[Review: Little Peach by Peggy Kern]

"Little Peach"
Author: Peggy Kern
Series: None
Pages: 208
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: March 10th, 2015
Publisher: Balzer & Bray/HarperTeen
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

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.

-Goodreads
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Little Peach,

It has taken me awhile to put my thoughts into words about you, and still I'm not sure that I can do it correctly. You're not a pretty book. You're a book that made me cringe and feel uncomfortable and wonder what is wrong with the world. That being said, you're also a very important book. You share an honest look into the world of child prostitution and I commend you for that. You're not supposed to be a pretty book, but you are an important one, so thank you.

-The White Unicorn

I have to come out of the gate with a warning for readers on this one. The book is about teen prostitution and everything that goes along with it. The book deals with things like rape, child molestation and abuse, as well as prostitution. So tread carefully with this one. Though I'd suggest this book to anyone who can stand it, because I think that it's an important read.

Kern gives us a 200 page story packed with brutal truths. It's a story that starts out less than ideal and only gets worse from there. The shiny bits distract from what is really going on and soon you realize just what Michelle has gotten herself into. At the age of 14, she only knows that she has nowhere to go and so when Devon steps into her life and promises her a real family, she doesn't say no. 

Soon we are introduced to a slew of seedy characters. Some we come to actually like, such as Kitty, Baby and Michelle, and the rest end up showing off their true colors. I'm still trying to figure out how to feel about the people portrayed in this book. The lies and deception that they all hold are the kinds that make things feel like they are better than they are, but even that can't last forever. 

It's the story at the center of this book that makes it so good. No matter what happens to Michelle there is this feeling of hope and survival. As she peels away the layers that have become her life, she finally sees just what has become of her life, and once again she tries to change her circumstances. She lives through things that people should never have to deal with and yet she never gives up. 

As you can see I'm still struggling to put to words my thoughts on this little novel, but I can say that it touched me and that I think it is a book that needed to be written and that it should also be read.

Rating:

4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!