Use of crack, cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco by pregnant women can cause serious long term problems for the baby. Drug habits of the father also affect children.
Describes alcoholism, alcoholic behavior, and resulting family problems. Advises children of alcoholic parents in dealing with these problems and their own feelings and suggests ways to make life more bearable and productive.
Jareth Gardner, a seventeen-year-old with an abusive, alcoholic mother, a dying half-brother, and an unknown father, believes he can handle all his problems until a shocking act of violence makes him realize he is out of control.
Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a young child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.
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.
