What Is a Girl Worth?

Starred review from July 29, 2019
In this powerful debut, attorney and former gymnast Denhollander tells of her life leading to the 2018 conviction of sexual predator Larry Nassar, a sports physician associated with Michigan State University and the USA Gymnastics team who molested the author and more than 200 other girls. Raised in Kalamazoo, Mich., Denhollander was homeschooled, deeply religious, and aspired to become a lawyer. “Gangly” and 5’6,” she didn’t fit the profile of a gymnast but was placed on her gym’s competitive team; after sustaining a lower-back injury at age 15, she was sent to Nassar, who would—under the guise of treatment, without gloves, and without consent—vaginally penetrate her with his fingers. She reported the abuse to her coaches, but, she writes, they didn’t believe her; nearly 16 years later when another gymnast’s story of abuse by a coach broke, Denhollander decided to speak out again, eventually leading to Nassar’s indictment and conviction. Denhollander reveals her anguish and emotional pain, her feelings of helplessness (“How do I even try to heal from something, when I don’t even know what that ‘something’ is?”). Denhollander’s brave and detailed memoir serves as a clear-eyed look into a disturbing case of sexual abuse that gained national attention.