The Assault of Laughter

by Melissa Hart

When Melissa's mother, Maggie, comes out, she packs up her three kids and leaves the safety of the only life she's ever known. But a short time later, Melissa's father has Maggie declared unfit and Maggie loses custody of Melissa, Katie and Tim. Caught between her mother's home filled with love and the verbal and physical abuse she experiences from her father, Melissa struggles to hold on to what's most precious, coming finally to understand her mother's simple truth: Home is where the heart is.

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2005

About the author

I'm an Oregon-based author, journalist, and instructor for the MFA in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University. My essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Orion, High Country News, The Rumpus, Brevity, Woman's Day, The Advocate, Parents, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Hemispheres, and numerous other publications.

I'm the author of The Media Adventurer's Handbook: Decoding Persuasion in Everyday News, Ads, and More (World Citizen Comics, 2023), Daisy Woodworm Changes the World (Jolly Fish, 2022), Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens(Sasquatch, 2019), the award-winning middle-grade novel Avenging the Owl(Sky Pony, 2016), the memoir Wild Within: How Rescuing Owls Inspired a Family (Lyons, 2007), and the memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood(Seal, 2005).

I'm a contributing editor at The Writer Magazine, and I teach frequently at writing conferences, libraries, universities, and bookstores. I grew up near Los Angeles with my younger brother, who has Down syndrome. I live in Eugene with my husband and teen daughter, where I love to run and hike long-distance, cross country ski, kayak, cycle, cook, and roam the Pacific Northwest as an amateur naturalist.

Find me on Instagram and Twitter @WildMelissaHart.com, on TikTok @melissamhart , and at www.melissahart.com .

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet book that I like despite itself. I wrote a whole paper about it (well, comparing it to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis ), but my love of this book boils down to this: it is enjoyably myopic. Told from the point of view of a high school girl who is blindsided by her mother's secret, the reason that her mother has lost custody of her. I won't spoil the secret, though the subtitle does, but I would venture a guess that you'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly yourself. This book is totally unpretentious, and I can imagine enjoying this as a quick read if you turn off your criticism switch. And I don't want to undersell its good heart: this was clearly written to give hope and comfort to other children in the same situation-- one that is sadly not yet history.

[Delia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual I wish Goodreads allowed 1/2 stars. I think I would have chosen 3 1/2 but I gave it a 4 because 3 just seemed way too low.