Losing Elizabeth – Tanya J. Peterson

Pages: 154

Source:  I received a copy to review, the opinions expressed are my own.

Genre:  Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

I think all teens, both boys and girls should read this book.  Boyfriend, Girlfriend abuse is something that is often ignored by both teens and adults alike.  In this book Elizabeth is a junior in high school.  She is excited that Brad, the captain of the football team seems interested in her. When his former girlfriend comes up to her and tries to talk with her about Brad, she just assumes the former girlfriend wants him back.  She could not be more wrong.  Everything seems to go along fine for a while.  Brad becomes more and more controlling.  He finally manages to separate her from all of her friends.  Then he starts to abuse her.  Like many teens she thinks that it is okay because he apologizes and says he loves her.  There are so many lessons to be learned.  Will Elizabeth learn them in time?  This book deals with a boyfriend abusing his girlfriend.  What isn’t usually talked about is that there are abusive girlfriends who beat up on their boyfriends.  We hear less about this because it is an embarrassment to boys to be abused by a girl.  This really should be required reading in all middle and high schools.  I’ve had to help students through this at school.  The girl said her boyfriend was shoving her around.  After the meeting it was discovered he shoved her away because she was beating on him and he was too embarrassed to say anything.  Girls who think this is okay become women who think this is okay and end up marrying abusive husbands.  This is a realistic problem that needs to be addressed not hidden.  The author did a great job of that.

About the Author:

Tanya J. Peterson was born and raised in the Midwest. Looking for adventure, she recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two children. While she is embracing new experiences, she is continuing to pursue her life-long passion of working closely with young adults to help them learn and thrive. Tanya has degrees in secondary education and school counseling and has worked with youth in schools and other settings throughout her adult life. Currently, she teaches in a school for homeless and runaway adolescents where she helps them remove barriers and find success. Tanya enjoys spending time with her family in the outdoors. She loves to hike, bike, and kayak. She also enjoys the arts and is delighted to live in a city with many diverse venues for music, theater, dance, and the visual arts. Her personal artistic pursuit is the written word. She has published the short story Challenge!, a book review in a national counseling publication, and the novel Losing Elizabeth. She has more novels on the way