When the subject of abuse comes up in normal conversation, most people feel ill at ease, become uncomfortable, and will attempt to change the subject. It is easier for most to ignore the horrible things human beings do to each other than to actually face them. Everyday someone notices something not quite right about a child and yet does nothing. Maybe the person is a teacher who sees the child's not quite covered bruises or notices that the child wears the same soiled shirt more than one day in a row . . . and says nothing. Or perhaps it is the next door neighbor who notices the child never goes out to play or even hears the unmistakable sounds of abuse and yet draws the curtains...doing nothing.

For the child living under the dark cloud of abuse, any one of these people could be his or her savior and yet most children learn early on that the help they so desperately dream of will probably never come. The means they find to survive after that realization is what shapes the future of these abused children. Some manage to form a determination to overcome the abuse, to be someone strong and successful in life. This despite being told they were unwanted and worthless, or too stupid to learn or even having been told they are hated.

Some don't make it. Jails and mental hospitals are full of "abused children". So are cemeteries...

Why Doesn't Mommy Love Me? is the diary of a little girl named Sarah. It is, in essence, three week-long glimpses into the childhood of an abuse victim--each week taking part around a different birthday milestone in this child's unhappy life. Sarah and her two sisters live in a world that revolves around their mother's moods. When Moma is upset with Daddy, which is often, they know eventually Moma will find a reason to release that anger their way. If chores are not done to perfection, and they have been told so often how lacking they are, Moma gets mad. Anything you can do to keep Moma from getting mad, you do . . . but it is never enough. There are no hugs or I love you's, only put downs and fear. School is not a sanctuary because it means hiding bruises and telling lies. Invitations to birthday parties and sleepovers must be refused without explaining Moma won't allow it, until eventually the invitations stop and the potential friends drift away. Sarah sees the way others live and knows her life is not how it should be but sees no escape. She holds on tightly to a thread of hope for the future even as that thread grows thinner each passing day, week, year.

This is an incredibly well told glimpse into the world of a child living a life of Hell on earth. You are taken into Sarah's world and made to feel her helplessness and her struggle to keep hope. Every reader of this powerful tale will take away something different from this story. In the foreword of Why Doesn't Mommy Love Me? the author says: "Parts of this story are true and that is what's the most difficult about writing a story like this. " Perhaps this statement is what touched me the most, what I as a reader carry away from this tale. Stories such as this should only be fiction, "made up" stories with no origins other than within the imagination of the author. Not a single child should ever live this way. Ever!

Reviewed By Johnna
© Feb 2005