One woman's riveting memoir explores hidden abuse and its lifetime repercussions.
At thirteen years old, Marcella Powell should have been focused on school, friends, and fun. Instead, she was in a juvenile detention center hundreds of miles away from her family. Labeled as a "bad kid," Marcella learned to hide her pain.
In this searing memoir, Powell digs deep into her early childhood experiences, uncovering how her trauma as a young girl set the stage for her adolescent incarceration, and exploitative relationships. She courageously pulls back the curtain on her true story of a childhood of hardship and pain, revealing tragic family secrets, the challenges of an underprivileged childhood, and the abuse that happens when no one is paying attention.
Beyond the Smile is a raw and honest book about the consequences of childhood trauma. It is the story of a young girl's hidden pain and a reminder that the ripple effects of abuse can last a lifetime if it goes ignored .