Booktalking "Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness" by Michelle Knight
Michelle Knight was abducted in 2002 by Ariel Castro, the father of a friend, when she was 21 years old. 16-year-old Amanda Berry joined her in 2003, and 14-year-old Gina DeJesus joined them in 2004. The three women lived in Castro's house for a decade, and he made into a living hell for them. Amanda's daughter, Jocelyn, was born in 2007.
Ariel Castro was a brute; he abused and tortured the women every day in every manner that he could imagine. Their living quarters were filthy and infested with insects. When they were not pregnant, he usually fed them once per day. If they were pregnant, they got no food at all in an attempt to force them to miscarry.
Michelle and the other women wrote copiously in the journals given to them by "the dude" during their period of captivity. Michelle wrote of her son, Joey, and how much she loved him. She also chronicled the horrific abuse that she suffered; this would come in handy for the prosecutors later on. Mostly, though, the women wrote to have something to do during the long, boring hours that they spent chained to beds.
They supported each other through hell on earth, and Gina nursed Michelle back to life after she nearly died after being forced to eat mustard. Castro was fully aware that she was extremely allergic to the food.
Prior to being kidnapped, Michelle had endured a difficult childhood in a very unstable, chaotic house. She began getting sexually abused by a resident of the house when she was five years old. In an attempt to escape the misery, she ran away as a teen. She then spent years living in a garbage can under an overpass.
Since she was mercifully rescued from the Castro house, Michelle has been rebuilding her life. She longs to see her son, Joey, now a teenager. She is working towards a culinary career, and she would love to open a restaurant someday. Michelle Knight is amazing, and she is a gift to this world, even as the world has been unimaginably cruel to her.
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, A Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight, 2014
I love how the cover photograph shows light and emphasizes her face, her name and the title of the book.
Read E-Books with SimplyE
With your library card, it's easier than ever to choose from more than 300,000 e-books on SimplyE, The New York Public Library's free e-reader app. Gain access to digital resources for all ages, including e-books, audiobooks, databases, and more.
If you don’t have an NYPL library card, New York State residents can apply for a digital card online or through SimplyE (available on the App Store or Google Play).
Need more help? Read our guide to using SimplyE.