The traumas of childhood neglect and sexual abuse cannot be left behind when victims mature into adults. Too often, those adults repeat the crimes once perpetrated against them, depend on substances to dull the pain of memory, or choose partners similar to the adults who once abused them. Is there a way out of this darkness? Carol D. Levine, in her heartrending and yet hopeful memoir, Panic Child, reveals her childhood of parental neglect, sexual abuse, and the stranger who raped her, and her ascent from the depths of this terrible childhood to a life of service to children who suffered their own nightmares. The strong and steady voice of author Levine is the most powerful reminder that nobody is obliged to repeat the sins of those who harmed us, and that with support and a will to overcome trauma, we can heal from the deepest wounds and live loving, healthy, productive lives.