Kate Skylark

Dirty Little Dog: A Shocking True Story Of Child Abuse and the Little Girl Who Couldn’t Tell a Soul by Kate Skylark and Sophie Jenkins
Summary:
Dirty Little Dog is the Biography of Sophie Jenkins. What happened to her was preventable and cruel in ways that just do not have words. This beautiful naïve little girl was handed to her rapist by her own mother. The book is so detailed, it would probably damage the mind of a young person, if allowed to read it. This is a children’s story meant for an older audience. I would not allow this book in a child education setting below high school level. There it would be more than appropriate. It should be mandatory reading for them and for parents who think that something may have happened to their child. Had Sophie’s mother even once questioned why her perfect daughter had suddenly become a nightmare and even gave the slightest encouragement, a period of sixteen years in hell could have been prevented. This book is the solution to the ignorance we created with Stranger Danger. The explicit theme resonated in the essence of the vernaculars and first-person narration of the victim after she survived childhood. This is a book that needs to be read by every parent or friend of a parent who gave birth or knows someone who gave birth to a girl.
Personal Reaction:
I had hot tears going down my cheeks as I read this book, every word. I have a daughter, sister, wife and ex-wife, and deceased mother who all have been subject to someone in and out of the family taking away their innocence at a very early age. In every case the perpetrator was someone they knew. I had an attempted assault by my late uncle when I was 12. I reported the abuse and he was released of his positions with children then of his life as a brain tumor killed him. It was in his frontal lobe. I cannot hate him because he was sick. I was saved by an early mugging that convinced by dad to allow me to wear a boot knife. I never thought I would use it on someone I knew. My dad took me seriously and came to find out the whole troop had been molested. My heart aches for Sophie and the millions of unreported crimes to children. Be the teacher, mom, dad, or friend who gets it and at the very least be there for them, try to understand.
Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. When teaching the children about their no-no spot; a copy of this book needs to go home with them. Parents need to know the signals and how to get their children help.
2. Teachers need to read this book; they need to see what happens to the ones that slip through the cracks and just how critical the ones that get it can be in the life of an abused child.
3. In a literature circle this book could be discussed at the teen level, if it happened earlier, this book could save a life. Sophie almost died from her self-destructive behaviors after the rape. One person could have stopped it, this book also shows the other victims that even with her horror story she went through,Sophie was a survivor.… (mehr)