The story begins with a description of the day and the fact that the author is about to bury her mother. It continues with the author’s memories of growing up in a poor family of six. SWIVEL HIPS, PITIFUL AND UGLY MUG are nicknames that the author’s brother had given to her, her cousin, and her sister, when they were growing up 

As I read through the story, I kept checking to see how many pages I had left to read because I thought the end of each chapter was the end of the book. The life that Ms. Gibson described wasn’t dramatic, but a few more adjectives could have been used to enhance each chapter.  Also some additional dialogue would have helped move the story along a little faster and made it more interesting.

For example: a scene where a car hit an old lady as she crossed the street carrying some pies. All the author could say was “It was an awful sight. Pies went everywhere. I can still hear the thump of the car hitting her.  She was killed. Her name was Mrs. McGillberry.  It was a tragic thing to witness. But life goes on.  Another day was about to spring forth.”

I like stories about real life, but the book seemed to be missing that spark that hooks me.  Ms. Gibson needed to spend a little more time with dialogue and better descriptive imagery to improve this story.