"Victoria's Voice" by David and Jackie Siegel - Turning Tragedy Into A Warning About Teen Drug Abuse

Victoria "Rikki" Siegel's life lasted only 18 troubled years. She died of an accidental overdose of a cocktail of drugs, including methadone. According to her father, co-author David Siegel, her descent into drug abuse began when a psychiatrist who saw her for depression and anorexia prescribed Xanax in ever increasing dosages.

After Rikki's tragic death, David and his wife, Jackie, vowed to devote themselves to warning other parents of teenagers about the dangers of drugs. A friend of Rikki had alerted the parents to the existence of a diary that Rikki had kept. Her dying wish had been that her parents would publish her diary as a cautionary tale to help others understand the troubled mind of a struggling teen girl.

The bulk of the book is comprised of reproductions of pages of the diary in Rikki's often scrawled handwriting. It can be difficult to read - because the writing is often barely legible, but also because her pain is palpable. Following the last entry in the diary, the book contains several appendices, including words spoken by family members at the funeral, and a compendium of information about drugs - prescription and illegal.

The family's affluent lifestyle plays a role in Rikki's journey. David founded the largest Time Share empire, Westgate Resorts. Jackie is the former Mrs. Florida. Both David and Jackie are deeply involved in the beauty pageant world. They also aspired to use their substantial wealth to build the largest private home in the U.S - an American Versailles - to house themselves, their eight children, and a menagerie of pets. A team of documentary filmmakers took up residence with the family for two years to chronicle the building of the mansion and the life of the family that hoped to someday occupy it. It is clear from Rikki's diary that the whole Versaille phenomenon caused her much embarrassment and resulted in bullying and ostracism at school.

One of the most helpful parts of the book is the thorough list of How To Spot Drug Use In Kids, as well as a comprehensive list of resources available to parents and teenagers. The book serves as a tribute to a life too soon cut short, and offers a set of signposts to warn others of the dangers of allowing gateway drugs - prescribed or bought on the street - to lead to tragic ends.

Al