Human trafficking and the sale of girls into sexual slavery often make the headlines, but little information beyond the brazen captions makes its way into the conversations around the family dinner table.
In Saving Hope, author Margaret Daly explores the dark world that exists for many unwilling victims. And though the content is frightening, every mother of a girl between the ages of twelve and seventeen should read the book and discuss it with her daughter. Soon.
Kate Winslow, reared in a wealthy Texas family, has decided to make a difference in the lives of girls caught up in prostitution. She opens Beacon of Hope, a refuge center to help underage teens who make their living on the streets find new lives. When one of her charges turns up missing—a girl beaten senseless and left for dead—Kate doesn’t believe the young woman’s disappearance was voluntary. Kate determines to find her.
Enter Texas Ranger Wyatt Sheridan, a single father of a teen daughter, who has been assigned to the child welfare investigative unit and involves himself in the case. What neither Wyatt nor Kate know is that they are entering the world of a human trafficking kingpin who will stop at nothing to protect his territory.
Daly clearly describes the tactics used by traffickers to lure the girls into their lair. Often wandering the malls, recruiters prey on teen girls at a time in their lives when their self-esteem is shaky, their view about themselves is still forming, and their need for independence often creates rifts in their family structure. If you are a mother of a teen girl, you will find yourself on the edge of your seat.
Published by Abingdon Press and available wherever good books are sold.