Hold Me Down

At fifteen, Sarah Beckman was brutally raped in an alley by a trusted councilman in her small town. No one but her parents believed her account, and she became a pariah, spiraling into a dark world of PTSD.

A year later, when an opportunity arises for her family to move, she is more than willing to escape the torture and gain the fresh start she has been desperately seeking, even if it means saying a painful goodbye to those who helped her heal - namely Blaze, her equine therapy horse. A chance meeting at her new school brings her face to face with Charlotte Allister, North Willetts High’s resident out-and-proud lesbian with a closet full of her own demons.

Drug and alcohol addiction fueled a years’ worth of bad choices, but a clean and sober Charlotte goes into her senior year armed with her parents’ regained trust, ready to turn over a new leaf, just in time for Sarah to enter her world. After an unthinkable tragedy rocks both of their worlds, Sarah must make the hardest decision she has been faced with. What is more love for herself, or love for another?

In an emotionally gripping and stunning debut that readers are calling "essential reading" and "unforgettably real and raw," Dev Anders takes readers on a journey through sexuality, healing, and the unwavering power of choice.

*This book is intended for a young adult audience; as such, it contains some sensitive material.*