When it comes to memoirs, there’s one thing writers need to remember: people love happy endings, especially when the writer’s life has been filled with struggle and heartache, as was Jessica Aiken-Hall’s life in The Monster That Ate My Mommy. That monster nearly finished off...

Novels based on childhood abuse have a special place in my heart, particularly if the victims manage to eventually put their pasts behind them and use their experience to help others. Jessica Aiken-Hall, the author of Boundaries, is one such survivor. I remember reading and...