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15 Werken 173 Leden 6 Besprekingen

Werken van Aaron Fisher

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Silent no more : Victim 1's fight for justice against Jerry Sandusky by Aaron Fisher and Michael Gillum with Dawn Daniels, was published in 2012 after Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse. Aaron was the first victim to come forward and tell about what Sandusky had done to him. The book --- written by 18-year-old Aaron, his therapist, Michael Gillum, and his mother, 36-year-old Dawn Daniels --- describes the ordeal which they all went through to get Sandusky recognized as a serial pedophile and convicted for child sexual abuse. Aaron was 10 1/2 (around 2004 or 05) when he first attended the Second Mile Camp for disadvantaged kids run by Sandusky. The abuse started the second summer when Aaron went to camp; after that Sandusky often took Aaron to special events such as football games for which they stayed in hotels in the same bed. Sandusky also took Aaron to the basement of his house, where he abused him; Mrs. Sandusky stayed out of the basement. (Aaron came from a broken family; he lived with his mother and two siblings in public housing in the small town of Lock Haven, PA; his mother cared greatly for her children and did not realize that abuse was occurring.) Aaron did not tell anyone about the abuse until November 2008; he saw Mr. Gillum the day that school officials decided that he might have been abused. Mr. Gillum immediately realized that Aaron had been badly abused, and worked with him constantly to heal and to get Sandusky convicted; the therapist believed that there were probably other victims of Sandusky. The wheels of "justice" went very slowly; the case was being handled by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office since the abuse had happened in several Pennsylvania counties (plus outside the state -- Maryland). Sandusky was a former football coach under Paterno and a very powerful and well-liked man himself. Bringing him to justice involved confronting Penn State University community. The Pennsylvania staff (prosecutors, police, etc.) kept changing; the attorney general was running for governor in 2010. Promises were made and broken. Aaron as an unnamed victim had to testify to three grand juries (beginning in 2009). A large part of the problem seemed to be that officials were trying to find additional victims feeling they needed more than one to convict Sandusky, who was not arrested until November 2011. At the trial in June 2012 in Bellefonte -- approximately 10 miles from Penn State -- 10 numbered, unnamed victims testified against Sandusky in the trial which ended in his conviction. With the conviction, Aaron felt as if he was no longer a victim; he was Aaron.

Highly recommended. 4.5 stars although the book does not contain an index and sometimes it is hard to tell what date something is happening.
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sallylou61 | 3 andere besprekingen | Jan 29, 2018 |
I finished it the day I bought it; when was the last time I did that?

I bought this on a difficult day for me and sat down to just read a few pages. And then a few pages more. And then I ordered a frothy something to enjoy life a little more outside, and before I knew it I was close to the end.

It is not an easy read for the subject matter. But for any of us who have children in our lives, whether our own or via our friends and relations, really need to educate ourselves about childhood sexual abuse. Because what this young man, his mom, and his therapist fought for and what they went through as they put their lives together after the immediate abuse was over could happen to anyone.

The book is divided into small chapters, each written by Aaron, his mom Dawn, and his therapist, Michael, to give all of the points of view for the years that this abuse went on. And what it took out of them all to finally bring Jerry Sandusky to trial. Michael is the one who puts together the election year politics as being quite relevant to the delays that Aaron had to go through and the trauma of the multiple grand jury hearings over a 3 year period.

The few photos of Aaron also document the horror that he went through in a way that words seldom can. I am glad he spoke up, and I hope we all learn from what this fight was all about: children and the powerful adults to wish to use them for their sickness.
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threadnsong | 3 andere besprekingen | Jun 18, 2016 |
It's a sad and horrible story, obviously, of the long time abuse of a child by a local hero. Years of torment, not only from the abuse itself but the years following, trying to get justice. Freighting to read how much influence an important person of the community has, how the place can be so blind to defend the offenders and not care about the victims. That was interesting through a psychological standpoint.

But the book itself is quite boring, though thankfully short. It was lots of repetition, and specially the mother's contribution was just repeating of what's been said previously and unnecessary. The psychologist's chapters were the most interesting.

All in all an okay, quick read.
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Wilwarin | 3 andere besprekingen | Apr 7, 2013 |
Through detailed explanations of technical artistry and principles, The Paper Engine teaches you — by exploring the important concepts of tension, focus, and design — how to construct and perform magic that’s built on a framework of impeccable structural engineering. Many of the sleights that appear in the book have become, in fact, the Gold Standard for modern sleight-of-hand artists
 
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saint2001ron | Jan 28, 2013 |

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Statistieken

Werken
15
Leden
173
Populariteit
#123,688
Waardering
4.0
Besprekingen
6
ISBNs
13
Talen
1

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