Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Today, we release of Geraldine Donaher’s young adult novel, Mouth Shut Head Down. She has a launch party planned at Immaculata University on Saturday, January 31. For more information and to RSVP, visit Geraldine’s web site, geraldinedonaher.com.

This book aims to teach teens and their families about coercive control in relationships and the signs of human trafficking. Sex trafficking of minors often begins with grooming. This story follows Allée, a high school student in Philadelphia, who loses her mom in a domestic violence incident and then moves in with her best friend and her best friend’s mom.

But when her best friend goes missing, Allée discovers that a trafficker is building a “garden” of high school girls (using gifts like clothes and iPhones to gain their trust and allegiance). While the topic is heavy, Geraldine handles the issues with grace and hope. Geraldine presents a main character who not only deals with the unpleasant realities but finds healthy ways to cope. And in the end, Allée also wants to help others.

Because of its geographic proximity to major East Coast cities, airports, and major highways, this area of Pennsylvania offers traffickers an easy way to transport “goods”— it’s the same reason we have so many warehouses.