Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was no consensus. Whether the awards cited actually confer notability is open to further discussion - not all awards do, and we're plainly not talking a Pulitzer or a Lindgren here (yet). Yanksox also says that this link checks out the claims, but in fact it doesn't - the link is dead for me right now, but I do note that the link is from strongattheheart.com - an article's subject cannot be used to source assertions of notability about themselves. Nonetheless, those arguing for delete do so weakly, and no real case has been presented against the awards' notability, so this particular discussion can only be said to have resulted in no consensus on the basis of lack of overwhelming weight of opinion or argument. --Sam Blanning(talk) 15:45, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse
No vote procedural nomination. I deprodded this article because I feel it's substantial enough to warrant consensus before deletion. Prod rationale was "Non-notable book by author without article. 350 Google hits for "Strong at the Heart" "carolyn lehman" ; Amazon sales rank of 271,276." - CrazyRussian talk/email 12:55, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak Delete per prod rationale. Ms Lehman _may_ be notable in her own right and deserve her own article; that being said, the Christopher Award mentioned in this article appears to be from a fairly minor religious institute  (no Wikipedia articles on the award or the institute, incidentally) rather than a recognized literary award, so I won't express a stronger opinion than that, but this particular book isn't - absent the usual verifiable evidence of notability, of course. Tevildo 13:16, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak delete per Tevildo. Seems interesting, but when it comes to modern books, sales and popularity takes up about 90% of my criteria. AdamBiswanger1 13:43, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak delete per above. No more notable than 50,000 other books in your local Borders.  Normally I'm an inclusionist but we don't need an article on all of them.  =)  Powers 14:17, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
 * keep Hi. I'm the guy who put the article up, so hardly surprisingly, I think it should stay.  The reason I think it's very important is that there are thousands of abused boys and girls (most now adults) who will welcome the access to important material as provided by the encyclopaedic resource of Wikipaedia.  Because of the sex industry, searches for articles relating to child sexual abuse don't always through up suitable answers and Wikipaedia is always there on page 1 or 2. Tony Sandel
 * Comment. Tony, thanks for your contribution. The issue here is the notability of this particular book, not the subject of child abuse in general.  As the article's author, it's your duty to provide verifiable (WP:V refers) sources of its notability - independent reviews, citations by other experts in the field, evidence of its use by respected therapists, etc.  I'm not saying the article should be deleted merely because the book has a low sales rank; however, you'll have to provide some other reasons why it should be kept if its going to survive AfD. Tevildo 14:35, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
 * keep As the author of the book in question, perhaps I can offer some context for the discussion. Strong at the Heart was published last November on the young adult (YA) list of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, a literary publisher.  YA nonfiction is a small part of the market, but--as evidenced by Mr. Sandal's article--this book has developed an international crossover audience among adults (Japanese rights sold early, although that edition is not out yet).  What makes the book unusual, groundbreaking actually, is that it is the first to bring readers face-to-face with real teens and adults who talk about their experiences with childhood sexual abuse and healing. Each person's story is illustrated with photographs, including a full face portrait; these are not anonymous or "composite" stories written by a clinician to prove a point, but rather real people sharing a wide range of personal experience.  The mix of interviews reflects the demographics of child sexual abuse in North America, so readers get a picture of how abuse happens, who survivors are, and the wide range of choices people make in addressing this experience. Honors for Strong at the Heart include:  Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2007 Master List for grades 9-12; National Council for the Social Studies, and The Children's Book Council, 2006 Notable Trade Book for Young People; Skipping Stones Magazine, 2006 Honor Book; Bank Street College, Children's Book Committee, Teen List, one of twenty five recommended books for teens in 2006; New York Public Library, 2006 Books for the Teen Age. Carolyn Lehman (added by 70.132.15.149 (talk • contribs • WHOIS • block user • [ block log ]) )
 * Keep then. Thanks. - CrazyRussian talk/email 04:57, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * keep Booklist, Horn Book, and Kirkus reviews are all notable reviewing agancies who think this book is notable. I personally think there are far too few resources for people who have lived through sexual abuse, and this is a particularly helpful one for teens and young adults in particular. It'd be nice if people could find out about it via Wiki. "Without sensationalizing, the first-person narratives each convey the particulars of an individual experience that will encourage readers' empathy." -- The Horn Book "Excellently balanced.  Over and over, the interviewees each say how much it helped to hear that someone else shared their experiences - that they were not alone.  One hopes that this book will be that voice for readers."  -- Kirkus Reviews "Lehman's powerful collection...packs a strong emotional punch.  The strength of this sensitive, evenhanded book comes from its increasing awareness about something teens may be silently suffering."  -- Booklist G Schmidt (no such user. this was added by 70.231.236.169 (talk • contribs • WHOIS • block user • [ block log ])
 * Pretty much every nonfiction book has positive reviews on the back cover; that alone does not make it notable. Nor does a book being useful make it notable.  Powers 21:24, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep I looked around and did a google search on the whole title and found this list which checks out the claims except for the NYPL award. This appears to be a notable book, and worthy of inclusion. Yank  sox  23:39, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete The article appears to be more of an advert for a particular object (a book) than a discussion of the subject matter. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.133.111.117 (talk • contribs).
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.