Sammi and Her "Loving" Predator

In the book Life As We Knew It, author Susan Beth Pfeffer creates Sammi one of the best friends of Miranda. Sammi is introduced into the story when Miranda says that she has a prom date, and Megan follows with a speech about having sex before marriage. This let readers assume that Sammi is having sex in high school. Later Miranda writes "Sammi had lunch with this week's boyfriend..." Throughout the beginning Miranda sets up that Sammi has gotten around and doesn't care what people think about her. Then the world changes and we lose sight of Sammi and what is happening in her life. Then she comes back in during Summer. She came back to tell Miranda that she was leaving and a forty year old guy named George. At first Miranda was skeptical and with good reason. The idea of her best friend with a forty year old away from her parents and in a strange city is not a concept commonly grasped, but times were different. Sammi's parents gave permission because times are tough in the book. And like Miranda's mom, with one less child there is one less mouth to feed. But it doesn't accuse the fact that a sixteen year old and a forty year old are having a relationship.

The RAINN or Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network work to combat things of that nature. They try to get the information out about victims and predators. 1 out of every 6 women is raped. Though the book doesn't specify what would happen to Sammi in the future there are many stories like hers that don't end well. Girls run away from home with men that say they will protect them. Then they end up being raped or sex trafficked. Every 107 another American is sexually assaulted. It's because men find young girls vulnerable and girls like Sammi that throw themselves into the arms of men don't keep the statistics down.