Julia is a young girl who has to leave her family home with her mother to move to a shelter and then to a new apartment because of physical abuse of her mother by her father. Healing the Bruises focuses on Julia’s experiences and feelings as she grieves her loss but grows comfortable with her new home, school, and friends. The support she gets from living in housing for families who have experienced abuse and from her counsellors is presented in terms that every young reader can appreciate and understand.
In an engaging graphic novel form, this book makes the experience of searching for and restoring peace in a troubled family both understandable and positive.