BOOK RECOMMENDATION –
2023 – A girl-and-her backpack story: Carlie is not merely traveling. A child sexual abuse survivor, as a teen she steals ten thousand dollars and runs away to Asia. There, the Lonely Planet path of hookups, heat, alcohol, and drugs takes on a terrifying reality. Landing in Tokyo in the late 1980s, Carlie falls in with an international crew of tai chi-practicing backpackers. With their help, she has the chance at a journey she didn’t plan for: one to find the self-respect taken from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires.
About the Author
Alle C. Hall is an author, speaker, and writing instructor whose work focuses on the joy and creativity resulting from trauma recovery. Her debut novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back, has been honored ten times since publication. Her award-winning fiction and essays appear in Dale Peck’s Evergreen Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Litro, New World Writing, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere. Her journalism can be read in Bust Magazine, The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger, for whom she was a contributing writer. Hall lives in Seattle with her much-loved husband and two, shining sons.
