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Readers' rating:
Published May 2022
208 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
At once disturbing and empowering, the memoir of a courageous woman who was abused, groomed, and trafficked for sex from age eleven to age sixteen, who then killed her trafficker/father figure and was sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without parole.
"I was eleven when I first met GG. I realized later that he had to have been aware of the chaos that was my life because he played me perfectly. I was walking home after school ... I heard a red Mustang purring like a huge lion behind me as I turned onto my block. When it caught up with me, a man leaned out of the window and motioned for me to come closer. 'Hey, excuse me,' he said. I approached the window and politely and cheerfully replied, 'Yes?' He said, 'I've been noticing you a lot, and I just want to talk to you. I'm gonna go get some ice cream and go to the park. I would love for you to come and join me. We won't be gone long. Is that okay with you?' Ice cream! I found his offer irresistible. GG leaned over and opened the passenger door, 'What's your name? People call me GG.' 'Sara,' I said shyly.' — from I Cried to Dream Again
"Kruzan powerfully chronicles the story of how she killed the man who abused and trafficked her during her teen years. A testament to both the capricious nature of the American criminal justice system and the power of hope, Kruzan's book, co-written by Thomas, is a harrowing and eye-opening account of how easily things can go wrong...A must-read for parents, civil servants, and activists." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Activist Kruzan debuts with a stirring account of her harrowing experience as a victim of child sex trafficking...Her testimony rings out as a searing critique of a broken criminal justice system and a galvanizing call to end the violence it permits." - Publishers Weekly
"As someone who has worked with trafficking survivors in the developing world, I am struck by how vividly Kruzan's memoir shows us how easily these same atrocities take place, barely noticed, beneath the sophisticated veneer of life in the U.S. A brilliant and illuminating read." - Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and author of Mighty Be Our Powers
"I Cried to Dream Again is a must-read for anyone interested not only in the injustice of Juvenile Life Without Parole sentence but also in the strength of the human spirit. Kruzan's memoir grips you from its first intense pages and keeps you there through the twists and turns of her rollercoaster story." - Ian Manuel, author of My Time Will Come
"What's so striking about Sara Kruzan's devastating story is how thoroughly the adults in her young life failed her. Kruzan, together with the acclaimed playwright Cori Thomas, brings you into the world of trafficking from the child victim's standpoint and provides astonishing insight into the much-misunderstood sex trade in America." - Laura Day, author of Practical Intuition
This information about I Cried to Dream Again was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sara Kruzan, a survivor of sex trafficking, is an advocate for the rights of incarcerated women and children. She and her daughter, Summer, live in California
Cori Thomas is an author, a screenwriter, and an award-winning playwright. She lives in New York City.
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