"The Rules Of Survival"

" I don't know if you'll understand this, Emmy, but for me, fear isn't actually actually a bad thing. It's a primative instinct thats your friend. It warns you to pay attention, because you're in danger. It tells you something, to act, to save yourself."
One thing that I grew up being taught by my parents was "trust your fears." By father would tell me that once in a while. Not to scare me, but to keep me on my toes being a girl and his first born. He would watch over me at all times if he could, but as I grew up and ventured out on my own to parties and on dates, he wanted me to remember that there are bad people out there and if I fear something, I should get myself out of that situation. I know the same is true for many other teens growing up, their parents tell them little sayings so they also, stay on their toes. Now what if our mother or father was the one that we feared? Not the fear of what would happen if you got a bad report card or what would happen if you got caught drinking. That is good fear. That fear means they care about us. What if it was the fear that scared the shit out of you. Like you feared your parent was going to kill you or a sibling. In the book, The Rules Of Survival by Nancy Werlin, Matthew is writing a letter to his baby sister, Em. In this letter he desscribes the torture that he, their sister Callie, and Em endured at the hands and words of their mother. This book is intense from start to finish and keeps the reader wanting to put it down. I recommend it to all children that have their own fears and need help learning how to over come them.