Slyvia Likens was a normal teenage girl, living in Indianapolis, IN with her mother and little sister. Her father and mother were separated temporarily but they got back together so that they could travel with the fair as carnies. They Likens girls had just met a family full of children that was supervised by their mother, Gertrude Baniszewski. The Likens' spoke with Ms. Baniszweski and agree that she would board their two daughters for $20 a week.That's when the trouble began...
In this book based on true events and written with proof used in a courtroom, the reader follows Slyvia Likens in her vicious torturing until her death a couple months later. A fellow co-worker suggested this book, because he went to school with Slyvia Likens back in 1965, when they were both 16. It is a devastating event that happened and it happened not far from where I work in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Baniszewski family along with many other children in the neighborhood torture Slyvia to the point of death and when asked in court why they did it.. they're responses are all the same "Because Gertie told me to". Keep in mind that the oldest of these children is 21, the next oldest is 18 and the youngest is 12. The author of the book compares Gertrude Baniszewski to Charles Manson except with children. She is an ill woman, both physically and mentally, but she manages to control these children just by asking hem to do something for her. It is a gruesome book, but one that everyone needs to read. The book itself is very well written despite the fact that it's all facts taken from court scripts and evidence, but Dean manages to keep it flowing. It's hard to understand why someone would do what they did to Slyvia, but she deserves for her story to be heard.
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