Teen Author Megan Rockey Releases New Book

Vienna, Virginia

Imagine that as a young 12 year-old girl, primed to enter young adulthood, you are suddenly faced with the knowledge that your mother suffered unspeakable physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as a child at the hands of trusted family members. For a young girl to carry the weight of this knowledge about the loving mother who singlehandedly raised her and cared for her without the help of anyone else would be unbearable. It would be as if everything you knew about your life, and your mother, were no longer true and the foundation you had built your life on was crumbling. For Megan Rockey, this true story of unraveling the darkest depths of destruction became a valiant lesson in survival-and thriving.

Rockey took the events that happened to her mother, Stephanie Rockey, and worked through them by creating a riveting and emotional journey titled "Phantom" that is now inspiring other teens to face their own demons, speak about them, and turn tragedy into triumph.

Unfortunately, stories of abuse are all too often in the headlines, yet the stigma of being a victim remains one of the hardest hurdles to overcome in bringing yourself to seek help. Teenagers are especially vulnerable because of their shifting and emerging hormones, their lack of life experience, and their complete vulnerability to peer pressure. No teenager wants to be different, therefore, they hide the most painful parts of their life hoping to escape unnoticed. Megan's brave book shines a light on abuse and gives a voice to those too afraid to speak for themselves. More importantly, she is showing victims that there are positive and healthy avenues they can use to help overcome their pain and begin to heal.
Phantom, is the first book in her fast-paced, action-adventure trilogy, whose underlying theme is that abuse victims can overcome the chains that bind them, that it's never too late for a new beginning. Told in her own unique, powerful voice, Rockey spins a story that was born of her and her mother's painful struggle. The book focuses on the inner strife of maintaining one's sanity, and the undefeatable determination to stay true to one's morals while coming to terms with all of the horrific events of the past and creating a beautiful life mosaic with the broken pieces.

The series begins with the once- ordinary life of sixteen-year-old Michael, whose world is dramatically changed when he witnesses Raven, an assassin, murder a reporter. Michael is kidnapped, and upon awaking up in a cellar, cannot recall where he came from and, more importantly, who he is.

Moments after his awakening, he is forced to participate in a duel against Raven to prove to Eliza, the director of the cosmopolitan and renowned assassin organization, Zero, that he would be useful as an assassin. After winning the duel, he is spared and reluctantly accepts his new life. Desperate to escape the assassin world, Michael teams with Raven to destroy Zero and find their real identities in hopes of returning to a normal life, but Michael faces two choices: run from Zero and eventually be killed, or destroy Zero and kill the assassins before they kill him first.

Upon hitting the bookshelves on August 1, 2014, Phantom is already fast becoming a teen phenomenon, leaving readers with a jaw-dropping cliff hanger in anticipation for the second book in the trilogy. Phantom is not just an inspiring read for teens. Parents can use the book and the life lessons within the pages to talk to their children about abusive relationships, their numerous forms, and how to come forward and talk about it if they feel it is happening to them. Abuse can also happen at the hands of classmates in the form of bullying and be just as damaging as any type of abuse suffered at the hands of a relative. Megan and her trilogy are glowing examples of how children can use their talents for good, and how literature can transcend every socio-economical boundary to bring healing. She is opening up a global discussion on abuse and healing that can be joined at #VictimtoVictorious on her Twitter feed and Facebook fan page.

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