Deep Dark Blue
“In the wake of the #MeToo movement, this gripping memoir reveals the pervasive effects of abuse of power and the ability to overcome it.”
Booklist (starred review)
An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick of the Month's Young Adult Books
A #1 Amazon.com bestseller in Teen & YA Sexual Abuse Memoirs
A young adult memoir of surviving sexual abuse in the Air Force Academy, this is a story that needs to be told and refuses to go away.
“I want to be in the Air Force someday.” These are the words Polo Tate engraves on her junior dog tags at age eleven, an unpopular dream for most young girls, but her hard work pays off, and at eighteen, Polo finds herself in basic training at the United States Air Force Academy.
She does everything right, except fly under the radar. No one prepares her for what comes next: physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of her superiors; harassment from her peers, who refuse to believe her story.
Deep Dark Blue is more than a memoir about sexual assault. It’s about breaking boundaries but also setting them. It’s about learning to trust your instincts. It’s a story of survival, resilience, and finally, finding your joy.
“In the wake of the #MeToo movement, this gripping memoir reveals the pervasive effects of abuse of power and the ability to overcome it.”
Booklist (starred review)
“Tate does not hold back from recalling in excruciating detail the assaults and the systematic destruction of her psyche…[in] her candid and conversational writing style…Part cautionary tale and part survival story…[with] raw emotional honesty and brave revelations about the different manifestations of abuse.”
Publishers Weekly
“Other military memoirs address the issue of sexual assault, but few show as well as Tate’s that rape is not about sex; it is about power. Mature young adult readers will find Deep Dark Blue a gripping memoir of survival, resilience, and growth.”
Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
“The author does not pull any punches…The writing is direct and authentic, and through Tate’s honest account, readers come to understand her determination to survive.”
School Library Journal
Polo Tate is an actor and performer at places such as the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Broadway Comedy Club, Reckless, and the Peoples Improv Theater. Deep Dark Blue is her debut memoir. She lives in New York City.