all: "This curriculum is not sexuality education…it provides one piece of educational framework about healthy relationships and relationships that harm." Reviewed by Shannon Reese, March 2003
Learn about Life: Sexuality
& Social Skills Program
Attainment Company
This is an excellent resource for teachers, parents, and professionals who work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as those with special needs. The kit consists of illustration-based format which helps students with limited reading abilities access vital information. Six areas are covered here:
Your Body, My Body
Being a Woman
Being a Man
Having a Baby
Be Smart, Be Safe
Relationships
This is a sex education program
for people aged 9 and up…it covers critical information such as date
rape, protecting one's body from diseases, learning about individual body
and how they differ from others (male vs. female).
Reviewed by Shannon Reese,
March 2003
You Choose
Margaret Kennedy
This booklet was published by Britain's National Deaf Children's Society. It is full of pictures and singed sentences (in British Sign Language) for deaf children. There is a short teacher/parent guide in the beginning telling us how to use the book. The pictures are good and self-explanatory. Reviewed by Shannon Reese, January, 2003
Secrets
Margaret Kennedy
This booklet is similar to You Choose with different content as the title indicates. Reviewed by Shannon Reese, January, 2003
Child Sexual Abuse
Edited by Joan Tabachnick
A very small (16 pages including covers) book, but chockfull of information on sexual abuse of children. This is a good kind of book-short and to the point! We get hard core information on such topics as "Why do we need to know about sexual abusers?", "What exactly is sexual abuse?", "What can we do?" and so forth. I recommend this book for anyone interested in knowing more about sexual abuse and how they can help prevent it from happening. Reviewed by Shannon Reese, January, 2003
The Right Touch
Sandy Kleven
A child's read aloud book. The mother in the book is putting her son to bed and hugs him and starts telling him about good and bad touch. Very interesting reading. The book is clear and concise in the sense of showing examples of what is allowed in good touch or not allowed in bad touch. The illustrations (by Jody Bergsma) are cute and would be visually fascinating for deaf children. All parents and houseparents are encouraged to have this book. Reviewed by Shannon Reese, January, 2003
Sexual Abuse in America: Epidemic
Robert E. Freeman-Longo and Geral T. Blanchard
Looking through this book gives people a good foundation of why sexual abuse is such an epidemic here in America. Granted there is nothing about deafness in there and little information about children, yet it is full of facts that can help professionals interested in getting in-depth information on sexual abuse and its prevention. Here are some of the chapter titles:
a. Understanding sexual abuse
and the abusers
b. Sexual abuse is widespread in America
c. The politics of sexual abuse prevention
d. The media's role
e. Current strategies for sexual abuse prevention
f. Prevention for the 21st Century
Reviewed by
Shannon Reese, January, 2003
Let's Prevent Abuse:
A Prevention Handbook for People
Working with Young Families
PACER Center
- Good coverage of cultural
diversity especially with appropriate approaches for working with families
- "Members of diverse
communities may attach different meanings to behaviors and language,
compounding the difficulty in assessing risk and maltreatment".
(3)
- People working with young
families must be culturally competent
- IDEA-some early intervention
services
- Good resource book for people
wanting to know more about resources, coordinating services and laws
such as IDEA, and IEPs, IFSPs…
- Page 23 has a good chart
of common characteristics of abusive caregivers
- Prevention goals on page
28-good for developing a prevention program
- Grieving process when learning
a child has disability or chronic illness
- Page 36 good on conditions
of additional stress of parents with children who has disabilities-could
also be applied to the deaf/hh depending on what the condition is…
- Strategies and programs
to prevent abuse
- Substance abuse in babies
from mothers/fathers
- Page 82-very important-Cultural
Competence in Early Childhood
- Strategies for working with
multicultural families
- Hmong culture
- Spanish-speaking families
Excellent Resource book for libraries and I'd recommend this to anyone working with Hmong and Spanish families…Good resources in the back of book. Reviewed by Shannon Reese, September, 2002
LET'S PREVENT ABUSE Project
Child Abuse Prevention Resources for Educators
PACER Center
This is similar to the first
book mentioned above-only this is more bulleted and to the point-list
of symptoms, ways to prevent, etc…
I think this book is good for
anyone who doesn't like to read too much and just wants an outline of
what they can do in terms of prevention. I'd recommend this to any busy
professional…Reviewed
by Shannon Reese, September, 2002
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Ages 5-8
Kathryn Goering Reid & Marie Fortune
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Ages 9-12
Kathryn Goering Reid, Marie Fortune
This book consists of religious teachings about child sexual abuse; however, some lessons are helpful for teachers in the classroom or even parents to use for the prevention program. This book was written in 1994 so this is a fairly new book and can be very helpful to trainers for incorporating them into modules or use as resource for frontline workers especially teachers/counselors/parents.
As I read through this book, I found a lot of helpful activities we can adapt for CAPE and for deaf or hard of hearing children.
I especially like the Appendixes---rich information (yes redundant but good resources).
The second book-I like it too because it is tailored for age groups and I feel some of the activities are appropriate to be used in the classroom. All the information I said about the first book is true for this second book. EXCELLENT RESOURCE! Reviewed by Shannon Reese, September, 2002