First published 2016
Rosie is the youngest of five children, each with different fathers and all abandoned by their alcoholic mother Cookie for weeks at a time. Her older sister Regina protects her until a social worker separates them after Regina reports their mother's abuse. Cookie kidnaps Rosie from foster care and drags her to a farm in Idaho. There, Cookie forces Rosie into physical labor while beating and emotionally tormenting her. Rosie discovers that living with her mother is worse than being abandoned by her. Despite the brutal treatment, she refuses to surrender. Drawing on the same inner strength that helped her sister Regina survive, Rosie endures the nightmare until she can escape Idaho and Cookie's control. The bond between the sisters remains unbroken even when they are apart.
Genres: american-fiction, abuse, coming-of-age, biography-memoir, adoption, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resilience
Setting: Idaho
576 pages · Paperback · William Morrow Large Print
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, emotional-abuse, physical-abuse