This novel is a depiction of a girl's growing up in Arkansas from the age of 4 to 16. Kayla has problems at home including rape, incest, mental and physical abuse. Follow Kayla as she deals with family members, her mother's boyfriends and many house moves. The aim of this novel is to assure young girls that they are not alone in their problems, they do not have to suffer in silence and there can be a light at the end of their very dark tunnel.
This book is a first person narrative and is an easy read. It shows the world as viewed from Kayla's eyes with her childhood innocence. The story ticks along okay as Kayla develops from a child into a woman. Her story does appear quite run of the mill as Susan ticks off all the boxes as she writes about the scheduled issues. There is a lot of warmth and love in this story as a hope builds that things will work out okay for Kayla. You develop an empathy for Kayla as she matures.
The bad things that happen to Kayla are described with great care so as not to upset young readers. Her problems are told in a matter of fact way that does not talk up her victim status. She does not come across as a special kid, just your regular girl next door. It is this ordinariness that is so appealing in this book. Yet this same high level of common ground does let this book down a little as it is a mediocre read. Susan's writing is fine and she gets the story across. But this novel is nothing special and being just an okay read, I will vote it 3 stars.
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