I would use this book for upper grade levels of elementary school, such as fourth and fifth grade because it has parts focused on violence towards children. When using this book in the classroom, you can discuss with the class why they thought that food prices were cheaper in the book, have them make connections between food prices of today versus food prices during this time period. Also, discuss why maybe there was so much open land held in the book and why something so simple and common to us such as a Wal-Mart was so new and caused Caitlynne in the story to get angry with seeing this large building instead of what used to be there. In all, have your students make connections between the setting and social norms of today versus during the time period of the book.

This book was good. It was a quick read.

The book is about two sister, Caity and Cara, who have to live with their mother's physical and verbal abuse. Caity is almost 13 and Cara is 11.

The mother was a real piece of work. She had constant mood swings. She was mean a lot more than she was nice. She was a nasty fat blob. She was always yelling at the girls and hitting them, leaving bruises on their bodies. She constantly talked down to them and made hurtful comments. She was especially twisted because sometimes she would be nice to the girls then get mad and beat them up. The beating scenes were hard to read and they were very violent. This mother needed to get arrested and get the s*** kick outta her fat a**.

Caity is the older sister and whose pov the story takes place in. Her home life is horrible to say the least. She is kind of dirty, with unwashed hair and stains on her clothes. Its not her fault but it's sad. She is very good at sports and loves to play baseball and swim. She is also an awesome artist. She takes care of her sister Cara as best she can. She protects Cara from her mother's attacks, pushing Cara away and taking most of the blows. She cooks for Cara when there's food and cares for her. Caity is afraid of her mother but at the same times loves her and hopes things will get better. She always thinks that thinks would be different but they never are. She desperately wants her mother's love but never got it. Instead she got her mother's anger and fists. Its sad to read how Caity and Cara have to tiptoe around their mother and stay out of her way. The reader can really see the way Caity changes in the book. She goes from being a scared girl in the beginning to becoming a brave fighter who knows what she wants and refuses to let her mother bully her anymore. She fights against her mother for a better life.

Cara is the little sister who had to grow up way to fast with the mother that she has. She has never had a mother figure in her life. The closest person to a mother she's had is Caity and Caity herself is still a kid. Cara is dirty as well with unwashed tangled hair and dirty clothes but it doesn't bother her like it bothers Caity. Cara loves to read and is a great swimmer to. The feeling I got from Cara is that she doesn't love or like her mother at all. She is not like Caity who tries to get their mother's love. She steers clear of the woman and has often shown that she'd be glad if her mother was gone. She doesn't care what her mother does as long as shes not yelling or hitting her or Caity. Its a very sad situation she had to go through at a young age.

I really liked the girl's grandma, Nana who is Caity's mom's mom. Caity's mom and Nana don't have a very good relationship and Nana had no idea how bad the situation at Caity's home had gotten. Nana is funny, kind, loving and quirky. She loves the girls very much. I can's say more about her without giving anything away but she is a very wonderful caring lady.

This book is a good quick read that deals with a very hard issue. I think older elementary school age children and middle grade children would benefit from reading this book so that they can learn about what some people live with. Its a good introduction to this kind of fiction/genre.

This review is also posted on Spantalian's Book Reviews ( )

this book rocks out loud. i acually loved it. FER REALLLL. =D ( )