Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern

Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern Little Peach by Peggy Kern
Published by HarperCollins on March 10th 2015
Pages: 208
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Edelweiss

What do you do if you're in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels.

But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her “Daddy” and she his “Little Peach.” It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition.

This hauntingly vivid story illustrates the human spirit’s indomitable search for home, and one girl’s struggle to survive.

reviews

Before I get into the actual book, I have to give huge kudos to Peggy Kern for penning this book. This is one hell of a brave book to write. There won’t be people who are just dying for a reread of Little Peach. This isn’t happy, or uplifting, or anything other than downright horrifying. But it is brave. And more than that, it is important, because the worst part of the whole thing is that this stuff happens. And after reading this book, it is so clear how and why, not that it makes a difference to girls like the main character Michelle.

So, this book broke my heart, mostly because of all the real girls that this happens to every day. I used to wonder how on earth someone could get messed up in this culture, but Peggy Kern answered that question for me and then some. Not only did it make sense how Michelle ended up there, it made sense to me that she ended up there. I mean, I was almost agreeing with her decisions, even though I knew logically (and from my own very different viewpoint) that they were wrong. She was in such dire straights that I almost hoped right along with her that things would work out okay, though I knew full well from the synopsis that it wouldn’t be the case. (How ludacris would that book be- “Michelle meets bad man. But he isn’t so bad and she lives happily ever after, the end”?)

Here’s the downside to this book for me: I didn’t connect to Michelle very much. But I think it would have been far worse if I had been able to really and deeply connect with her. I don’t think I’d be able to read the story, to be honest. That slight disconnect is the only thing that really allows the reader to keep reading. Otherwise, it is simply too awful. Part of the disconnect is that I think Michelle is disconnected from herself, in a preservation attempt, so we are only getting the surface of who she really is. Maybe she doesn’t even know. It would be hard to know who you are in the vile world she’s had to live in.

Bottom Line: I did not like this book. I don’t think one does like this book. Because how can you, really? All you want to do when it is over is drive to your nearest city and start rescuing girls at bus stops and such. And maybe cry for a few hours, and lose all faith in humanity. BUT– that doesn’t matter. It is so incredibly important to read this (and to be sure to read the author’s note!) that “liking it” doesn’t even matter. Little Peach matters, because girls living in these situations matter, even if they don’t think that’s true, even if most of society doesn’t think it’s true. By the time you are finished reading this book you will know it’s true. They matter. 

4strs

Have you read any books with really important social messages? What is your take on them?

Posted March 9, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Review , / 15 Comments

Divider

15 responses to “Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern

  1. YESSSSS!! I’ve been looking for another book that deals with this subject and I’m so glad it was written! I read Sold, which also deals with this subject and am anxious to see Peggy’s take on it. I did a project on human trafficking in ninth grade and could probably write billions of reasons and facts as to why books like this need to be written! I CAN’T WAIT to read this!!

  2. This is next on my TBR list, I just got my copy today 😀 I’ve heard really great things about this one and not a single negative review, so let’s see how it goes for me. I do like how raw and honest it sounds though.. lovely review <3

    • Aw thanks! And I concur, I don’t think I have heard a bad thing about it either. I think the author handled it SO well, very cautiously, very appropriately, but still very accurately. I hope you like it!

  3. I’ve never read a book that deals with a subject like this, but I really want to read it. I know that it will be a tough one, and I know that it will break my heart, but like you said, I do think it’s an important book that needs to be read.

    • I think the author does a good job of giving you a *bit* of distance, because I wasn’t like, sobbing on the floor the whole time or anything (there were a few tears, but nothing crazy). I just think it was very appropriately done.

  4. I stayed well away from this one, I know it’s such an important story to tell, because it is happening out there right now, but I honestly can’t stand to read them, it’s bad enough hearing about it, you know? So definitely kudos to the author, and kudos to everyone who has read it because it sounds like a horrible book. (Not horrible, but you know what I mean) I know a lot of people are ignorant to it, and don’t think it matters because a big majority are runaways, but not always, kids go missing on holidays, teenagers, immigrants.

    But, I think it’s really, really important this is also showing that bad people don’t always look like bad people, you know, like people never suspect the good looking guy to be a serial killer or a paedophile compared to a guy with bad teeth and thin hair. So, very, very well done, book.

    • Seriously, if you can’t do it, don’t. If it is a trigger situation for you, it’s best to avoid. Because it is most definitely hard to read. I think you are so right about people thinking it doesn’t matter because the girls are runaways, and that is such a huge point in this book- you don’t know what the girl is running away FROM. Makes you really think.

      And YES, I loved that it showed that this girl wasn’t running into the child molester van. It was a young guy who appeared clean cut and friendly, and he didn’t like, automatically lure her to a motel. It was a process, and that was how she got sucked in. SO important, all of it.

  5. Ah this book does sound really sad. I don’t think I could relate to the characters either, but it’s definitely an eye opener. I’m glad to hear the book was very well done Shannon!

  6. This book broke my heart, too! IT was so disheartening to see what Little Peach and other girls like her are put through, being used for money, sex, and drugs 🙁 Everybody is aware that this is happening, and yet there is still a detachment somehow because we are so far away from the grief, anger, and sadness these girls feel everyday, that this book I know will serve as some sort of eye-opener because it’s such an honest first hand account of an experience that mirror child prostitutes 🙁 Let’s cry together, Shannon T.T

Leave a Reply