Me & Emma

My friend CMS borrowed this book to me last week. She enjoyed it and she thought I might too. Me & Emma is about a pair of sisters who live with a emotionally shaken mother and an abusive stepfather. The story follows just a short period of time in the lives of this family, though there are flashbacks to the time Emma and Caroline (the narrator) spent with their father, who passed away. The parts about the abuse are quite difficult to read - how can anyone do those things to women and children? - but there are also many sweet moments of imagination and hope. Kids are pretty resilient, which is probably a good thing. The book has a bit of a twist at the end, so that was fun, too. If you're looking for a quick read about a rough-and-tumble Southern family, I'd recommend it. Here's the synopsis:

In many ways, Carrie Parker is like any other eight-year-old—playing make-believe, dreading school, dreaming of faraway places.

But even her imagination can't shut out the realities of her impoverished North Carolina home or help her protect her younger sister, Emma.

As the big sister, Carrie is determined to do anything to keep Emma safe from a life of neglect and abuse at the hands of their drunken stepfather, Richard—abuse their momma can't seem to see, let alone stop.

But after the sisters' plan to run away from home unravels, their world takes a shocking turn—and one shattering moment ultimately reveals a truth that leaves everyone reeling.