Book Review: The Facts Speak for Themselves by Brock Cole

Title: The Facts Speak for Themselves

Author: Brock Cole

Genre: Realistic YA Fiction

Number of Pages: 184

Rating: B+

Recommended?: Yes

TW: This book contains strong themes of child sexual abuse

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Even though this book was really disturbing, for me the compelling voice of the main character made it worth reading. 13-year-old Linda is taken away from her mother when her mom’s boyfriend shoots Linda’s molester and then kills himself. This story is particularly heartbreaking because Linda still has feelings for the grown man who molested her and thinks he cared about her.

We get a look through Linda’s eyes at the useless adults in her life and the serious lack of sexual boundaries she was exposed to from a very early age. Linda was a very interesting character because the people in the system think she’s not too bright but over the course of the book we realize how capable she is. Linda had to play adult for her mom and handed the family’s finances for years.

She has been through so much but her number one priority is keeping her younger brothers safe from her mom’s negligence. One thing I liked that was kind of subtle was the continual inconsistences in shift in Linda’s voice. I have trouble with tense when I’m writing and it helped make her voice even more believable for me. The ending made me sad because of Linda’s lack of realization concerning her abuser, but I also think that was a plausible decision on the part of the writer.