A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life (2011) by Jaycee Dugard. This is one of the saddest books you will ever read, all the more so because it's true. At the age of 11, Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped by a pedophile named Phillip Garrido. He kept her for 18 years in a shed in his back yard and used her for a sex slave for much of that time. He also fathered two children by her. Jaycee's memoir about her captivity and enslavement (and eventual freedom) is horrific and touching, made so by her innocence at the beginning of her ordeal. Luckily, things turned out as well as can be expected -- she is now reunited with her mother, sister and aunt, and her two daughters are attending school. Jaycee is still dealing with what must be PTSD, but she is making progress -- enough so that she was able to write this moving memoir and establish a foundation to help other victims of abduction. This book is a great read, though grim at times. Grade: A-