New York: Grove Press, (1989.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A fascinating first novel by this feminist writer. Based on an actual incident this has the immediacy of a documentary - as Brownmiller says 'the day the child died, I began to write, to imagine how the couple from my neighborhood whose image flashed repeatedly across my television screen - a lawyer and a woman with a bashed-in face who had once been a writer - could have traveled the distance from people I might have known to such a nightmare.' Dust jacket art by Wendell Minor. ISBN: 0-8021-10908.

Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, (1989). First edition - A collection of poems and short prose pieces about surviving a violent childhood in the decaying mining towns of the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota. Illustrated with woodcut decorations by R. W. Scholes. Cover praise from Tom Clark and David St John, among others. 128 pp. plus index and final woodcut. ISBN: 0-915943409.

New York: Poets Alive Press, 2000. First edition - A book of poems about baseball - Humphrey was critically injured the first day of practice, ending his dreams - and child abuse (he is a counselor for abused homeless children) and disability. The final poem is for Bukowski "Maybe we'll meet at a basepark..." One of only 500 copies of the trade edition. Illustrated Small square format. 188 pp plus final comment and photograph. ISBN: 0-936641282.

New York: Putnam, (2009.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A gritty thriller set on Staten Island in New York City: college history instruction Kevin Curran attempts to help his brother stay away from heroin, but is instead dragged into an underworld plot of murder, mafia hit men and criminal espionage. Bloodroot is a fictional counterpart of the real horrors of Willowbrook. 321 pp. ISBN: 9780399155925.

New York: Putnam, (2009.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A gritty thriller set on Staten Island in New York City: college history instruction Kevin Curran attempts to help his brother stay away from heroin, but is instead dragged into an underworld plot of murder, mafia hit men and criminal espionage. Bloodroot is a fictional counterpart of the real horrors of Willowbrook. SIGNED on the title page. 321 pp. ISBN: 9780399155925.

New York: Simon & Schuster, (1979) dj. Hardcover - More than just an account of the horrifying, prolonged torture and murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis in 1965, this is an attempt to understand how this could happen, and how so many people could be complicit in it. 342 pp plus an appendix with black and white photographs. ISBN: 0-671-247638.

New York: Simon & Schuster, (1979) dj. Hardcover first edition - More than just an account of the horrifying, prolonged torture and murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis in 1965, this is an attempt to understand how this could happen, and how so many people could be complicit in it. 342 pp plus an appendix with black and white photographs. ISBN: 0-671-247638.

New York: Avon, 1998. dj. Hardcover first edition - First novel by this award-winning African American poet. Set in the 1950's this is the story of a young girl, the only child of a maid and factory worker who moved from the South to Ohio, whose sheltered childhood was shattered by a babysitter, the girl in the sky-blue dress, who took pleasure in inflicting pain. 259 pp. ISBN: 0-380-975505.

New York: Avon, 1998. dj. Hardcover first edition - First novel by this award-winning African American poet. Set in the 1950's this is the story of a young girl, the only child of a maid and factory worker who moved from the South to Ohio, whose sheltered childhood was shattered by a babysitter, the girl in the sky-blue dress, who took pleasure in inflicting pain. 259 pp. ISBN: 0-380-975505.

GreyCore Press, (2004.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Poet's first novel, one which 'creates a world in which love, passion, abuse and the possiblity of healing all co-exist.' Set in Colorado. SIGNED on the title page. Praise on back cover from Kent Haruf and others. 224 pp. ISBN: 0-9742074-03.

GreyCore Press, (2004.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Poet's first novel, one which 'creates a world in which love, passion, abuse and the possiblity of healing all co-exist.' Set in Colorado. Very warmly INSCRIBED on the half title page and signed simply "Kate" and dated 6/20/065. Praise on back cover from Kent Haruf and others. 224 pp. ISBN: 0-9742074-03.

New York: TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (1992.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's prize-winning first book - Jane Yolen called it 'the strongest and wisest novel I have ever read about the problem of child abuse... the book is impossible to read without being moved to fury and tears.' SIGNED on the title page. Winner of the Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel.179 pp. ISBN: 0-312-851839.

New York: TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (1992.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author's prize-winning first book - Jane Yolen called it 'the strongest and wisest novel I have ever read about the problem of child abuse... the book is impossible to read without being moved to fury and tears.' SIGNED on the title page. Winner of the Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel.179 pp. ISBN: 0-312-851839.

New York: TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (1992.). SIGNED first edition - The author's very highly praised first book - Jane Yolen called it 'the strongest and wisest novel I have ever read about the problem of child abuse... the book is impossible to read without being moved to fury and tears.' SIGNED on the title page. Winner of the Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel. 179 pp.

Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, (2002.). First edition - The author's first novel, the story of a woman coming to terms with her long-buried memories. Cover praise from Janet Fitch who states: "In her suspenseful, poetic, mysterious, and profound novel The Memory Room, Mary Rakow addresses the big question-how do we live with our knowledge of evil? And then what do we do with this knowledge, and how can we reconcile it with an equally profound awareness of the depth of the world's beauty and the possibility of faith? Approaching these fundamental issues not as a philosopher but as an artist using a subtle poet's touch, she explores the great paradoxes of the human condition without simplification or denial." 459 pp.

Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull Press, (2003.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A look at his harrowing childhood in Oklahoma in the 1930's, the abuse he suffered at the hands of a guardian, and his search for the father who abandoned him, for a home, for love and approval, by an award-winning poet and editor. SIGNED on the title page. Photographs. 303 pp. ISBN: 1-887128-522.

San Francisco: Dry Bones Press, 1996. First edition - Autobiographical account of a woman who was sexually molested as a young girl by a nun, a member of the same order as her aunt, and a visitor to her family's home - focuses on her struggle to reconcile her own desire to become a nun - to join the Poor Clares - and the conflict between her deep commitment to the spirituality of the Catholic Church and her anger in the way the situation of abuse was ignored or handled by the authorities. 82 pp. ISBN: 1-88938-252.

New York: Scholastic, (1995.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Award winning Australian author's first book for older children: the story of Jamie, who is afraid of everything - but especially of the beast who haunts the night darkness, and of Brendan, who bullies him at school. "An honest , unflinching story about the power of fear and the horror of abuse." 102 pp. ISBN: 0-590471589.