Jaquira Diaz writes from her heart a bittersweet growing up journey which is anything but ordinary. From a lot of love for her family to terrors of poverty and abuse inflicted upon her as a young girl. Bonds of family and friendship seem to hold her together. Perhaps those early bonds helped so much to create the strong person she would grow up to be. Her story is one akin to The Glass Castle where the reader may feel very fortunate to have experienced an "ordinary" childhood in comparison. It is interesting and also appalling to read the raw truth of her experiences and surroundings, but promising in how she overcame the obstacles that surrounded her.