A Stolen Life by: Jaycee Dugard

   This summer I read a book called "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard. This book is an autobiography about Jaycee and how she was abducted at age 11 and held captive in the backyard of convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido for 18 years.

   This book left a spot on my heart and in my mind because it was such a touching and real event. One day she was walking down the street and moments later she was in the back of a car with two strangers not knowing she wouldn't see her family for almost 20 years. As the years passed, Jaycee talks about how she felt while in the backyard, being able to see the outside world, but them not being able to see her; feeling almost invisible. At ages 14  and 16, Jaycee became the mother of two beautiful girls with Phillip as the father. She writes that they are the best thing that ever happened to her and that she wouldn't trade them for the world.

   What makes Jaycee's case unique is that Phillip being a convicted sex offender, he was on parole. His parole officer and other law enforcement officers had visited the property and hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Jaycee just watching from behind closed doors felt helpless and trapped. On August 26, 2009 Jaycee was then returned to her family after being identified when she went to Phillip's parole office with him and the rest of the "family". After 18 years she was then allowed to speak her own name and was free to raise her children on her own.

   Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in jail, and his wife Nancy, who also took part in the kidnapping, was sentenced from 36 years to life.