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This story is told from the point of view of an abused and all but abandoned 8 year old girl named Caroline (Carrie) who is in a desperate family situation.

Emma, the tough-as-nails younger sister, and Richard, the wicked stepfather, join with Carrie's mother, herself a victim of spousal abuse, and together the family moves to a new town, away from their haunting roots, only to set up in an area where the main attraction for the older folks is playing a banjo in the back of a general store and perfecting their shotgun technique on tin cans.

Carrie is in an awful situation at home, constantly bearing witness to the physical and mental cruelties of Richard. She misses her father, who was brutally murdered when she was just a small child, and she finds it difficult to do well in school, make more than one true friend, stay out of trouble at home. Emma is her only salvation, her only guts and defense in a cruel and heartless existence.

I can't say much more for fear of ruining the story. Suffice to say you will be mesmerized by the poignancy of this story, your heart will absolutely break for their suffering, and you will be torn between rooting for a happy ending and just wishing the pain would stop at whatever the cost. There were chapters that left me shaking in sobs, I was so in pieces over the graphic abuse. And reading it from a child's perspective is what made it all the more heart wrenching.

You won't close this book with a smile on your face, rather, with a heavy heart. It is tremendously hard-hitting and will stir your soul.