Cartoonist/Writer Lynda Barry tells a story filled with the great dangers of being a child at the hands of horribly dangerous and deranged people who happen to be your parents-- or are they? Just because you're related, does that make you a family? Roberta Rohbeson, now a teen in trouble herself, is able to look back and tell her story about a horrifying accidental-on-purpose road trip with "the father" that ends in death, abandonment and perhaps the strange freedom of losing a parent from whom you could not be protected. This novel is heavy, horrifying and compellingly literate. Lynda Barry, well-know for her syndicated comic strip "Ernie Pook's Comix," masterfully details the impoverishment of an American family and the cruelties of life on the road. I would definitely keep some copies in my future high school English classroom and see what the "Hunger Games" crowd would make of this:
"And now the story can be told, and must be told, the truth can finally be revealed about that mysterious day long ago when the authorities found a child calmly walking in the boiling desert, covered with blood.."
Reviewed by Susan Kanga
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