Overview

**In the powerful tradition of *Educated* and *The Glass Castle*, *I Should Have Been Number 18* is an unflinching, literary exploration of survival on the fringes of society.** In the mid-1990s, a predator turned the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, into a hunting ground. By the time the terror ended, seventeen women had been taken. They were the women the world forgot-marginalized by addiction, violence, and a system that failed the women of Division Avenue. Stefanija Delande was supposed to be the eighteenth. For thirty years, Delande carried the silent weight of a truth she couldn't yet name, living a life shaped by the same shadows that claimed the others. It wasn't until a deathbed confession in 2023 finally unmasked the monster that she was forced to confront the haunting question that had followed her for decades: *Why did I survive?*. More than a true crime memoir, this is a raw and deeply moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Delande provides a searing account of life on the margins, bearing witness to a legacy of systemic failure and personal endurance. With the same visceral honesty that propelled memoirs like *Educated* and *The Glass Castle* to the top of bestseller lists, Delande transforms her journey into a sophisticated narrative of faith, recovery, and reclamation. *I Should Have Been Number 18* is a haunting journey from the margins to the light-a survivor's vow to ensure that the seventeen voices silenced by a serial killer are never forgotten again. **AUTHOR BIO** Stefanija Delande is a survivor, recovery advocate, and author based in Michigan. Her work bears witness to the women of Division Avenue and to the enduring power of survival and faith.

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