Shocking and gritty, this work contains firsthand accounts of terror and abuse from prostituted children—and the law enforcement officers and community activists working to save them. While detailing the necessity for substantive legal and cultural change on the national level in regard to prostitution, pimps, and children’s rights, this book also provides encouraging stories of new, pioneering law enforcement initiatives and child-recovery strategies reaping positive results in urban areas inundated with children victimized by sexual exploitation and violence, such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New York City, Phoenix, and Dallas. This updated paperback edition includes a new, four-page afterword by the author, with updates on new laws and initiatives and follow-ups on some of the young women discussed in the book. A call to awareness and action for parents, legislators, and educators, this examination exposes this country’s dirty secret.

"If you ever watched Pretty Woman and wondered how Julia Roberts got out on street in the first place—read this book. Somebody's Daughter exposes the grit behind the glamour, the exploitation behind the elegance, and the violence and abuse that are the true story of the women and children hurt on our own streets, in our own cities in America."  —Laura J. Lederer, president, Global Centurion, former senior advisor on trafficking, U.S. Department of State

"Unsettling, uncomfortable, unforgettable. Every parent should read Somebody's Daughter, and then share this book with their teen. Knowledge is power."  —Ellen Hopkins, author, Tricks and Fallout

"A brutally honest look into the hidden world of prostituted children in the United States. A compelling book that will touch hearts and minds and inspire people to take action."  —Rachel Durchslag, executive director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

"Somebody's Daughter describes America's failure to address the needs of American children forced to prostitute right here in the United States."  —Dr. Lois Lee, founder & president, Children of the Night

"Masterful, absorbing . . . To date the most definitive account of sex trafficking of children in the United States and the culture that supports it."  —Norma Ramos, executive director, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women

"Parents every day suffer the anxiety and sorrow of a daughter or son who has run away or is missing. There are few books as well written, insightful, and motivating as Somebody’s Daughter.  Julian Sher, in his extraordinarily masterful manner, has brought out the truth of this well-organized, underrecognized and continuously growing threat to children in America."   —Dr. Sharon W. Cooper, consultant, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

"Compulsively readable account . . . that elevates a collection of horrifying statistics into a cinematic, fully dimensional story."  —Bust

Julian Sher is an award-winning investigative journalist, TV writer and director, and the author of six books, including Caught in the Web and One Child at a Time. His analysis and reporting on child abuse have been featured in the New York Times and USA Today and on CNN and the BBC. He lives in Montreal.