God Bless the Child

Profiles a determined Mississippi woman who works for abused children and a professional gambler who provides financial support for a children's shelter

A woman's campaign against child abuse, a courtroom drama and political infighting over Mississippi's gambling laws are elements in this stirring report. Its focus is Sue Hathorn, who sought funding for a center for abused children that she opened in Jackson. Despite her adherence to Baptism, which frowns on gambling, Hathorn became partners with Robert Malone, owner of a bingo parlor, who faced racketeering charges for allegedly running a high-stakes racket under the guise of a charitable organization. Mississippi's attorney general Mike Moore--portrayed here as politically ambitious and overzealous--held that bingo, being a type of lottery, was illegal under the state constitution, but the Mississippi Supreme Court disagreed and cleared Malone in 1990. Intertwined with these proceedings is the searing account of a nine-year-old girl sexually abused by her stepfather; we see her lost in a maze of courts and shelters, a bureaucracy the author implicitly condemns as irresponsible. Crime novelist Colbert ( Skinny Man ) draws on court records, interviews, and verbatim and reconstructed conversations to show how families and child protective services are failing our children. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Colbert, author of procedural detective novels All I Have Is Blue ( LJ 6/1/92) and Skinny Man ( LJ 2/1/92), brings his talent for narrative to a fascinating account of the bureacracy of child welfare, the business of bingo, and the swamps of Mississippi politics. The chief players are Sue Hathorn, who needs money for a child advocacy center that works to help child abuse victims rather than "revictimize" them; Robert Malone, owner of the highly lucrative Bingo Depot, who gives Hathorn a $6000 check for her center, and a brace of lawyers, each with a personal agenda for or against the legitimization of the bingo game. Then there is "The Child," an all-too-familiar figure caught in the machinations of legalese and beauracracy after she reluctantly admits to abuse by her step-father. An interesting mix of sociology and political science, this book addresses the problems of juvenile justice, the ethics of gambling, and the state of social welfare. Recommended for general collections.
- Ebba Kraar King, Melbourne P.L., Fla.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.