by Ruth White
ages 9-12 (though my library has it shelved in the Teen section…)

There are some books that just floor you when you read them. Either they’re so fabulous that they draw you into their world. Or because the so horrible that you wonder how on earth people existed like that. Little Audrey is the latter. When I read The Glass Castle this summer, I was moved by Jeannette Walls’s courage in dealing with her less-than-ideal living situation. I had much the same reaction to White’s book: it’s deeply saddening that anyone would have to live like they did, and it’s remarkable that they survived and thrived as much as they did.

Little Audrey is the story of a part of White’s childhood. Told (and somewhat fictionalized) though the eyes of White’s oldest sister, Audrey, this is the story of the White family in a mining “holler” in southwest Virginia in 1948. It’s not a pretty life: their father is a drunk, taking the scrips (they don’t get money) and spending most of it on alcohol. They’re barely making it from week to week. Audrey’s recovering from the scarlet fever, and is supposed to be gaining weight, but it’s hard when there’s not enough food to go around. Yet, through it all, and through the tragedy that happens in their life, they find hope. Audrey learns about the inner strength of her mother. She also finds kindness in those around her, from her neighbors to her schoolteacher to her friend, Virgil. It’s an inspiring and hopeful book, something which you don’t expect from the subject matter.

This is a book for younger readers, after all, and White only glances on the wreck that was her father. It’s probably a good thing — Audrey was young enough not to really notice or understand what was going on, but at the same time, she’s an incredibly perceptive girl. She knows her mother is trying to make do even though her father is trying to drink them all into oblivion. She knows her father beats her mother. She knows when to stay out of his way. And she knows that she will make do in spite of it all.

It’s a good book, one that surprised me how much I was drawn in and moved by it. And the fact that it’s a true story made it all the more powerful.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)