Rating: 
Summary: An Inspiring Story and Author
Review: I bought this book having met Eric in a Californian hotel two weeks ago - we were both on business trips. Towards the end of our time talking he mentioned that he had written a book and I told him I would buy it from Amazon.com and read it. I kept my word and sat by the pool and read it. I have dealt with child abuse personally and have read other books on the subject. I found that Out of The Darkness had been written in a way that did not read like social workers case notes, like I have found some other books. It does not dwell on each beating this poor child received, it gives you the facts in a beautifully written way that truly inspires. Mary-Ellen's story proves how just one person like Etta has to care to rescue a childs life. I am sure anyone who reads this book will not think twice about reporting a suspected case of child abuse. Eric - you are a gifted author as well as a really nice guy.
Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Story and Author
Review: I bought this book having met Eric in a Californian hotel two weeks ago - we were both on business trips. Towards the end of our time talking he mentioned that he had written a book and I told him I would buy it from Amazon.com and read it. I kept my word and sat by the pool and read it. I have dealt with child abuse personally and have read other books on the subject. I found that Out of The Darkness had been written in a way that did not read like social workers case notes, like I have found some other books. It does not dwell on each beating this poor child received, it gives you the facts in a beautifully written way that truly inspires. Mary-Ellen's story proves how just one person like Etta has to care to rescue a childs life. I am sure anyone who reads this book will not think twice about reporting a suspected case of child abuse. Eric - you are a gifted author as well as a really nice guy.
Rating:
Summary: A Beatiful Child,A Malice Women
Review: I found this book to be very captivateing,and very well written. Mary Ellen,(bless her)..she was a surviver......Thanks to the very one lady,who sought to free her from the evil malice women,Mary Ellen called mama.... This story took me back to the time,and made me live the horror that child faced and the frustration the people around her delt with. A must read for everyone,a lesson in history,and a blessing to see how far we have come.
Rating:
Summary: so sad
Review: i just read the book about Mary Ellen,it made me so mad that nothing was done in the early years about child abuse.i could not put the book down.Thank God for people like Etta and Henry.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring account of our ability to survive...and to care
Review: I met Eric Shelman while training to become a sexual assault nurse examiner (S.A.N.E.). He was a speaker during the training. Eric was such an insightful, enthusiastic and educating speaker, that I decided to read his book. I found all of his best qualities as a speaker in this book. This is a story you won't forget. As a S.A.N.E., the message I most want to bring to the survivors of abuse and assault who I tend to is one of the great human ability to overcome terrible things. This book is a great illustrator of that quality we all have inside ourselves. Thank you, Eric!
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring account of our ability to survive...and to care
Review: I met Eric Shelman while training to become a sexual assault nurse examiner (S.A.N.E.). He was a speaker during the training. Eric was such an insightful, enthusiastic and educating speaker, that I decided to read his book. I found all of his best qualities as a speaker in this book. This is a story you won't forget. As a S.A.N.E., the message I most want to bring to the survivors of abuse and assault who I tend to is one of the great human ability to overcome terrible things. This book is a great illustrator of that quality we all have inside ourselves. Thank you, Eric!
Rating:
Summary: I Posted the Info about this book on FIVE group SITES so far
Review: I read Eric Shelman's book and once you read it in such vivid detail you will never get over it! This book allows you to really KNOW the characters, their feelings and the abuses this child is suffering. She becomes so real and before you understand how the circumstances just all happened to allow her to fall through every crack, you would not believe this could happen, even back then! It is a MUST READ book for any collection of quality literature... Excellent book - a true story about an abused little girl (and then I wrote more)
Rating:
Summary: I'm not a professional reviewer, believe me.
Review: I'm not regarded as intelligent and not an avid reader, for that matter either, but Out Of The Darkness captivated me. I found that I could'nt put the book down. Waiting at (Cheap Tickets) with a number 33 in my hand, just hoping I'll finish chapter 12 before they call my number. Behind a long row of cars waiting for the light to turn green, hoping that it would not until Henry finished his rescue of a cat. That night, in my dreams, I could hear the echos of little Mary Wilson crying. I feel this is a very important book, a book that begs to be on the wide screen so people like me, can slurp fruit punch and gnaw on dots while unscard by childhood brutality watching a small army of angels battle the fierce monster. Surely out of the thousands who've read Out Of The Darkness, one will have some influence in Hollywood and take the lead.
Rating: 
Summary: The Book Was Sad
Review: Iike this book because it was sad and I like sad storys. I will recoment this book to every body.
Rating:
Summary: historical, groundbreaking child-abuse case in 1800s
Review: Out of the Darkness - The Story of Mary Ellen Wilson by Eric A. Shelman and Stephen Lazoritz, M.D. Dolphin Moon Publishing, CA. 1999. 342 pp. notes; index. Out of the Darkness is not only the story of the abused child Mary Ellen Wilson of the latter 1800s, but also the story of Fanny Connor, her mother who abandoned her after the death of her husband in the Civil War; Mary Connolly, the stepmother who cruelly abused the girl; Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA, who anguished by Mary Ellen's case, founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; the judge who presided over the court case of Mary Ellen, the journalist who covered it for the NY Tribune, and other individuals who were involved in the matter in various ways. The authors describe their book as dramatized history; it's based on extensive research, while employing the techniques of creative nonfiction, including scenes and dialogue, to bring Mary Ellen's story alive. Shelman's experience as a screenwriter is evident in the informative, revealing, and dramatic dialogue, pithy descriptive passages, and brisk narrative. Lazoritz is a pediatrician specializing in the care of abused and neglected children. He is also the director of the Child Protection Center at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The collaboration began with an acquaintance over the Internet. Out of the Darkness fills in considerable historical background on the timely subject of child abuse in American society. Mary Ellen eventually went on to lead a normal life, having two daughters who became school teachers. Henry Berry, Book Reviewer Editor/Publisher, The Small Press Book Review
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