The Healing: When My Heart Was Younger (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781545212004)

A'rain Gaines was born and raised in New Jersey, where her native family originated. She studied English at Spelman College, and cross registered courses with Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University. Upon graduating she made up her mind to find ways to contribute to the youth from her home town to give back to her community through volunteering, and mentoring. She has written three screenplays & her own independent film as well as a separate novel. She is a hospital volunteer in her spare time. The untimely death of her older brother in a hit & run, was her motivation to achieve her dreams and reach her goals. This is what she encourages for her young students who have lost their loved ones and for anyone else who has experienced life loss. "When you lose someone you love, you can honor them by doing positive things in your life, when someone loves you they wouldn't want you carrying that negative while you still have time in this life."-A'rain A'rain's family picture was diverse. As she spent more time with stricter religious people, it was hard to accept herself. Her mother raised her to be devout yet open minded. Her goal with this book was to provide guidance for girls like herself, for girls that feel caught in between who they are taught they should be versus who they feel they are. "There are times when we believe we cannot speak up. Fearing that our voices will shame us, that our questions will betray us."-A'rain A'rain created this collection to give something back to the girls. For girls like herself, who may not have older sisters, who cant speak up when no one relates to them. With her streetwise urban roots, as she finds her way through life, A'rain hopes to impart understanding, unity and advice for young women for good girls who struggle not to be bad. Her own writings have served her as a bit of guidance for survival, love and loss.