Diary of a Young Girl

Summary

After her mother’s tragic death, Shayla is left to navigate her teenage years with little help from her neglectful, playboy father. Used and abused by the adults around her, Shayla makes some risky choices, taking a job as a waitress in one of Harlem’s top strip clubs before she’s even of legal age. She makes ends meet by running scams on unsuspecting patrons, but her luck soon runs out when she is raped and left for dead one night after work.

Confused and scared, Shayla concocts a lie that leads to an arrest. A man is convicted and sent to prison for the crime, though he insists he’s innocent.

Shayla goes about putting her life back together, and with the help of a great mentor, she makes some big changes. Now a graduate of Howard University, she’s ready to begin a new career and put her old life far behind her—until an unexpected twist turns everything upside down. New DNA evidence leads the court to reopen her rape case, and Shayla will be forced to confront the lies that she told. Will she ever be truly free from the ugly demons of her past?