Maggie's life is unpredictable. Her father may be falling-down drunk or he may be teaching her boxing. Sometimes her father manages to hang onto a job long enough for her to settle into a place before they get kicked out for not paying their bills. Depending on the day, she may despise or love her sensitive older brother and anxious younger one. But when her mother finally takes the kids and leaves, it changes her world only in superficial ways, still leaving her family struggling.

This is a slow-moving tale that feels like a fast read. There is little overreaching plot, each incident of Maggie's life is presented with little relation to the others except in themes and building up our characters. Yet the decisive writing pulls the reader into finishing the book in a few gulp-like reading sessions, as we are caught up in the family's messy life.

NOTE: Ex-library book with typical markings.

Added to the YA bookbox

This book enjoyed a brief stop in San Jose, CA before continuing its journey in the YA Bookbox!

Taken from KateKintail's YA Bookbox with thanks.

Still TBR, but now reserved for JennyC1230's YA/Teen VBB (round 4).

RCOUFan picked this from the VBB - so I had to read it! ;)

I never felt very fond of Maggie and found some of her adventures rather appalling (A seven-year-old who smokes? Yuck!), but some of other minor characters are quite interesting. The chapters about Goofy John and Mr. Johnson's ponies were particularly memorable. It looks like the author only wrote this one book, but it might have been nice to hear more from Francis, or her friend Tomi.

P.S. I found the cover art quite creepy: Maggie looks like she ought to be the evil governess in some Gothic horror story...

I'll count this as book # 13/51 for NancyNova's 2015 MultiYear States Challenge (Oregon).

Now that I've read it, I'll get it in the mail soon.

13/51 read so far for this challenge:
CA | GA | HI | ID | LA | MA | NH | NY | OR | PA | TN | VT | WV

Headed for Georgia as part of JennyC1230's YA/Teen VBB - happy reading!

I got this today from the YA Teens VBB. Thanks for sending it and for the cute bookmarks.

Left this book in the LFL at Etowah River Park. Enjoy!!