(That is such an individual thing.) Seek out support and compassion, and try to keep getting out the emotion don’t hold it all inside or turn it on yourself. By a good therapist, I mean a therapist who feels good and right for YOU. See a good therapist if you can a good therapist can help SO much. I think there’s a lot of judgment out there about self-harm, and being queer, and I think compassion can make a healing difference in the world.Ģ) If one of your readers was going through the same situation as your character Kendra, what would be your best advice?ĬR: I would tell them to find someone safe to talk to-and to keep talking, not only until they get safe, but also as a part of their healing. I also wanted people who hadn’t had such experiences to come away with greater compassion and understanding. It makes everything feel worse to be alone in your pain, to think you’re the only one. I also really wanted to reach other survivors and people who’ve used self-harm to cope, and let them know they’re not alone.

So part of the reason I wrote Scars was because it was what I needed. I was always looking for my own experiences to be reflected in the books I read-books were a big part of my survival-but I never found it, not completely. What inspired you to write this story?ĬR: My life, my own experiences of abuse and trauma and of using self-harm to cope, and my feeling so isolated and alone-all those things drove me to write Scars. In your novel, Scars, the themes are very realistic and edgy. Scars is the unforgettable story of one girl's frightening path to the truth.ġ) Thank you Cheryl for giving me the chance to feature you on my blog. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life.

Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. Summary: Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail- her abuser's identity.

Scars by cheryl rainfield