LITTLE PEACH Blog Tour Giveaway

by Andye

Many of you may know by now that I'm raising money to help stop human trafficking. Every day in March I'm wearing the same Little Black Dress. [By wearing the same black dress each day for a month I'm  symbolizing those with no choice, and no voice, who are enslaved. I'm trying to create awareness for their plight, and raise funds to bring them freedom.]

So when Hannah (TheIrishBananaReview) told me how captivated she was by this book she read, called LITTLE PEACH, about a human trafficking victim, I just had to jump on board.

Human trafficking is a bigger problem in this country and around the world than most people realize. Girls and boys are being lured into a life of slavery and/or prostitution. The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-year-old. It's happening here. It's happening where you live. And it needs to stop.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Learn to recognize the signs of human trafficking in your community.
2. Get help or report a tip by calling the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Or send a text to BeFree (233733).
3. Ask Congress to pass legislation addressing human trafficking.
4. Donate now. Help support the victims of human trafficking and fight modern slavery every day of the year and in every corner of the U.S.
5. READ LITTLE PEACH! Knowledge is power! Don't live in ignorance anymore! 

To donate to A21, click here.

The   A21 Campaign  is a quality organization that  works in some of the top trafficking hubs around the world- Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States. A21 works in prevention, protection (recovery/restoration), prosecution, and by creating partnerships to complete these things.

To donate to Blackbox International, click here. 

Blackbox International is a not-for-profit organization that exists to holistically rehabilitate sex-trafficked boys age 16 and under. Blackbox provides a critical care component for boys rescued from sex trafficking. Our first home is now operational in the Dominican Republic.

Donate to your own local Human Trafficking initiative. (NoVaHTI.com is my local organization)

I will be posting pics on Instagram throughout the month, so make sure to follow AndyeReadingTeen or #LBD15 as I try to come up with different ways to wear this hideous black dress that I hate (haha). Read more about LBD here.

What do you do if you're in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels.

But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her “Daddy” and she his “Little Peach.” It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition.

About Peggy Kern:

Peggy Kern was born and raised in Westbury, New York. There she attended the local public elementary and middle schools, where she was one of the few white students in a predominately black and Latino community. Peggy didn’t realize what a unique and valuable experience that was until she transferred to a private high school.

“I was miserable in high school,” she says. “I couldn’t understand why my classmates only hung out with people who looked just like they did. To me, that was a foreign concept.” Peggy worked a variety of jobs through her teenage years, including switchboard operator at a country club, cashier at a clothing store, and the night-shift in a bakery.

In 1992, Peggy enrolled at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, where she discovered her love of literature and writing. However, the financial stress of paying for college herself – coupled with the painful divorce of her parents – proved overwhelming. She moved back to New York and took a full-time job as a secretary. Determined to finish her degree, she began taking night classes at a local community college and eventually landed a partial scholarship at Long Island University. She continued working full-time and taking classes until she graduated in 1998 with a B.A. in English.

Though it took her almost seven years to obtain her college degree, Peggy says she would do it all again. “The adversity made me work even harder. I never forgot how lucky I was to have a chance at an education.”

In 2001, Peggy completed a Master’s degree in English and Writing at Southampton College. She also coordinated the Southampton Writers Conference, where she had the chance to meet some of her literary heroes and assist young students in pursing their dream of writing. While at Southampton, she taught English Composition, tutored undergraduate students and published several short stories.



Giveaway:

1 finished copy of LITTLE PEACH.
US/CA Only.
It will be shipped from HarperCollins.
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