Janice L Decker

Lost Girls Janice L Decker

LOST GIRLS presents eight short stories about girls teetering on the edge of maturity and confronting the challenges of their times. From a young Sioux princess on the plains of seventeenth century America to a contemporary Muslim girl in Azerbaijan, these girls encounter the urges and confusions of love, sex and violence. They try to swim out of turbulent eddies of passionate feelings they don't completely understand. They perceive adult situations through the eyes of children, misreading the world and their own power. Gloriana loses her bravery and defiance at the hands of two men. Kadijah finds an unlikely ally in her struggle to rise above her culture and poverty. Ellen tries to transcend the injury that has imprinted on her for all time. Claire attempts to navigate the mysteries of a man's attentions. And Kathleen remembers a random exchange that pushes her to higher achievement. Girls between the ages of 9 and 15 are still young enough to be considered "children," yet adult issues manage to intrude on their lives before girls are equipped to deal with them. Navigating the world between child and woman leaves them unsure of how to act. Girls often lose the verve and spark that drove their earlier childhoods. The girls in this collection struggle to find their own power, before it's too late.