Hurdles in the Dark: My Story of Survival, Resilience, and Triumph

Hurdles in the Dark is the memoir of a Elvira K. Gonzalez, a Mexican-American in Loredo, Texas who encounters many difficulties in her youth. In 2006, her mother is taken hostage by a drug cartel, and Elvira has to quickly come up with money in order to have her mother released. Subsequently, both Elvira and her mother suffer from PTSD, and their relationship is strained to the point that Elvira ends up in Juvie after a fight. After her release, Elvira is determined to get a track scholarship and go to college, getting up before dawn each day in order to break into the school and practice jumping hurdles, but she knows she needs a hurdles coach, and her school currently doesn't have one. She reaches out to a coach in his 30s at a nearby school, and he begins privately tutoring her. Unfortunately, he begins grooming her and eventually takes advantage of her. As much as she wants to end things, she's afraid that if she does, she won't be able to achieve her dream of going to college. Hurdles in the Dark is a riveting cautionary memoir that does not include any explicit content but is chock full of Spanish words and phrases which contributes to authenticity.