When the reader first encounters Mariatu, she is an eleven-year-old girl growing up in a small village in rural Sierra Leone. Her life so far has been largely happy and carefree. However, this innocent childhood world soon is taken from her. The first assault on Mariatu’s world comes from Salieu, a family friend who rapes her when she is only twelve years old. This not only leaves her traumatized and ashamed but, later, results in a pregnancy. This adds further trauma and pain to Mariatu’s life, forcing her into an adult role with a child she did not want, fathered by the man who raped her. A month after Salieu’s attack, Mariatu’s life is changed once again when rebels capture her and cut off her hands. This forces her to find a new way to exist in the world. Displaced from her home, she is soon living in a camp for war amputees and must beg for money to support her family. Later, she has to travel to foreign countries, far from everyone she knows, with the great responsibility to get a job to support her family on her young shoulders.

Mariatu’s most noteworthy attributes are her great strength and resilience.