Review: Tracy's Choices by Max Elliot Anderson

 

Tracy's Choices

by 

Max Elliot Anderson

Tracy would be the first to tell you that she never expected her life to turn out the way it did.

Tracy was the first person in the State of Illinois to be arrested, convicted, and sent to prison for the knowing attempt to transmit the AIDS virus. How could this happen? Tracy grew up in a middle-income home in Rockford, Illinois. But Tracy made choices early in her life that would have a direct effect on her life in the future. She began to use alcohol very early. In high school, she listened to peer pressure as friends introduced her to drugs. At seventeen, she quit school and took to life on the street as a prostitute in order to earn money for her growing drug habit.

Tracy was arrested by Lt. Jim Mays in a prostitution sting operation. Lt. Mays was instrumental in Tracy’s decision to put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ. As a result, her life completely changed. However, the years of substance abuse and the complications from HIV infection were taking their toll. The Governor of Illinois later granted Tracy a full pardon so that she could come home to die. But she didn’t die, and Tracy used her last months to reach out to young people. This is a documentation of her efforts. Tracy’s Choices illustrates the point that there may be many forces at work trying to get a young person off track, but in the end, You are Responsible for You.

My Take:

Tracy Eichman didn't start out a criminal. She didn't start out an addict, an alcoholic, an IV drug user, a prostitute, an HIV carrier, an AIDS patient, a liar and a thief. And she didn't end there either. The true story contained within the covers of this extraordinary book is a riveting chronicle of the devastation alcoholism, drug use, and AIDS can leave in the life of a promising young girl or boy.

Tracy didn't end up in the pit overnight. She didn't wake up one morning and state clearly that she was going to set out to deliberately ruin her life. Her descent into the pit was a series of unfortunate choices, and this book takes us on a journey through them, in an attempt to give us a warning of where the pitfalls are.

Tracy did not, ultimately, end up in that pit. This book also details her stunning conversion to Christ, and her subsequent life, in prison, in an institution, and in hospice. Perhaps the story of her transformed life recorded here can give warning to teens who might be considering some of the life-altering choices Tracy faced. 

Content:

Drug Content:

R - The majority of this book covers a lot of ground, from alcoholism to street drug addictions, and the destruction that accompany them. Cocaine, Heroin, Alcohol, and Marijuana are mentioned, as the main character dealt with all of them. 

Violence:

PG-13 - Tracy's story doesn't pull any punches. The trauma she went through, the repeated rapes and abuse she suffered while a member of a bike gang, are tragic, but they are recorded obliquely, without any graphic and gory details. Where this tale does in fact get a bit graphic is in the details of what AIDS as a disease does to a body. 

Language:

G - There is no profanity in here, it's squeaky clean. 

Adult Content:

PG-13 - There is no graphic content in this book, though the work of a prostitute, the promiscuous life of a teen falling into temptation, the dangerous and sex-filled life of a gang member, are unpacked in sterile terms. 

Christian content:

The first half of this book covers a lot of deadly ground for a teen and young adult, but God doesn't seem to weigh into much of it at all. Yet Tracy's encounter with her arresting officer, a strong believer,  and the testimony of his home church, who opened their arms and hearts to this fallen and wayward prostitute, speak volumes of the grace and forgiveness of almighty God, and what it looks like on the ground floor, with skin on. Throughout this semi-autobiography, recorded by Anderson, there are clear calls for young people everywhere to learn from this girl's mistakes. It's not laced with scripture, but it's intended use is evident.

Final analysis:

I honestly wasn't sure what to make of this book by Max Elliot Anderson. I've read and reviewed some of his stuff before, and it's been Middle Grade fiction, exciting stuff, for boys, mostly. His self-definition is a writer of clean Christian adventure stories for boys, and he's very good at it. 

But this was a departure from the usual fare, so I picked it up with interest but some trepidation. What I found inside was essentially a journal of a young woman who had made a series of terrible choices, ones that destroyed her life, and the lives of others around her. It also contained her heart, a heart of compassion and care for the teens headed down the same dark path she tread. It is her warning cry in the night to avoid the path, to turn back, an echoing cry found on the lips of King Solomon in Proverbs 1:10-19.

And there, I believe is where we find the motivation for Anderson to pick up this story and share it. His heart is for young boys just about the age Tracy was when she first started hanging out with the outcasts and rejects, the pot smokers and misfits at her school. Like her, he wants to give them a clear call to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and premarital sex. To take the high road. 

I would love to have given this book five stars, but while the content was riveting and needful, the world building and scenery immersive, and the stakes high, the journal Anderson related tended to ramble and drag. So, If you are just looking for an interesting story about a prostitute, her adventures with drugs and the exciting life of an addict, you might want to move on. But for a needful book for teens, to warn them that all the excitement and glamor of premarital sex and drug use is a veneer over danger, suffering, and death, this book is an excellent choice. 

But in the final analysis, this book is about choices, Tracy's Choices, and more importantly, yours. So choose to pick up a copy and share it with a young teen considering chasing the wrong friends, and maybe they'll take warning. Four Stars.

About the Author:

Max Elliot Anderson grew up as a struggling reader. After surveying the market, he sensed the need for action-adventures and mysteries for readers 8 – 13, especially boys.

Using his extensive experience in the production of dramatic motion pictures, videos, and television commercials, Mr. Anderson brings that same visual excitement and heart-pounding action to his stories. Each book has different characters, setting, and plot.

Ten middle grade books are published, ten more are under contract, with several additional manuscripts completed. Young readers have reported that reading one of his books is like actually being in an exciting movie. He is also a short story staff writer for Knowonder,com Magazine.

Books for Boys Blog: http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
Author Web Site: http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/index_1.html