The parents of Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa say their daughter was struck in the head with a metal water bottle when she tried to help her sister, who was being attacked by a group of bullies.

Kristen LaValley grew up deeply immersed in Christian spaces, loving God sincerely. And, like so many of us, she also learned ways of viewing herself that were shaped by fear, pressure, and self-erasure. Her writing doesn’t just theorize about healing; she lets us walk inside it and experience it with her. The excerpt you’re about to read comes from her book Growing Up Saved. It’s a story of move…