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Honorable
Mention: Miranda Moti
Miranda
Moti has lived in California for almost sixteen years. She has worked in
the medical field for more than ten years, three years of which in the
Pediatric Neurosurgery Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
She spent nine
years in The Netherlands and one year in New York caring
for troubled children. She published her first novel ‘Lost in the
Mirror’in 2002. Her current projects are “Lullabies” and a children’s
series called “Tommy Toddler”. She has also written a brochure for parents
with tips on how to protect children from predators
* * A
critique of the full manuscript done by Writer’s Literary states: “This is
an outstanding manuscript. The story is well written, thought provoking
and this material will make readers cry and reevaluate their own lives.
This will be a huge success”.
Query for
“Lullabies”, a novel (fiction)
‘Lullabies’ graphically depicts the trauma of child sex abuse,
and the life-long, devastating, soul-shattering consequences for its
(lucky?) survivors. It is written in first person and narrated by the now
adult survivor as she tells her story the way she remembers it happening.
Though it is a novel and therefore a fictional story, for millions of
people it is/was harsh reality. During my research for this book I came
across this stunning statistic: According to The National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children every 1 in 5 girls between the ages of 10 and
17 are sexually abused. Less than 35% of those cases are ever reported.
Though it is a ‘mainstream’ novel, the need and
demand for a book of this nature is enormous in many areas; victims,
survivors, law enforcement, court and foster care systems, medical and
psychological professionals, family members and friends who know someone
who has been trough it or is going through it, and those who are simply
drawn to the subject. ‘Lullabies’ is likely the most
graphic book about child sex abuse ever written, and it is meant to shock
and horrify, it is meant to create controversy and thought and, most of
all, it is meant to inspire action. Sadly, violence is as common a part of
the daily life of a lot of people as is having dinner to others. It should
never be ignored. It should never be condoned. It should never be hidden.
It should never be acceptable.
Most sexual abuse victims are violated by someone
in their immediate or extended family, commonly the father or stepfather.
And what is a child supposed to do when her abuser is also the one who is
supposed to protect her from what he has become himself? Where does she
go? Often, when victims finally do manage to get out they are violated
again by our justice system, which feels it is okay to give (child) (sex)
abusers consideration instead of hard prison time. More money and effort is put into
the rehabilitation and support of perpetrators than into the
rehabilitation and support of the ones they victimize.
And so:
This book is for the little people we call
children, whose voices were rendered speechless.
It is also for the big people we call adults, whose
voices were taken away, and found too late.
This book is for the little people we call
children, who need a voice to speak for them.
It is also for the big people we call adults, who
should have done the speaking all along.
One of the simplest but most profound things I ever
heard someone say once was “every morning before I go to work I say a
prayer for every child to be free”.
This is an issue that desperately needs to be addressed and brought
out into the open. It will be a ‘gutsy’ project to take on because of its
graphic nature. But for too long now, it has been the lack of guts that is
keeping it hidden and happening.
SYNOPSIS
At the age of ten, Clara Newman is discovered in
the front yard of her home, covered in blood, incoherent and
non-responsive. Inside, the butchered body of her father is found slumped
at the kitchen table. Because Clara is mute and illiterate, an explanation
or confession cannot be obtained. The case remains unsolved and open.
A search for Clara’s mother or any other relatives
is unsuccessful and she becomes a ward of the state, and is placed in a
foster care transition home. Academically hugely stunted, Clara, at ten
years old, is put in the first grade to jump-start her non-existing
education.
After six months Clara is being taken in by a
foster family. And there, though remaining mute and socially and
emotionally crippled, but in a safe environment for the first time in her
life, she slowly begins to thrive.
Physically gradually recovering from her trauma at
the time of her discovery, and years of gruesome deprivation, Clara’s body
has to adjust to things as basic as hot food and fruit juice.
Clara, who has never been in a car, has never been
on an escalator or in a movie theater, has never seen a giraffe or an
elephant, and has never tasted ice-cream or pizza, absorbs her new world
in utter amazement mixed with distrust and wonder.
As she is fighting to overcome her devastating past
and struggles her way through the days and nights of her daily life with
it, the District Attorney suddenly and unexpectedly two years later
charges her with first degree murder. And instead of going to school,
Clara goes to court accompanied by attorneys hired by foster parents who
have just filed for adoption.
Confronted by having her past not only defended but
justified by the District Attorney, Clara crumbles under the pressure, and
at the prospect of having her freedom taken away from her once more.
But just as the attorneys for both sides are to
begin their closing arguments and place her fate in the hands of a jury,
the defense presents a stunning surprise witness with a staggering,
astounding story to tell. A story that will change the course of Clara’s
future in a way nobody in their wildest dreams could have ever possibly
imagined.
This is her story as she remembers
it.
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