The girls : an all-American town, a predatory doctor, and the untold story of the gymnasts who brought him down

**From an award-winning and respected investigative journalist, the inside story of how serial predator Larry Nassar got away with abusing hundreds of gymnasts for decades—and how a team of brave women, activists, and lawyers banded together to bring him down** Larry Nassar has been called one of the worst sexual predators in history. For years, the families in Lansing, Michigan admired and trusted him. He was a longtime doctor at Michigan State University, while also serving as the physician for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. Parents left their daughters in his care, grateful for the attention of this renowned doctor. He became a mentor and confidante to aspiring young gymnasts with big dreams. In the wake of abuse revelations, athletes are asking why they weren't protected. Victims want to know why they weren't believed. Parents are questioning why authorities didn't stop him when they had the chance. How did this happen? And how can we prevent it from... In this news-breaking narrative, decades of women who brought down sexual predator Larry Nassar offer groundbreaking new insight, with the first known survivor and many others sharing their stories exclusively for the first time. We think of Larry Nassar as the despicable sexual predator of Olympic gymnasts — but there is an astonishing, untold story. For decades, in a small-town gym in Michigan, he honed his manipulations on generations of aspiring gymnasts. Kids from the neighborhood. Girls with hopes of a college scholarship. Athletes and parents with a dream. In The Girls , these brave women for the first time describe Nassar's increasingly bold predations through the years, recount their warning calls unheeded, and demonstrate their resiliency in the face of a nightmare. The Girls is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In The Girls , we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself. "The inside story of how serial predator Larry Nassar got away with abusing hundreds of gymnasts for decades -- and how a team of brave women banded together to bring him down. We think of Larry Nassar as the despicable sexual predator of Olympic gymnasts -- but there is an astonishing, untold story. For decades, in a small-town gym in Michigan, he honed his manipulations on generations of aspiring gymnasts. Kids from the neighborhood. Girls with hopes of a college scholarship. Athletes and parents with a dream. In The Girls, these brave women for the first time describe Nassar's increasingly bold predations through the years, recount their warning calls unheeded, and demonstrate their resiliency in the face of a nightmare. The Girls is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In The Girls, we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself."-- Amazon.com "Larry Nassar, longtime doctor at Michigan State University and physician for the US Olympic gymnastics team, has been called one of the worst sexual predators in history. This is the inside story of how he got away with abusing hundreds of gymnasts for decades--and how a team of brave women, activists, and lawyers banded together to bring him down"-- Provided by publisher