Jaycee Lee Dugard spent almost two decades in captivity and was just freed six years ago. Dugard wrote a memoir about the time she spent being held captive and, now, she will write a book about her life after she was freed called "Freedom: My Book of Firsts."
Dugard was abducted when she was 11 years old in June 1991. She was walking to her school bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., when Phillip and Nancy Garrido kidnapped her and held her captive for 18 years. During those years, Dugard was repeatedly raped by her kidnapper and gave birth to two daughters.
She was finally rescued in August 2009 after she and her captors were stopped by a Concord, Calif., parole office. Phillip was later sentenced to 431 years in prison for her kidnapping and sexual assault, and Nancy was sentence to 36 years.
The entire horrifying ordeal was discussed at length in her first memoir, "A Stolen Life," which was released in 2011.
The new book, announced today by Simon & Schuster, is scheduled for release July 12, which is the fifth anniversary of the release of "A Stolen Life." Her second memoir will tell the story of her "first experiences after years in captivity - the joys that accompanied her newfound freedom and the challenges of adjusting to life on her own," said a press release.
"There is life after something tragic happens," Dugard said of her new memoir. "Life doesn't have to end if you don't want it to. It's all in how you look at it. Somehow, I still believe that we each hold the key to our own happiness and you have to grab it where you can in whatever form it might take."
Dugard's first book was an international best seller, selling more than 1.5 million copies in just the United States alone.
"Jaycee Dugard is a remarkable woman," said Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster. "Her strength has been an inspiration to millions, and her story is a remarkable example of resilience and spirit. Readers of this book will gain a new appreciation of how joyful freedom can be."
"Freedom: My Book of Firsts" will be available in hardcover, e-book and audio editions.
