As a mother, I want to hug that child who, copes with every miserable situation that she and her siblings have to endure. At the same time I want to strangle the parents for shirking their responsibilities. How can, for instance, the father set up his teenage daughter at a bar with some sleazy character and then tell her he knew she'd be able to take care of herself? But, by the same token, the parents, in some way, miraculously were able to feed their children's minds with science and math and awareness of beauty in simple things.

This is a must-read!