Review: What is a Girl Worth?

What is a Girl Worth? My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics - Rachael Denhollander, Tyndale Momentum, 2019, 352 pages.

I stayed up later than I intended last night and finished What is a Girl Worth?. I had followed the Nassar case after connecting with Jacob Denhollander on Twitter. He shared his wife’s story in the Indy Star article – a victim/survivor who had come forward to stop an evil man who had been abusing children for decades. As I read the articles and watched the news coverage, Rachael came across as so brave, strong, and capable. Her training as an attorney was evident in the clarity and power of her carefully chosen words. But her book reveals what was going on behind the scenes –

Would anyone believe her and take this seriously?

Was it too late to report? 

The internal turmoil and re-traumatization of having to retell her abuse. 

Turning her private journals over to Nassar’s defense team knowing that her abuser would be reading them himself. 

Waiting to be attacked personally by attempts to rip her reputation to shreds by powerful people in powerful organizations. 

Wondering if the case would be dismissed and her abuser allowed to continue unchecked.
Fearing that this sacrifice was all in vain.

This is what it costs a survivor to speak, and the cost is great. But it was counted and paid for the sake of justice and for the sake of all the little girls Larry Nassar abused.

What is a Girl Worth? was hard to put down. My heart ached for Rachael when she struggled to make sense of what happened to her, when she doubted herself, and wrestled with her faith. As I read, there was times when I asked myself, “Where on earth did she get the courage and stamina to do this?” But I think the answer is by the grace and power of God and the love and support of her family. Rachael has also had more than her fair share of friendly fire. In fact, she and Jacob were pretty much told to stop speaking and posting publicly about child abuse and the SGM situation because if differed from the position their current church leaders were taking. I literally sat in silence for a few minutes digesting that paragraph because I was stunned. What are people really choosing to protect?

This is probably the most emotional book review I have ever written. But when it comes to child abuse, maybe we need a little more feeling because our hearts have grown calloused. There’s plenty of outrage for a host of things, but where is the righteous anger against this heinous sin? Perhaps it is because we don’t love the least of these as we should. Perhaps this reveals the state of our love for God. And I wonder what would happen in the church and beyond if we had a fraction of Rachael Denhollander's courage to count the cost and protect the vulnerable within our walls? I pray books like What is a Girl Worth? will educate but also challenge the complacency and coldness of our hearts. God have mercy on us.