is a fascinating, nearly unbelievable memoir of growing up in a nomadic dysfunctional family. While you might expect self-pity, you won't find any in these pages. Walls tells of scavenging food from school cafeteria garbage cans while planning her getaway to college. She tells of being cold and hungry while describing the creativity and resourcefullness the children draw upon to thrive.The book opens with Walls in a taxi, dressed for an evening on the town. As the taxi stops at a light, she looks out the window and sees her mother rooting through a dumpster. Her mother is happily homeless, later telling Walls she has an attitude problem for being ashamed of having homeless parents. Flash backward to the author at 3, standing on a chair cooking hotdogs because she's hungry and her mother was busy painting. Her dress catches fire and her first glimmer that not everyone is like her family is during her stay in the hospital to recover from the burns. Social services is a bit curious about why a 3 year old was cooking over a gas stove and before she is released by the doctors, her father spirits her away and they decide it might be time to move on. This is but one of many "skedaddles" as her dad calls them.
The story of how this family functioned and how most of the children thrived eventually is a fascinating read. My eldest daugher enjoyed it, as did my sister and other friends.
