Reviews
All the Power Rests With You
“All the Power Rests with You is a thoroughly “user friendly” and very highly recommended resource for any parent, teacher, counselor, or care-give.” – The Midwest Book Review
“All the Power Rests with You is an enchanting collection of poetry and activities for children and adolescents which speaks to them in their own language about issues which confront them concerning vulnerability, abandonment, violence, self-esteem, personal safety and their own particular place in the world.” – Sorosh Roshan, M.D., M.P.H. President, International Health Awareness Network
“Once again, Sue Stutman shares with us her incredible talent for putting difficult feelings into words and encourages readers to express themselves, using the art of poetic expression. This book will be a great resource to children and adolescents who want to better express, and understand, their own feelings about some difficult subjects.” – Christina M. Kirchner, LSW, Executive Director, Philadelphia Children’s Alliance
“Suzanne Stutman has developed a book of poetry for abused and traumatized children all over the world. The title clearly states the goal of the book: to give children the power to mend the ragged edges of hurt and create a healing garment of hope. The sections, Adventures in Writing Poetry, Feeling Safe, Feeling out of Place, Positive Feelings, and The Future, offer readers space for their own poetry in the wide margins and blank pages. To be given the opportunity to create poetry right next to the words of a published author is quite an enticement for an emerging writer. The first poem "My Declaration of Right," sets the tone with, I have the right to be happy. I have the right to be safe. The exercises would work well in small groups. Children reading the book alone may appreciate having someone with whom to share the poems and the feelings. This book would find its place in therapy centers, homes and schools. A welcoming way for children to feel safe and explore the world of poetry. The blank pages invite interaction. Write, draw, make this book your own. A challenge and a delight. The author declares that a portion of the book sales will be donated to child protection agencies. A good book for a good cause; you can't get much better than that!” – FlamingNet.com Book Reviews, February 2006
White Feather
"White Feather: A Journey To Peace is a beautifully written collection of poems. Works like “When I Am Whole,""Woman," "Peace," and "In the Territory of My Soul" will be timeless contributions to the empowerment not only for former victims of abuse but also for those who have simply lost their way and need the reconnecting space of poetry. The economy of words and the focus often on the natural environment, from trees, to stars, to bees, to butterflies, and the ultimate celebration and self-discovery that is a part of each of the poems, give the collection an Emily Dickinson-like quality. Dickinson, too, used her poetry to heal her own soul and reveal to her readers the startling life lessons and human connections to be found in nature. Stutman’s personal knowledge of child abuse and her deeply felt belief that telling of that abuse, while painful, can be the door that allows victims to not only heal but to grow, and indeed, flourish, comes through in abundant measure in these poems. White Feather is a collection that can make us all feel better in our own skin and more joyful about and committed to our connections to the natural world and to the human community."– Carolyn Denard, Ph.D., Associate Dean and Associate Professor of American Studies at Wells College, and Founding President and Executive Director of The Toni Morrison Society
"Suzanne Stutman somehow, partly by virtue of her gift of poetry and her motivation and ability to help others (especially children) has been able to make the transition from hate, deadness and misery to caring, love and the capacity for joy. These poems, expressing her journey of transcendence, can move us all. They will be especially meaningful to those who have been, or who feel they might have been, the former child-victims of attempts at soul murder."–Leonard Shengold, M.D., Psychiatrist, Author of Soul Murder: The Effects of Childhood Abuse and Depression
"White Feather: A Journey to Peace reflects the work and devotion to peace that Dr. Stutman has embraced and nurtured on behalf of others for so many years. These beautiful poems express that even from the darkness there can be light, healing and blossoming, especially from a heart so pure and full of love as Suzanne Stutman’s."–Sorosh Roshan, M.D., MPH, President of The International Health Awareness Network and Vice President of The International Council of Women
"When a child is abused, especially sexually, she or he often becomes enclosed in a shell of shame and fear. Suzanne Stutman’s poetry speaks for those children, perhaps now grown, as a voice telling them they, too, can speak. Her book is not only a gift of delicate introspective poetry but a call to freedom. Combining art, courage, and healing, her work evolves from the timid voice of the child into the ecstatic recognition of an adult who has found peace and 'sings to the stars.'"–Patricia Smith Melton, Executive Director, PEACE X PEACE, Executive Producer & Director, PEACE BY PEACE: Women on the Frontlines
"The unique style and eloquence of Dr. Suzanne Stutman’s words, evokes powerful emotions in EVERYONE who reads her poems. For those who have been victimized and abused, White Feather inspires hope and determination. Her words are like a bright beacon of light cutting through the darkness of isolation, and leading to a realization of one’s value and goodness. For everyone, she elicits an appreciation of the human condition and of the lasting effect that we have on each other."–Gene R. Corbman, M.D., Psychiatrist, Faculty, Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis
Broken Feather
"Broken Feather takes the reader on a spine-chilling personal journey from the buried depths of child abuse through the labyrinth of remembrance to the dawn of healing. Through the enchanted world of poetry and prose, Suzanne Stutman tells her story, which will enable other victims to view themselves with pride and dignity, not with the shame and remorsefulness that so often accompanies this shattering experience. Written with a candor and personal intimacy, Broken Feather is ultimate a work of hope and healing. A large part of the healing process is the understanding and comprehension that the faults lie with the adult(s), and never with the child. Broken Feather is a critically important source for that vital, essential message for the child-now-grown and for their friends and family."–The Midwest Book Review
"Suzanne Stutman’s beautiful, poetic and moving book, Broken Feather, expresses the terrible, confusing, lonely emotional world of the abused and neglected child. It is also a heartening reminder that, alongside being scarred, it is possible to transcend childhood trauma and deprivation – and, surprisingly enough, that such assault on the soul of the child can, sometimes and somehow, lead to, as well as stifle, artistic creativity."–Leonard Shengold, M.D., Psychiatrist, Author of Soul Murder
"A visceral experience of incest, recovered memory and life."–Sherryll Kraizer, Ph.D., Director, The Coalition for Children, Author of The Safe Child Book and The Recovery Program
"Words cannot adequately describe what only Dr. Stutman can and has so eloquently and poignantly expressed in her poetry. Each of her words is a poem in itself, each of her poems a deeply moving and sensitive journey through the emotional life of a traumatized child. Must be read by anyone who cares about children."–Gene R. Corbman, M.D., Psychiatrist. Faculty, Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis
“This thoughtful, honest and passionate collection of poems and pieces will immediately touch any survivor’s soul. Beautifully written, it shares a personal and universal healing journey for survivors of incest and sexual abuse. It is truly a gift.”–Virginia Klein, Ph.D., Psychotherapist and TV Host of "Through the Looking Glass." Author of How to Get Free!
“In Broken Feather, Suzanne Stutman takes the reader though an enchanted world of poetry and prose in an intensely personal journey from the buried depths of child abuse through the labyrinth of remembrance to the dawn of adult healing. Stutman is an articulate and candid narrator of her own life, and Broken Feather is ultimately a testimony to the power of the human spirit to heal from the long suppressed wounds of child abuse. Broken Feather is highly recommended reading for anyone dealing with the problems of overcoming child abuse legacies within themselves or their loved ones.”–Wisconsin Bookwatch
“Suzanne has created a gentle, yet haunting and beautiful collection of poems/writings about child sexual abuse. It is not easy to write with the honesty of emotion that Stutman does: somehow these poems are raw with devastation and with the hope and rough terrain of reclamation, and yet not overwhelming. An excellent book, I would think, to give as a gift or to share with a friend who wants to understand. Sometimes her simplest poems are the most powerful; the silence of stark paper surrounding a mending poem gives it shape. These are the writings that will let you know that you are not alone in your journey to reclaim your body, your sense of trust in the world, your hope, your self. Beautiful. Simply.”–Amazon.com Customer Review
"Out of today’s headlines comes a story of one child’s spine-chilling personal journey from the buried depths of child abuse through the labyrinth of remembrance to the dawn of healing. Through the enchanted world of poetry and prose, Dr. Suzanne Stutman tells her own story of a gradual awakening in the new book, Broken Feather: A Journey to Healing. Her story will enable other victims of child abuse to view themselves with pride and dignity, not with the shame and remorsefulness that so often accompanies this shattering experience. Her book, according to Leonard Shengold, author of Soul Murder, ‘expresses the terrible, confusing, lonely emotional world of the abused and neglected child. It is a heartening reminder that, alongside being scarred, it is possible to transcend childhood trauma and deprivation.'"–Book & Author Alert
“Broken Feather by Suzanne Stutman - A Journey to Healing - through the enchanted world of poetry and prose, Dr. Stutman takes us on a spine-chilling personal journey from the buried depths of child abuse through the labyrinth of remembrance of the dawn of healing.” – Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER Center)