Little Peach by Peggy Kern

Little Peach

by Peggy Kern

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options. Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels. But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her Daddy and she his Little Peach. It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition. This hauntingly vivid story illustrates the human spirit s indomitable search for home, and one girl s struggle to survive.

Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother to New York City and finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution. The plot contains profanity, sexual references, and descriptions of physical abuse and sexual violence.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

4 of 5 stars

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Before I get into the actual book, I have to give huge kudos to Peggy Kern for penning this book. This is one hell of a brave book to write. There won't be people who are just dying for a reread of Little Peach. This isn't happy, or uplifting, or anything other than downright horrifying. But it is brave. And more than that, it is important, because the worst part of the whole thing is that this stuff happens. And after reading this book, it is so clear how and why, not that it makes a difference to girls like the main character Michelle.

So, this book broke my heart, mostly because of all the real girls that this happens to every day. I used to wonder how on earth someone could get messed up in this culture, but Peggy Kern answered that question for me and then some. Not only did it make sense how Michelle ended up there, it made sense to me that she ended up there. I mean, I was almost agreeing with her decisions, even though I knew logically (and from my own very different viewpoint) that they were wrong. She was in such dire straights that I almost hoped right along with her that things would work out okay, though I knew full well from the synopsis that it wouldn't be the case. (How ludacris would that book be- "Michelle meets bad man. But he isn't so bad and she lives happily ever after, the end"?)

Here's the downside to this book for me: I didn't connect to Michelle very much. But I think it would have been far worse if I had been able to really and deeply connect with her. I don't think I'd be able to read the story, to be honest. That slight disconnect is the only thing that really allows the reader to keep reading. Otherwise, it is simply too awful. Part of the disconnect is that I think Michelle is disconnected from herself, in a preservation attempt, so we are only getting the surface of who she really is. Maybe she doesn't even know. It would be hard to know who you are in the vile world she's had to live in.

Bottom Line: I did not like this book. I don't think one does like this book. Because how can you, really? All you want to do when it is over is drive to your nearest city and start rescuing girls at bus stops and such. And maybe cry for a few hours, and lose all faith in humanity. BUT- that doesn't matter. It is so incredibly important to read this (and to be sure to read the author's note!) that "liking it" doesn't even matter. Little Peach matters, because girls living in these situations matter, even if they don't think that's true, even if most of society doesn't think it's true. By the time you are finished reading this book you will know it's true. They matter. 
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 March, 2015: Finished reading
  • 4 March, 2015: Reviewed