The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Vicar of Nibbleswick by Roald Dahl

girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

I picked up this book based on the cover. Old school library sleeve? Mossy green muted color? Trailer park (including a few telephone poles!)? I checked it out based on the quotes (rookie mistake...I should know better.) and reading the first page.

Nearly 3 weeks later, I was still struggling to finish this one. After breezing through the first 64 pages, putting me way beyond my 50 page rule, I went days without even cracking it open.

Rory Dawn lives on the Calle, a trailer park outside of Reno, with her bartender mother. Eventually RD discovers the history of her family goes way beyond the stories she's heard countless times. Years of personal and physical abuse combined with a failing economic and social system leave Rory convinced that she's alone and destined to follow suit.

There are moments of poignancy and celebration, when Rory seeks to be a Girl Scout and then excels during the spelling bee, but even then there is a spirit of doom carried by this protagonist. Mired in a seemingly inevitable darkness, it was hard for me to finish this one.