Fact Friday: I Have the Right To: a high school survivor's story of sexual assault, justice and hope by Chessy Prout with Jenn Abelson

Image: Simon & Schuster

I Have the Right To: a high school survivor's story of sexual assault, justice and hope by Chessy Prout with Jenn Abelson. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~11 hours. Read by the author. Simon & Schuster Audio, March, 2018.  9781508246046. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library. Own hc.)

Fact Friday features a tough but important read for mature teens. I Have the Right to is Chessy Prout's autobiography. She recounts her happy childhood living in Japan with her loving parents and her two sisters - one older and one younger. She was thrilled to be accepted to St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. It was the boarding school her father attended when he was young. Her sister would be a senior when she arrived for her freshman year. The year went fairly well- Chessy made the volleyball team, she was managing her anxiety, she was fitting in and she was dealing with the sometimes unwanted attention of the boys on campus. There was a not-so-secret competition among the upperclassmen. In the final week of her freshman year, Chessy was assaulted by a popular senior. With the support of her family, she decided to press charges only to have school officials attempt to shame her into silence. Chessy's memoir is searing and honest. She recounts her attack in detail. She faced her attacker in court. She also endured backlash and sometimes feared for her life. 

Mature teen readers, both boys and girls, who have read Speak or SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson will want to read this and contemplate consent and boundaries. It's an uncomfortable but important conversation to have both at home and at school.

Chessy Prout narrates her work. It must have been painful to constantly revisit her attack, not only through testimony but also through the writing process. And then, to read it aloud! Her emotion is authentic. So is her resolve. She is a brave young woman.