First published 2026
Joy McCullough grew up climbing church steps to speak from the pulpit like her preacher father. Then a youth pastor groomed and sexually assaulted her as a teenager in 1990s San Diego. Her debut memoir tells this story through raw poems about the abuse and its aftermath, paired with hopeful verses about her current life as she pursues healing and justice. McCullough writes prose letters to historical women like Joan of Arc and Abigail Williams, whose voices were silenced when they faced witchcraft accusations. The book examines how society still rewards men for sexual abuse while dismissing women who speak out. Through verse and letters, McCullough connects her experience to generations of women whose stories were ignored or distorted.
Genres: abuse, feminism, poetry, memoir, biography-memoir, social-justice
Vibes: empowering, healing-focused, intimate, lyrical, raw-and-honest, thought-provoking
Tropes: epistolary-letters, historical-parallels, reclaiming-narrative, verse-narrative
Setting: San Diego
Period: 1990s, 20th-century
336 pages · Hardcover · Dutton Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, sexual-assault