Synopsis
After the Lovelet family’s third house fire, Candy and her family are staying with Uncle Ronnie, “the town crazy”, in a less-than-desirable neighborhood. During Candy’s 5th grade year at school, her two youngest brothers go on drug-fueled crime sprees and get arrested. Internet trolls bash the family online, other kids shun Candy, and a D.S.S. worker comes knocking on the door. Meanwhile, Candy reminisces about her oldest brother, who is already in prison, her oldest sister who has beaten the odds and become a teacher, and her other sister, who died before Candy was born. Candy suffers anxiety attacks as the events of the novel unfold. She sees that her love interest, Tyler, is not what she thought he was, and wonders how to revise her dreams of the future. When a stranger gives the family a free trailer after reading about their plight in the newspapers, the family is filled with hope and set about turning the place into a home. This respite is short-lived, however. Their dreams of making a new home for themselves are thwarted when Daddy Bernie takes a chainsaw to the dining room table, on Easter, in a jealous rage; and one brother, out of jail on bond, relapses and goes on another crime spree. The story’s tragic events culminate when Mama is found dead at the new trailer, having overdosed on prescription drugs. Candy’s father subsequently abandons her; and the novel ends with Candy living at Grandma Delay’s, attending church, and trying to figure out what comes next. Though Candy seems to have found some measure of peace by the end of the novel, she still has a hand gun stashed beneath her bed; just in case Papa decides to do to her what he did to her older sister.
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