Damaged (53 page)

She hung on to her parents, and they propelled her forward, but all she could see was Anthony, and all she could think was that he was in her family now. She found herself remembering what Patrick had said, and she realized that she had family in heaven too. Her first husband, Mike, was with her too, walking with her, and so was her sister, Angie, an angel on earth. And Mary felt so much love and so much happiness that she thought her heart would burst, and when her parents kissed her and let her go, she practically floated to Anthony.

And they stepped into their future, together.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am so lucky and blessed to have great friends in my life, and this book is dedicated to my best friend, Franca Palumbo, Esq., who gets the biggest thanks here. We've been besties since law school and she has become one of the top special-needs lawyers in the country, because she cares so much about her clients and their families, and she works around the clock to make sure that they get the programming and support that they deserve. Franca inspired this book and helped me so much with its research, but more important, she has been an amazing and sustaining force in my life and I want to thank her here. I love you, honey!

Yet another reason to thank Franca is that she introduced me to an array of experts in the field of special education law, and I would like to acknowledge their help as well, though any mistakes in this novel are mine. Thank you to Judy Baskin, Esq., and Janet Ellis, Esq., for their guidance and expertise, as well as for their hard work and determination to make sure that Philadelphia schools meet the needs of their students.

Special thanks to the amazing Diane Reott, founder of the Pennsylvania Dyslexia Literacy Coalition, whose advocacy for children with dyslexia culminated in the Dyslexia and Early Literacy Intervention Pilot Program, just signed into law in Pennsylvania. Diane's hard work and advocacy is proof-positive that one loving mother can change the world not only for her own child but for many others, and I am indebted to Diane for taking the time to open her life experience and expertise to me, in order to inform this novel.

Special thanks to Kathleen Tana, Esq., an expert in family law who advised me every step of the way and even read pages of the manuscript for their accuracy, in addition to being a wonderful friend and fellow dog lover. Thank you so much, Kate! Thank you to Mario D'Adamo, Esq., Deputy Court Administrator, Family Court, who took the time to meet with me and patiently answer my questions about the process in Family Court. Thanks, too, to Judge Diane Thompson of Family Court, who met with me informally and gave me an idea of what life on the bench was like from her perspective. Thank you, Judge Thompson, for your dedicated public service.

Thank you to the amazing people at the Philadelphia Children's Alliance, led by the awesome executive director Chris Kirchner and Miranda Barthmus, who took the time to meet with me and answer all my questions about the endlessly good work they do for abused children of Philadelphia. Thank you to Denise Wilson, manager of Forensic Services at PCA, too. It is heartbreaking but necessary work, and they and PCA have my highest admiration.

Thank you (again) to the hardworking and handsome Detective Thomas Gaul of the Homicide Division of the Philadelphia Police Department, and to Officer Goodfellow of the Twenty-fifth Precinct of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Thank you to the brilliant and good-hearted Lisa Goldstein, M.D., a psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents and helped me inform the novel's accuracy by answering all of my questions in the clutch.

Finally, I'm a bookaholic, so I read a lot to inform this novel, including
Overcoming Dyslexia
by Sally Shaywitz and
The Dyslexic Advantage
by Brock and Fernette Eide, as well as
Machiavelli: A Portrait
by Christopher Celenza and
The Essential Writings of Machiavelli
, edited and translated by Peter Constantine.

I'm a lawyer, but criminal law wasn't my field, so I always touch base with my dear friend, the brilliant public servant Nicholas Casenta, Esq., chief of the Chester County District Attorney's Office.

Thank you to my genius editor, Jennifer Enderlin, who is also the Senior Vice President and Publisher of St. Martin's Press, yet she still finds the time to improve every one of my manuscripts, including this one. Thank you so much, Coach Jen! And big love and thanks to everyone at St. Martin's Press and Macmillan, starting with the terrific John Sargent and Sally Richardson, plus Jeff Dodes, Paul Hochman, Jeff Capshew, Stephanie Davis, Brian Heller, Brant Janeway, Lisa Senz, John Karle, Tracey Guest, Dori Weintraub, Anne-Marie Tallberg, Nancy Trypuc, Kerry Nordling, Elizabeth Wildman, Caitlin Dareff, Elena Yip, Talia Sherer, Kim Ludlum, and all the wonderful sales reps. Big thanks to Michael Storrings, for outstanding cover design for the series. Also hugs and kisses to Mary Beth Roche, Laura Wilson, Samantha Edelson, and the great people in audiobooks. I love and appreciate all of you!

Thanks and love to my agent, Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group, whose dedication guided this novel into publication, and to Nicole Robson, Emily Ross, and Trident's digital media team, who help me get the word out on social media.

Many thanks and much, much love and a big hug to the amazing and wonderful Laura Leonard. She's invaluable in every way, every day, and has been for over twenty years. Laura, I love you! Thanks, too, to my pal Nan Daley and to George Davidson, for doing everything else, so that I can be free to write!

Finally, thank you to my amazing daughter (and even coauthor) Francesca, for all the support, laughter, and love.

DAMAGED

by
Lisa Scottoline

Behind the Novel

•
“You Inspire Me”: An original essay by the author

Keep on Reading

•
Ideas for Book Groups

•
Reading Group Questions

Special Extra!

• An excerpt from Lisa Scottoline's next novel,
One Perfect Lie.

Also available as an audiobook
from Macmillan Audio

For more reading group suggestions
visit
www.readinggroupgold.com
.

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

An Original Essay by the Author

“You Inspire Me”

Readers often wonder where I got the idea for a novel, and I'm always happy to explain, because there's usually a single notion that inspires me when I begin to write, and this time, my inspiration came from you.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that one day, I was talking to my friend Franca, who has been my best friend since we met in law school. We practiced law together, were pregnant together, and both quit our jobs to stay home and raise our children. I never returned to the law, because I loved being at home with my daughter, Francesca, more. After long years of struggle, I became a published author and now I get to tell stories for a living.

Thanks to you.

But Franca returned to the law, and she changed her practice entirely. She became an expert in the area of special education. She advocates tirelessly for her clients, who are children in public and private schools fighting to get the special help they need in order to acquire the basic skills that many of us take for granted, like reading.

It struck me one day that Franca changes people's lives, one child at a time. Children she represents have bright and happy futures, all because of her. And Franca works very hard, so she represents hundreds of clients.

It's the power of one woman, changing the lives of hundreds of children.

And Franca introduced me to another woman, Diane Reottt, the mother of a son with dyslexia. Diane dedicated herself to her child and educated herself about all aspects of dyslexia, which at the time wasn't well known. She began to drill her son in order to improve his ability to read, and she began to notice deficiencies in the public school system, which was falling short for dyslexic students, in addition to other students who had a wide array of learning disabilities.

Diane went on to create an organization called the Pennsylvania Dyslexia and Literacy Coalition, working tirelessly to champion the needs of dyslexic children in the Pennsylvania school system. After years and years of effort, building her organization and filling the ranks with mothers and fathers just like herself, she actually got the state legislature to draft and pass House Bill 198, which was signed into law in Pennsylvania.

The new law created a pilot program to screen kindergarten students for risk factors linked to dyslexia and other reading deficiencies. The goal is to identify dyslexia and other reading issues in students as early as possible. Not only does this help these students learn to read, but just as important, as you see in my novel, since dyslexia and self-esteem are connected, the new law also builds their self-worth.

It's the power of one woman, which changed the lives of millions of children across an entire state.

The more research I did into this topic, the more I found women like Franca and Diane, and plenty of men too, all of whom were single-handedly working to better services for children with special needs and give them all of the enrichment they need and deserve to realize their fullest potential and happiness.

All of these people decided that they were going to change something for the better, for children.

In effect, they decided to change the world.

Wow.

Not many people wake up thinking that they can change the world, and there are plenty who don't even try, and I don't blame them. It's all that most of us can do to get through the day, do our job, make sure there's food in the fridge, and try to keep our hands out of the cookie jars.

I mean that literally.

I'm on a diet, as usual.

But I am so inspired by people like Franca, Diane, and many, many more of you, and you know who you are, who toil thanklessly, teach for long hours, spend your own money on things you shouldn't have to, volunteer to help at school, serve on countless committees and boards, bake cookies for afterschool programs, raise money for baseball teams, band trips, and choir robes, take in foster children, or do whatever is needed, wherever it's needed.

I'm talking about every single person who decides to try to make something better and doesn't give up until they succeed.

That's you.

You may never get the credit you deserve, but I know you're there.

I see you and I celebrate you.

You inspire me.

And that's why I wrote you this book.

Ideas for Book Groups

I am a huge fan of book clubs because it means people are reading and discussing books. Mix that with wine and carbs, and you can't keep me away. I'm deeply grateful to all who read me, and especially honored when my book is chosen by a book club. I wanted an opportunity to say thank you to those who read me, which gave me the idea for a contest. Every year I hold a book club contest and the winning book club gets a visit from me and a night of fabulous food and good wine. To enter is easy: all you have to do is take a picture of your entire book club with each member holding a copy of my newest hardcover and send it to me by mail or e-mail. No book club is too small or too big. Don't belong to a book club? Start one. Just grab a loved one, a neighbor or friend, and send in your picture of you each holding my newest book. I look forward to coming to your town and wining and dining your group. For more details, just go to
www.scottoline.com
.

Tour time is my favorite time of year because I get to break out my fancy clothes and meet with interesting and fun readers around the country. The rest of the year I am a homebody, writing every day, but thrilled to be able to connect with readers through e-mail. I read all my e-mail, and answer as much as I can. So, drop me a line about books, families, pets, love, or whatever is on your mind at
[email protected].
For my latest book and tour information, special promotions, and updates, you can sign up at
www.scottoline.com
for my newsletter.