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32nd out of 67 books
—
52 voters
The Slave Across The Street
The memoir of a woman, tricked and trapped into sexual slavery as a young teenager.
Paperback, 183 pages
Published
December 1st 2009
by Ampelon Publishing
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My friend Sarah introduced me to this book this morning. I have not put it down since. It is a quick read which delivers a perception altering message. Written by an American teen who survived life as a sex slave, she shares her horrifying experience. It is alarming, disturbing, poignant and heartbreaking.
An incredible look into the nightmare of sex trafficking here in the USA. The amount of courage and strength that it must have taken Theresa Flores in writing her story is incredible. You can feel her struggle with letting her story be heard in every word on every page. I feel as though the book could have been taken to the next level if she had delved a few layers deeper. However, asking someone to do that is like asking them to relive the torture, so I understand that Flores wrote what she cou...more
I heard Theresa speak last year and put this book on my "to read" list. However, I kept putting it off because it isn't exactly a fun read...
It was a quick read. The main story is told in the first 122 pages and is followed by about 50 pages of additional information and resources. I had to force myself to read until about page 40. By page 50, I was hooked and wanted to see how things unfolded.
I rated this book high because I think it is a good tool for opening eyes to the evil in the world. I...more
It was a quick read. The main story is told in the first 122 pages and is followed by about 50 pages of additional information and resources. I had to force myself to read until about page 40. By page 50, I was hooked and wanted to see how things unfolded.
I rated this book high because I think it is a good tool for opening eyes to the evil in the world. I...more
God only knows why is that some people have to face ordeals like the one Theresa L. Flores came upon when she was only 15 years old. Some years ago, I left my young daughters (10 and 12 y/o) at a Vegas' mall for 5, 10 minutes (big mistake!) seating in the middle of the hall, in front of the Macy's entrance, among all the high class, suburban families shopping there (what could go wrong? right?) while I was going to pick up some purchases; when I came back, they told me about a couple of very str...more
Within the past year, I have heard a lot about human trafficking--it seems to be the hottest issue since the civil rights movement. Although for years I have known it existed in many third world countries and had heard of teen runaways being lured into prostitution, I never imagined a scenario like what Mrs. Flores describes in her book.
Not quite sixteen years old, trying to fit in at a new school and attracted to a handsome, exotic young man from another culture, Theresa was unwittingly tricked...more
Not quite sixteen years old, trying to fit in at a new school and attracted to a handsome, exotic young man from another culture, Theresa was unwittingly tricked...more
Let me start off by saying that this book hit close to home for me because Birmingham, MI is so close to my own home town and because I grew up hanging out with a crowd made up of a majority of Chaldeans. I am American, but from a young age most of my friends were Chaldean, and I can relate to some of the book references about their ethnicity. Thankfully, I have nothing but good memories from my childhood and teenage years with these friends and their families.
Now, onto the book, it’s heartbreak...more
Now, onto the book, it’s heartbreak...more
Dec 02, 2011
Nicki M
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1980s,
abuse,
read-in-2010,
american,
audiobook,
biography,
christianaudio,
for-review,
immigrants,
nonfiction,
memoir
When I got sent this download as part of the christianaudio.com Reviewer’s Program I really didn’t want to listen to it, as I don’t like anything like this. I pushed myself though and I’m very glad I did. It is a true story about human trafficking in the United States during the 1980s, so there is distressing content. However, it has been written and narrated in such a sensitive way that I didn’t want to turn it off at times. I wanted to find out what happened. I really liked the narrator's voic...more
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I give this book a 5 stars because i think it is an important addition to the conceptualization of what it means to be involved in America's slave industry. Obviously i cannot give it 5 stars based on the content. And I also wouldnt give it 5 stars based on the writing.
While i do strongly believe that this book would be important in the hands of all school resource officers, guidance counselor, nurse or administrator throughout the country, there were some structural issues that really made it...more
While i do strongly believe that this book would be important in the hands of all school resource officers, guidance counselor, nurse or administrator throughout the country, there were some structural issues that really made it...more
I don't live giving five stars to books. But you read this, and there are sections that might bug you because of the way it reads, it really doesn't matter. This book is brutally honest without being vulgar. I have to set the book down a couple times before getting back to it, because this book really does hit close to home. I never met any Chaldeans like Theresa, but I do live in America and I feel that characteristically I'm kind of like Theresa. Does that make me a possible target? Yes. But i...more
This book was deeply disturbing, but a wake-up call to Americans about the terrible fact that trafficking is here, and possibly right in your own neighborhood. Theresa's true story will break your heart (and she does not leave out details, so I would not recommend this to younger readers), and hopefully motivate you to action. I really like all the added information at the back of her book, and have used portions of it when I speak on trafficking because it is concise but helpful.
I really admire...more
I really admire...more
Jun 14, 2012
Jecca
added it
I feel that I cannot give this book a rating because of the type of book it is. I also don't feel it proper to give it much of a review. The problem that it addresses is an important one and I think anyone who brings awareness to that deserves credit for their courage and understanding. The book reads very much like a journal and is a bit scattered (making it hard to figure out where in time you are). It is obvious that the author is not a writer and technically speaking it was not really what I...more
Mar 31, 2013
Nancy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Nancy by:
Lisa Hanson
Shelves:
2013,
non-fiction
What do you think of when you hear the words slavery or human trafficking? I will venture to guess you and I are a lot alike and we instantly think of a land far away. Not our America - land of the free ... not our community ... and certainly not our neighborhood. The book, "The Slave Across The Street" shatters instantly any illusion that human trafficking only happens in some poor far away land that we most likely will never travel to. I think for me, the most heart-wrenching facet of the book...more
In this powerful, disturbing book, Theresa Flores shares the story about how, as a 15 year old all- American, blue-eyed blonde teen living in the suburbs of Detroit, she became the victim of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. When most people think about this topic, they picture people in third world countries. Ms. Flores, who has appeared on the Today Show, is now a social worker and internationally recognized lecturer on the topic of human trafficking. She describes in s...more
i have a hard time rating this book. on one hand, i feel like i have no right to speak at all to Theresa's story and, while the writing was not very good, I know it was primarily written as therapy and teaching. also, how could i say that i "liked" this book because it was so disturbing.
that said, i could only handle reading a bit at a time. i feel sort of a responsibility to read books on this topic of sex trafficking and slavery. it has been called to my attention that this is a very real pro...more
that said, i could only handle reading a bit at a time. i feel sort of a responsibility to read books on this topic of sex trafficking and slavery. it has been called to my attention that this is a very real pro...more
Everyone should read this book! Human trafficking is real, prevalent and often is happening just across the street. Theresa Flores through her own story of sexual slavery reveals the complexities involving the sex slave industry and promotes awareness by pinpointing “red flags” that allow people to recognize those being trafficked. For most people, modern day slavery happens only in developing countries like India and Thailand, but the cruel reality is that it’s happening everywhere and to every...more
a brutal and alarming story about a young girl who's insecurity and inexperience find her on a short path to sexual slavery in the back rooms of her own detroit suburb in the 80's. It's a true story and a difficult story to ingest. Probably valuable for parents of young girls although I think most of us are more protective of kids than they were back then.
Again, I listened to this book rather than flipped pages. The narrator read the entire book more like a bad porn than a thoughtful cautionary...more
Again, I listened to this book rather than flipped pages. The narrator read the entire book more like a bad porn than a thoughtful cautionary...more
I wished that there was more "meat" to this book... The book left me wondering what was the long term impact of that on her life? Not enough content was touched upon her life afterwards... it left me with a feeling that she focused mostly on the story and left the end much to be desired. It is a good insight to what life is like being involved in the human trafficking world in the early 80s. I don't think that it would be that easy to leave if it happened today.... only way to leave is death or...more
I had the privilege of listening to Theresa Flores speak this past week. Her story is so important for people to read to understand how domestic sex trafficking can operate within North America. Though Theresa Flores is American, so many elements of her story are similar to some of the Canadian victims of domestic sex trafficking.
There are multiple grammar and spelling errors throughout the book, and I tend to be distracted by things like this. Theresa Flores has described this book as a proces...more
There are multiple grammar and spelling errors throughout the book, and I tend to be distracted by things like this. Theresa Flores has described this book as a proces...more
While the writing was awkward and mediocre, the topic was very compelling. I was disgusted by the behavior of the abusers--I felt myself getting angrier with each additional act of sexual violence upon the author. And most upsetting to me--these teenagers and men were never caught or punished for their heinous crimes. The author was only a vessel for their debauched pleasure; an object to be used, mocked, and humiliated. A sad read, but a necessary one, if we are to ever stop such horrible pract...more
A compelling first person account of the enslavement of Theresa Flores at the age of 15 as she was targeted, accessed, compromised and then manipulated through coercion and brutality for a period of two years. The fact that she resided with her parents the entire time, came from an affluent family and would not fit the stereotype of what one would consider a vulnerable person is an important perspective.
I intend to point to this book as an example that enslavement can happen to anyone.
I intend to point to this book as an example that enslavement can happen to anyone.
Flores writes of a tough issue to read let alone listen to, but a subject which I believe is the public's duty to be aware of. Florida is considered a hub for human trafficking. We have billboards along our highways advertising hotline numbers to call if you are a victim or suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking. Flores stepping forward is both brave and bold.
National Human Trafficking Resource Center Toll-Free Hotline
1-888-3737-888
Florida Abuse Hotline
1-800-96-ABUSE
National Human Trafficking Resource Center Toll-Free Hotline
1-888-3737-888
Florida Abuse Hotline
1-800-96-ABUSE
I didn't really "like" this book in the sense that it was a good book (I'm not even giving it a rating), in fact, it wasn't all that well written of a book (but I've found that memoirs like this aren't often well written). However, it was a horrifying, eye-opening account of Things We Don't Want To Acknowledge Are Real. Not really sure what else to say about the book aside from being amazed that Flores was able to survive what she went through, and was able to write this memoir.
I read this book in about four hours. I was left with many questions, as are many critics of the book....Some of my initial questions were: Why didn't she tell someone? Why didn't she just not do it? Is this really an example of "human trafficking"? However, as I think further about it, I feel bad about asking these questions, as I can't imagine what she went through and what I would do if I was in the situation. She is a very brave woman for telling her story.
This book was written about a very difficult subject - human trafficking and this instance an american teen. This book does bring a very surprising story to the land that we call home and right in our back yard. It was very interesting to me that the author did not bring the "hate" emotion to the table while delivering this book. It was a very difficult story to believe, but the cause is worthy and I applaud her efforts to dedicate her life to this mission.
I have to say thank you to Theresa for writing her disturbing real-life nightmare down for all of us to read and hopefully learn from her horrifying experience.
I can not imagine how heartbreakingly terrifying this must have been for her to write down. Any parent, heck any person, should read this and hopefully we can help others as Theresa has helped in making sure that this doesn't continue to happen. Anywhere...
I can not imagine how heartbreakingly terrifying this must have been for her to write down. Any parent, heck any person, should read this and hopefully we can help others as Theresa has helped in making sure that this doesn't continue to happen. Anywhere...
The Slave Across the Street is a first person narrative of a middle class, teenaged girl who was forced into sexual slavery. It shows the dynamics of how girls are manipulated and forced into slavery and how difficult it is to get out. This book is hard to read, but it is important that we all learn about this in order to protect our kids and to help women escape and heal from this horrible type of abuse.
Horrifyingly jaw dropping! This is an awful story told through very compelling writing. The heroic author provides inspiration by showing the reader that life doesn't end when trauma rears its ugly head. Enough said - pick up this book if you have any interest in catching a glimpse of the wickedness of human exploitation and one woman's story of surviving and thriving.
You really can't say that this a "good" book, or entertaining, or anything like that. It is enlightening and informing. It honestly blew me away- human trafficking is something we know happens, but it makes it a lot more "real" to read the first hand account of how this woman was manipulated and completely ruined. I couldn't put it down. Read the whole thing in one day.
I was fortunate to have Ms. Flores speak at the %th Annual Power of One Luncheon to benefit my organizaiton, Green Gables Haven. Her story is one that will shake you to the core...thankfully, Theresa shares her story in hopes of saving other teens.
Learn more about Theresa and all she is doing to help educate teens and parents alike at www.traffickfree.com!
Learn more about Theresa and all she is doing to help educate teens and parents alike at www.traffickfree.com!
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May 15, 2013 05:57pm