Book excerpt: Secrets. Everybody has them. We can choose to disclose them to intimate friends or we can bury them...deeply in our graves of shame; in the innermost alcoves of our consciousness, not recognizing that they have rooted themselves so far into our essence, that if unchecked, become the insidious driving force that shapes every life decision. In "My Pretty...and Its Ugly Truth" De'Vonna Bentley-Pittman reveals her very personal and raw experiences of being a very pretty girl plagued by sexual abuse, rape, unhealthy relationships and the effects of growing up in poverty. Her coming-of-age journey from a misused "product of the streets" to an empowered advocate for those, particularly young women, who feel powerless due to years of abuse, is a fascinating one. Like so many others, she grew up in a single-parent household with a mother who worked hard to provide for her children. The "streets" called her away from home, and she was led into a tangled web of promiscuity - unhealthy relationships, drugs, pregnancy, and almost selling her very soul. In spite of everything she lost, she never lost the one thing that would propel her forward -- hope. As a speaker, teacher, writer, and editor, who constantly looks for ways to inspire others, I find "My Pretty...and Its Ugly Truth" to be that kind of inspiration. I laughed, I cried, I winced, I gasped, I sighed...and now I salute De'Vonna Bentley-Pittman. She is the voice today for victims of sexual abuse careening down a desperate and confused path. She is that Moses, that Harriet Tubman of our time that can and will lead others to a promised land of hope, and to their very own beautiful truth. -Menia Buckner