Here is a biography that will quietly take your breath away. The main characters aren't famous, infamous, or doing anything that will remotely change the world. But in every way, and in a beautiful way, this is a story about the very essence of human spirit.

The writer, Jeanette Walls, is one of four children brought up by parents who are totally eccentric and often dangerously neglectful. As Walls explains early in the story: "Mom believed that children shouldn't be burdened with rules and restrictions." We experience their growing-up years through the eyes of Jeanette and what an incredibly moving and heartwrenching growing-up it is.

While Walls and her siblings aren't abused by their parents in the conventional sense of the word, the constant chaos and upheaval in their everyday lives and the things they had to do to deal with the extreme poverty they faced - rummaging for food in dumpsters was an everyday occurrence - leave the reader wondering how the kids could even begin to survive such ramshackle parenting. Incredibly, three of the four siblings do better than survive. They grow into highly responsible, caring and contributing members of society. Perhaps most touching and inspiring is the gentle love that Walls maintains for both parents - together with a profound sense of acceptance that this is simply the kind of parents she was born to. From the opening paragraphs, when Jeanette, already grown-up, catches sight of her mother living as a homeless person on the street in New York, and through all the events which come before that moment, this is a story which will touch your heart and make you count your blessings, no matter what challenges you face.