Luther Wallace and Betty June Wallace are both mentally disabled to some degree. However, they are married and have two children. Neither has a job and they live off of welfare. Betty June loves her children fiercely and laments that her oldest child is in foster care. Their lives are made up with trips to their social worker's office and to the grocery store. Betty June's uncle comes to live with them and terrorizes the family by beating the children - which neither Luther or Betty June seem capable of stopping.
DJ Kephart lives with his grandfather Walter and is eleven years old. DJ is responsible for the cooking and what little cleaning there is. He is a silent boy far more mature than his eleven years. Walter gets sick and DJ manages through some help of a neighbor to get Walter to the hospital where they find out he has pneumonia.
This is one of those books where the stories seem really disparate and then it isn't till the end that you see how they all connect. I love stories like this. The author is especially good at getting you inside the characters and really involved with the book.
Rating: 8 / 10
ISBN: 0375411585
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Edition: 1st Edition