TY Book Recommendations 7

Antonia Behr has been reading My Boyd, My Enemy, by Claire Beeken :- This is the autobiography of a girl suffering from being abused by her grandfather at the age of 10. She lives with this trauma every day, not telling anyone as she doesn't want to split the family. She takes out all her frustrations on herself. During the course of the book she tells us how she starts to harm herself and stop eating. This becomes more and more of a serious problem. She locks herself inside this, blocking out everyone who wants to help her.

I admired this book because as a reader I got to know Claire's feelings from the beginning. It had a big impression on me, because I started to think about the background of her story. We never imagine that our environment could have such an effect on our lives, feelings and thoughts. It made me think about myself, my family and friends; no-one should hate themselves as much as Claire does.

I have a lot of respect for her, because after a painful time she finds a way out of her crisis and starts to help other people. I recommend this book because when you read someone else's story, you think about how it compares to the lives we all live.