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A review by krgreen
The Courage Party: Helping Our Resilient Children Understand and Survive Sexual Assault by Joyce Brabner
5.0
As an educator who works with children experiencing mental health difficulties, I try to be aware of the resources available to support uncomfortable conversations.
As a personal story, this is a raw, honest, and appropriately-detailed exploration of how people can feel afraid and how telling a trusted adult is the best advice for resolving things and keeping everyone safe.
I would say that there were places in Danielle’s story where I felt the words could have been clearer. As realistic as actual words are, I did need to read a few paragraphs multiple times to make sense of the events.
My one critique is that a lot of emphasis is put on the fighting back and getting away. I appreciate that this is one person’s story, and appreciate that some other examples are given within it, however I feel that for a child who had not ‘fought back’ immediately, the emphasis could lead to feelings of guilt or not being strong enough / not doing the right thing by staying quiet.
The part about court and how to access support after was very clear and the message to keep telling until an adult believes you is a huge positive. Finding that one good grownup is a powerful message, and having been trained as a Trusted Adult Worker by my local Crime Commission myself, it’s exactly what every child should know to do.
We as a society definitely do send conflicting messages and this would be a great book for an adult or parent to read who wants to understand how to explore this topic.
We need to speak up more to reduce the stigma and support our fellow good grownups to have the right tools for these conversations.
As a personal story, this is a raw, honest, and appropriately-detailed exploration of how people can feel afraid and how telling a trusted adult is the best advice for resolving things and keeping everyone safe.
I would say that there were places in Danielle’s story where I felt the words could have been clearer. As realistic as actual words are, I did need to read a few paragraphs multiple times to make sense of the events.
My one critique is that a lot of emphasis is put on the fighting back and getting away. I appreciate that this is one person’s story, and appreciate that some other examples are given within it, however I feel that for a child who had not ‘fought back’ immediately, the emphasis could lead to feelings of guilt or not being strong enough / not doing the right thing by staying quiet.
The part about court and how to access support after was very clear and the message to keep telling until an adult believes you is a huge positive. Finding that one good grownup is a powerful message, and having been trained as a Trusted Adult Worker by my local Crime Commission myself, it’s exactly what every child should know to do.
We as a society definitely do send conflicting messages and this would be a great book for an adult or parent to read who wants to understand how to explore this topic.
We need to speak up more to reduce the stigma and support our fellow good grownups to have the right tools for these conversations.