At The Back Door

At the Back Door is the second book of poetry by Thom Cherney written to raise awareness and much-needed financial support for Providence House to fight the ever-growing problem of domestic violence and child maltreatment in New Jersey. Providence House stands as the bulwark against the ever-rising tide of domestic violence and child abuse in Ocean County. This manuscript includes poetry by Thom and an excerpt from “Lost in the Middle of Nowhere,” an upcoming novel dealing with the ever-increasing problem of child abuse and maltreatment in our country. Family violence and child maltreatment have grown to epidemic proportions over the past ten years mainly because of a system that is underfunded, understaffed, and overwhelmed. This past year alone an estimated 772,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse and neglect with an estimated 1,740 fatalities. Also in At the Back Door are poems written by Matthew DeRiggi, an English teacher in the Toms River school system. Matthew also had several of his writings published in the literary magazine Polaris. Three students from the Toms River schools, Raquel Carerro-Schmidt, Conor Odell, and Justin Schaff, have also made contributions. Raquel Carerro-Schmidt is a sixth-grade student at Intermediate North; Conor Odell and Justin Schaff are fifth-grade students at North Dover Elementary School. Raquel, Conor, and Justin all share the joy of writing and were members of the Poets’ Club at North Dover Elementary. We wish joy, peace, and happiness to all.