Transcending

Are victims of crime destined to have the rest of their lives shaped by the crimes they've experienced? (&quote;What happened to the road map for living the rest of my life?&quote; asks a woman whose mother was murdered.) Will victims of crime always be bystanders in the justice system? (&quote;We're having a problem forgiving the judge and the system,&quote; says the father of a young man killed in prison.) Is it possible for anyone to transcend such a comprehensively destructive, identity altering occurrence? (&quote;I thought, I'm going to run until I'm not angry anymore,&quote; expresses a woman who was assaulted.) Howard Zehr presents the portraits and the courageous stories of 39 victims of violent crime in Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims. Many of these people were twice-wounded: once at the hands of an assailant; the second time by the courts, where there is no legal provision for a victim's participation. &quote;My hope,&quote; says Zehr, &quote;is that this book might hand down a rope to others who have experienced such tragedies and traumas, and that it might allow all who read it to live on the healing edge.&quote;