Spilled Milk: Based on a True Story

Brooke’s experiences of abuse were traumatic and at times, life-threatening. How does Brooke demonstrate resilience through the legal process of charging her father with abuse?

Which people in Brooke’s life become instrumental in her education and healing process? How does each person help Brooke find safety and solace? Which people in Brooke’s life hinder this process, and how?

Compare and contrast Paul and Jason’s reactions to finding out about Brooke’s abuse. How does Paul’s reaction represent a wider societal problem? Why does Jason’s reaction shock but comfort Brooke?

Why does Brooke show unfettered loyalty to her mother and siblings, despite their lack of effort to do the same for her? What does this say about Brooke as a person?

Throughout her life, Brooke is asked to keep her father’s abuse a secret. How is Brooke’s secret-keeping framed as an act of harm and abuse?

Brooke endures illness and severe physical pain throughout her childhood. How are these experiences symbolic of her and her siblings’ trauma?

What might someone who has been abused gain from reading K. L. Randis’s Spilled Milk?

According to the memoir, what does it mean to “become someone else’s glass of spilled milk” (334)?