If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

Write an essay examining why Olsen chose to write this book as a narrative nonfiction story.

This is a true crime story, yet Olsen bookends the narrative with Nikki, Sami, and Tori’s current-day relationships. Analyze why he chooses to do this and how this choice changes our understanding of the book as a whole.

Cycles of abuse are abundant throughout If You Tell. Analyze Shelly’s abusive relationship to one of the following characters: Lara, Dave, Nikki, Sami, Tori, Kathy, or Ron. How does Shelly create an abusive cycle with this character? How does she manipulate them? Are they able to break the cycle of abuse, and if so, how?