Alana Levinson

Should the discovery of a handgun, a noose, or Nazi dolls be a deal breaker? Strange bedroom artifacts reveal character and background, but they might also spur flawed interpretations.

As a young girl, Alana Levinson struggled with the shame of her father's substance abuse. But when she looked more deeply into the research on children of drug-addicted parents, she realized society's "conspiracy of silence" was keeping her—and possibly millions of others—from adequately dealing with the experience.