The Facts Speak for Themselves by Brock Cole
This book is the definition of the word “raw”. It’s so unflinching and plainspoken that the facts of the story are all that’s need to speak volumes, and at times, scream. Linda is a thirteen year old that has been taken out of her incompetent mother’s care after one of the men her mother has been involved with kills another–over Linda. But that’s just the beginning of the facts that Linda has to tell. Linda’s been dragging around the consequences of her mother’s actions for years, including taking care of her two younger brothers and one of her mother’s many lovers, an old senile man that her mom just ups and leaves with her for weeks, alone. Linda accepts these facts with the resigned air of a person who has been an adult for a long, long time. After reading this book once, I knew I would never forget it. Sweet Valley High may come and go, but The Facts will always remain the same–powerful.