Telling My Story: The Journey of a Ghetto Girl

About the Book

Author Allesley Officer has had just one wish her entire life—to be loved. Even though she has always known the Creator of the universe cared for her, she never truly understood the depth of His love until her life became a suicidal travesty. Officer begins her memoir by candidly detailing her life as a young girl growing up in the inner-city of Kingston, Jamaica. Born to a twenty-one-year-old unwed mother of two other children, Officer’s journey was often difficult as she was shuttled back and forth between her mother and father’s homes. Repeatedly molested by first a stepsister and then a family friend, Officer relays how she finally told her father—and was shocked when he did nothing. As she shares the details of her lifelong battle with suicidal thoughts and images fueled by years of sexual abuse, low self-esteem, and self-loathing, she also provides hope to others by illustrating how she was eventually able to rise above life’s challenges and learn to love herself once again. Telling My Story: The Journey of a Ghetto Girl shares one woman’s poignant journey of survival that will remind women everywhere to never forget their inner beauty, no matter how difficult life becomes.

About the Author

Allesley Officer is Jamaican by birth and nationality. She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education and completed her master’s degree in educational psychology at the University of West Indies. She is a special education teacher at a public charter school in Washington, DC. This is her first book.