What Is a Girl Worth?
My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics
Rachael Denhollander was the first survivor to expose Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse and the last to give a victim impact statement regarding his serial molestation. Her What Is a Girl Worth? is a mature, resolute Christian memoir that lends vital perspective to abuse and institutional cover-ups.
Denhollander details her childhood and upbringing; her visits to a Michigan State University clinic as a teen; Nassar’s assaults at the clinic; and her road toward speaking out in 2016, months before the #MeToo movement gathered momentum.
The long term consequences of Nassar’s betrayal are drawn in a clear-eyed way. Denhollander’s pain balances with a tender portrait of her husband and family. Her intelligent reflections reveal a woman of faith who chose to sacrifice her privacy and to seek justice with love and determination that no child face the same pain. Separating her own future happiness and healing from the outcome of the trial, she presents peace as possible. Hers is a compelling viewpoint that isn’t imposed as a solution for all survivors.
Also an attorney, Denhollander elucidates the steps she took to bring her case to MSU police. From the first suspicion that Nassar’s treatments were anything but medical to his sentencing, the cruel realities of her survival thread with advocacy and everyday motherhood. Nassar is drawn as the thorough, renowned doctor, making his abuse even more chilling.
Treating a sensitive topic with unflinching truth, respect, and fair-mindedness, What Is a Girl Worth? fuses biblical notions with legal insights, personal journal entries, and heartbreaking data to make a lucid argument regarding the power of a single voice to inspire a chorus.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
