Spilled Milk

Publisher's Summary

Brooke Nolan is a battered child who makes an anonymous phone call about the escalating brutality in her home.

When social services jeopardize her safety, condemning her to keep her father's secret, it's a glass of spilled milk at the dinner table that forces her to speak about the cruelty she's been hiding. In her pursuit of safety and justice, Brooke battles a broken system that pushes to keep her father in the home.

When jury members and a love interest congregate to inspire her to fight, she risks losing the support of family and comes to the realization that some people simply do not want to be saved.

Spilled Milk is a novel of shocking narrative, triumph, and resiliency.

©2013 K. L. Randis (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Randis later would testify at a criminal trial against her father, who was sentenced to prison for his crimes. He was sentenced to up to 16 years in 2004. Her painful - and ultimately triumphant - story is recounted in Randis' first novel, Spilled Milk." (Stacy Brown, interview with the Pocono Record)

" Spilled Milk is a story about resilience. The strength of the human mind and will power to live a better life." ( The Weekly Sparkle)

"Beautifully written, hauntingly real, Spilled Milk is a must read for any young adult today." (F. P. Lione)

Amazing, better than the read .

Unbelievable courage in reading your story to the audience. I absolutely cried several times ... I hope the world will listen to your story and it helps many get the help the deserve !
KL Randis you are an inspiring young woman and I wish you nothing but the best
Top notch audio book as well as read !

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

Wow!

I'm so glad I bought more credits to purchase this book as soon as it was released. The story is heartbreaking, captivating, and brave. The narration is excellent. I hope this book helps people to understand why victims remain silent for so long and how much courage it takes to speak out. Being victimized is far more complex than just being hurt and calling the police to "fix" it.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

unbelievable story as child abuse and survival

I always appreciate a story more when the author reads it. I can't begin to imagine how hard it was for KL to write her own autobiography with so much pain attached to it. It appears as if she has taken that pain and turned it into something good, no, something great! This is a great story for those struggling to share their stories, understand children of domestic and sexual abuse, and to simply know that every child deals with their pain in a different way. If you are a Survivor or someone who works in the field of Social Services or any capacity that helps victims, this is a great read.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

powerful

heartbreaking, I wish the prison time was longer for him!! He doesn't deserve to EVER be free

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Thank you Brooke

What an awesome book for everyone who works with children in the system for any reason. This book will give you insight from so many aspects that you may not have ever heard. Thank you to the author for being so brave and for sharing such intimate details to help those of us who are trying to help others. Our goals need to be preventing these children from growing up to become Earl's and only repeating what they know is the norm.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

2 stars = "It's Okay"

There is no disputing that physical and sexual abuse of a parent is abhorrent; this review instead focuses on the book itself - the way the story is written and narrated. As another reviewer notes, there are gaps in the storyline that confuse; time periods are compressed with little to no clues for the reader as we struggle to keep up and put events in perspective.

I also agree with another reviewer that the author was probably not the best choice as narrator. While the argument has been made that hearing it in her own voice makes it more "immediate" ... in my opinion, the flatness of affect did nothing to hold the listener. My mind wandered - it tended to become background "noise".

Finally - the publisher's description is markedly misleading. It leads one to understand that a desperate young child makes a secretive phone call to authorities that ignites an exposé that rocks a community. Mmm... not quite. It crawled along - again, with some confusion for the reader as to timeline until the high school-aged victim reluctantly reveals - and withdraws - and finally admits to the abuse.

In any case, that she did bring her father to justice was a brave and difficult thing to do ... to effectively convey this "journey" is also very difficult - perhaps a good editor would have helped.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Awful story... great retelling

I don't know what made me choose to listen to this book, maybe the sweet girl on the cover? Maybe the story? Idk. My heart goes out to 'brooke' and her family and she did an amazing job of capturing her life.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Excellent

Brought back so many memories for me. It does take strength to share a story like this and makes others feel like they are not alone.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Monsters are out there

Where does Spilled Milk rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Spilled Milk is not the best audiobook by far, but K. L. Randis' story is captivating and important.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gina was my favorite character because she was so kind and perceptive. She was almost like Brooke's guardian angel.

If you could rename Spilled Milk, what would you call it?

First of all, I wouldn't rename it because the name is perfect, but if I had to, maybe I would change it to be something about listening to what children say and don't say.

Any additional comments?

Spilled Milk is an important read because it makes you think about how you would treat someone who is in need of help or a survivor of abuse. The book highlights how the system failed this poor girl and her family, and makes you think about what you could do to help someone stuck in this horrible situation.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Very Real

This book is very real. The theme is heart wrenching but the story is told in a very pragmatic way by the author herself which is what tempted me to read such a disturbing story. She must be an incredibly brave, no nonsense, strong woman and I am sure inspires all the lives she touches.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful