Deep Dark Blue: A Memoir of Survival

Actor and performer Tate had dreamed of attending the United States Air Force Academy since she was 11. At 18, the popular student athlete got her wish and started her career in the military. Tate was mentally and physically prepared for the rigors of cadet life, but she wasn’t prepared for the violence and sexual assaults she endured, first from a female teammate, mentor, and someone she considered a friend. Her second betrayal comes at the hands of a male upperclassman who was trying to keep Tate quiet concerning the previous incidents. Written in a brash and often jarring vernacular (“GET YOUR BASIC ASSES OUT INTO THE HALLWAY NOOOW, PEOPLE!”), Tate does not hold back from recalling in excruciating detail the assaults and the systematic destruction of her psyche. While her candid and conversational writing style does not always allow for subtlety, her memoir—part cautionary tale and part survival story—finds strength through its raw emotional honesty and brave revelations about the different manifestations of abuse. Ages 17–up. (May)