This book delves into experiencing child abuse or trauma as a child and its impact on your adult life. Child Abuse Victims act out through their behavior. It is this acting out that should draw attention to the abused child for authorities to act. This book contains detail personally experienced. Its audience is for parents, survivors, educators and therapeutic professionals to take a fresh look at the reasons a child may misbehave or act in inappropriate ways. The book gives a survivor ideas to take back control of their own lives, particularly after prolonged child abuse. It also delves into the parent or caretakers' reasons for the abuse, ultimately denial, rationalizations or diving into something that they can hide behind, not addressing or even admitting what they did was "wrong". It is very important in today's world for educators to play close attention and seek intervention when something is just not right, particularly if a child is expressing or showing signs of being abused. This book does not deal with sexual abuse, it touches on it, but primarily focuses on a stepparent's role or anyone that steps in either voluntarily or involuntarily (where one is now responsible for another's child for example). It is one story out of many. It is meant to educate and intervein early so that children that are bullied, isolated, or went through early deprivation, can hopefully learn how to spot and intervein when appropriate before the problem becomes worse. It deals with gun violence in today's culture which has been going on for a very long time. The book is properly named "Behind the Curtain" because as with theatre, the audience sees the final production, not all the rehearsals, costume designs, etc. Similarly, one doesn't see what is going on behind closed doors, but others must look behind the curtain to ascertain what is the best way to address a child who is presenting with behavioral problems. Also, there must be scrutiny of any parent or caretaker that is reported for child abuse. Most importantly, this book gives strong advice to victims that is not always easy to follow. Through my experiences and now being able to look back on events and situations, where the government assistance dropped the ball, or were on the ball, I feel a sensation that there are always the right people showing up at the right time. I do not believe in coincidences, but I do believe that the longer we hold on and deal with the current rage we are feeling at the time and thereafter, that we come to accept fully our responsibility to ourselves. And, as such, we need time under our belt to sort things out with emphasis on getting professional help. Some people deal with the abuse using narcotics or alcoholism, under all that is the pain that one may not be able to face or deal with. Something may trigger that pain to allow us to grow through it. For me, it was necessary to get completely away from as soon as possible, the toxic and dysfunctional situation. No matter what I look back on, there has always been that person that makes all the difference in the world. It is to me a Universal Law principal. We may go down destructive paths before getting to the core issues that is driving us into those paths. My hope is that this book will help those on that journey as well as bring attention to professionals in the field to hear from a child who went through horrific times, how the system helped and how the system failed.