Girl in the World is a book of short stories and poetry by Regina Rock. This is her 2nd published title. Here is a book where girls, female teenagers, and young women often find themselves in a world with little or no tenderness. Whether it be from members of their own families, neighbors, or strangers, the girls and women in these stories are thrust onto a distant shore by tumultuous experiences in their lives. Each character becomes shackled to a situation beyond her control and is manipulated by others around her. Successfully navigating these problematic territories teaches the girls how to be less trusting of the outside world and more believing in their own resilence.In Mother's Helper, the character of Paige believes that her parents would never place her in a situation where she is mistreated as a housemaid at thirteen and humiliated by her employers. However, at the end of just such an episode, she has an epiphany and comes to rely on the wisdom in the cave of her own mindIn the story Mazik, a mother and her teenage son struggle to communicate in the years before he embarks on his journey into manhood. They overcome the uniquely difficult circumstances of adolescence to arrive at a combined moment of revelation.Using intelligence, intuition and the powers of deduction, the women and girls in these stories find the courage to adapt to their circumstances and move forward. Through determination, grit and faith in their own abilities, they liberate themselves from the societal trap of learned helplessness and grow into the strong women they must become to be fully alive.These are powerful stories about the heartbreaking rites of passage for young women.