Walls, Jeannette

The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcohol father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.

Two motherless sisters, Bean and Liz, are shuttled to Virginia to live with their Uncle Tinsley in a decaying mansion. When school starts in the fall, Bean easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz becomes increasingly withdrawn. Then something happens to Liz and Bean is left to challenge the injustice of the adult world.

The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and distant mother, and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.

Lily Casey Smith grows up breaking horses with her father and leaves home at fifteen to ride five hundred miles in order to teach in a frontier town before encountering various difficulties, marrying a rancher, and speaking out against prejudice in various parts of the U.S.

The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.