Sticks and stones may break my bones-but words hurt even more. Growing up with an emotionally distant mother who did not want her and a narcissistic stepfather, Dana S. Diaz had one goal: survival. In the much-anticipated follow-up to her debut memoir Gasping for Air, Dana seeks to answer the all-too-common question asked of all women in domestic abuse situations: Why do you stay? To do this, Dana brings readers back to the beginning. Chronicling the first two decades of her life plagued by instability, neglect and abuse, she exposes both the deep scars from a horrendous past as well as the precarious future that lies ahead for every abused child. Both gritty and inspiring, Choking on Shame reveals the devastating effects of transgenerational abuse, while also telling the incredible true story of one little girl's struggle, against all odds, to push through a heartbreaking childhood and find her place in this world.