Frances Reilly and her sisters were abandoned by their mother outside Nazareth House Convent - a Belfast orphanage run by nuns. Little did they know the unimaginable cruelty they'd endure within its walls.

The man who should have been there to help protect me, love me, and teach me about life did the opposite. I was told to keep quiet and not tell anyone our secret. A secret that filled me with fear and shame. I was sexually abused from ages five to twelve.

I was born to an abusive doctor named Ahaz in Kentucky, homeschooled and not even allowed to have friends. When I was nine, Ahaz discovered The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Holdeman) in Tennessee, and he forced us to move there. The Holdeman's were religious exempt from education beyond the eighth grade, and I was beat for begging to go to a high school. As a minor, I had to kiss approximately 200 different people on the lips, some of whom were complete strangers, for the sake of something called The Holy Kiss; only it didn't feel holy. Ahaz determined to break my independent, ...

A mother’s job is to love and protect their children. At least that’s what Fallon Hurts thought. After the incident that happened under her mother's roof she chose to go live with her Mee-maw, Eva Mae Hurts. It was there, with Eva, that she learned the true meaning of unconditional love. After giving birth to her own daughter, Fallon vowed to protect her, even if it meant losing her life!

Bestselling novelist Gay Courter recounts her experiences as a Guardian ad Litem, a volunteer court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for children involved in the legal system due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and is an inspiration for anyone who has ever looked up from a newspaper and wondered, "What can I do to help?"