“Statistically”
Author: Ashley Rippey
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
SubGenre: Personal Memoirs
Language: English
Pages:116

“Statistically” is a self-published book by Michigan-born Ashley Rippey. This book is Rippey’s debut as an author where she looks back at some of the horrible events that took place in her childhood which changed the course of her life. 

Ashley grew up from home to home and sometimes in different foster care facilities. Her father was absent in her life and her mother was highly critical of her, which made her think she was not worth loving. The lack of confidence in herself made her find comfort in the wrong crowds.

From doing drugs, to getting pregnant as a teenager, she went through a domino effect of her own actions because of what started in her childhood. To make things worse, she had chambered the guilts inside her mind and started developing mental health issues such as bipolar disorder. After finding her soulmate at 23 and looking back at her kids, she decided to work on herself to be a better mother and started seeing a therapist. 

This book can be looked at as a journal of her thoughts, rage and anger that she needed to let out to find freedom. By writing about her emotions and incidents that took place in her childhood, Rippey was able to address that there were a lot of things she did not have any power over when she was a child. Like any other kid, she wanted a normal childhood with loving parents and a place to feel safe. Despite lacking all that, Rippey has made a decent family by herself but the trauma has not left her. 

“Statistically” may look like a lot of venting to some people, and some grammatical mistakes are evident in the pages, but the reason this book was published was that Rippey needed to tell her side of the story and felt it was important to empower women who went through a similar or worse situation, but scared to speak up because they think no one will hear them. Her  use of curse words was another prominent characteristic of the book, but only reflects her transparent personality of not trying to hide the way she actually talks. 

From being pregnant as a teenager, facing infidelity in marriage, doing drugs, fighting mental health issues and dealing with grief, she found her way back to a life she always wanted. Rippey’s approach to this book was daring, which empowers many women who do not come from a privileged background to see their voice in her. 

The author only hopes her book encourages more women to feel worthwhile and find courage to tell their stories.

“Statistically” is available in paperback and e-book versions at retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Check out Homayra Adiba’s interview of  Ashley Rippey, the author of “Statistically.” She discusses her experiences in foster care, being a teen mom, and much more at https://schoolcraftconnection.com/36159/media/video/freeing-ashley-rippeys-statistically/.