Tilly

by Monique Gray Smith

Tilly has always known she’s part Lakota on her dad’s side. She’s grown up with the traditional teachings of her grandma, relishing the life lessons of her beloved mentor. But it isn’t until an angry man shouts something on the street that Tilly realizes her mom is Aboriginal, too—a Cree woman taken from her own parents as a baby.

Tilly feels her mother’s pain deeply. She’s always had trouble fitting in at school, and when her grandma dies unexpectedly, her anchor is gone. Then Abby, a grade seven classmate, invites her home for lunch and offers her “something special” to drink. Nothing has prepared Tilly for the tingling in her legs, the buzz in her head and the awesome feeling that she can do anything. From then on, partying seems to offer an escape from her insecurities. But after one dangerously drunken evening, Tilly knows she has to change. Summoning her courage, she begins the long journey to finding pride in herself and her heritage. Just when she needs it most, a mysterious stranger offers some wise counsel: “Never question who you are or who your people are. It’s in your eyes. I know it’s in your heart.”

Loosely based on author Monique Gray Smith’s own life, this revealing, important work of creative non-fiction tells the story of a young Indigenous woman coming of age in Canada in the 1980s. With compassion, insight and humour, Gray Smith illuminates the 20th-century history of Canada’s First Peoples—forced displacement, residen­tial schools, tuberculosis hospitals, the Sixties Scoop. In a spirit of hope, this unique story captures the irrepressible resilience of Tilly, and of Indigenous peoples everywhere

Genres: Indigenous, Young Adult, Fiction, Canada, Historical Fiction, Family, Contemporary

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2013

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

....Loosely based on author Monique Gray Smith’s life.
....Coming of age in Canada - in the 80’s - it’s a tribute to the 20th-century history of Canada’s First People’s— forced displacement everywhere.

....Tilly, was a unique-bright- often lonely- troubled young Indigenous woman....who wasn’t as socially adjusted or popular
as her older sister, Marie was.

By age 19...
Tilly had been drinking and smoking pot for seven years. Drinking was a serious problem.

Tilly’s parents were separated; her grandmother, matriarch of the family, once Tilly’s greatest support, died before her teen years. The loss was huge and affecting for Tilly....and she always worried about her mother.. ( who she heard crying quietly at night when in her own bed)

By age 20....
Tilly was the first of her grandmothers grandchildren to go to college.
From her small town, Kamloop, Tilly went to nursing school in Vancouver. Drinking was still a problem.

After graduation, she moved back home with her mother and sister, in Kamloop and started working on the psych unit at the hospital.

Walking through the door for the first time at an AA meeting, was the hardest part. Her interest in a guy named Jessie, sober for 13 years, kept her going back a few times a week.

During one of Jessie’s drunken states, driving under the influence in his truck, he had an accident with another car. A family with two small children all died.
Sobriety was the only good thing that came from that accident.
But... my gosh... ‘red flags’ of worry ( me>for Tilly)...
were swirling in my head. Heavy baggage to take on - were my thoughts - for a young woman... especially a young girl who needed her own healing.

With one year of sobriety under Tilly’s belt... she started volunteering with a youth program which gave her personal strength and responsibility. Jessie was also at the center of her life.
They were definitely an item.

The more involved Tilly became in her Native community - her strength and confidence grew.

And then....
After Tilly’s two year relationship with Jessie...
(he had hidden unacceptable information from her)... she left him.

Therapy, consistency, and routine helped with Tilly’s ongoing healing.
She also joined an all-Native women’s ball team....
but Jessie had crushed her trust in men.
It took time for Tilly to heal her relationship with Jessie.

A couple of years later, Tilly met Mick, also of mixed ancestry, Cree and Scottish. ... and slowly learned to trust men again.

After four years of marriage to Mick, Tilly was pregnant with twins.
Piper and Grayson were/are healthy growing kids who never saw their mother drink.

Tilly’s work with Aboriginal youth taught her the importance of strong, healthy families and communities.

This is a fast easy read...
A wonderful story...
I was pulling for Tilly!! Hard not to fall in love with this woman.

I was reading another article about the Indigenous people during Canada’s 150th anniversary of their nation — and it’s clear — that ‘still’ —
“Peace, order, and good government”....have not applied to the Indigenous people.

This is a terrific book for anyone to read.... opening our eyes to just how challenging it’s been for Indigenous children - ( bullied in school) - and the first families.

Tilly continues to make a difference - an advocate for her heritage!!! Bless her!!!

The writing is not complicated - but it’s easy ease is intimate- filled with piercing insights...a book of such crystalline truth it makes your heart ache for the years of unsettled injustice.

4.5 stars

[Jaime M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a gift, especially to those who may just be learning about the history of Aboriginal people. It's a palatable way to absorb the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada with the Canadian government but through stories - lots of personal stories woven through the novel that are all too familiar for Aboriginal people no matter where you come from.

For anyone on a healing journey, it is a good reminder about where one has come from and the importance of holding and giving gratitude.

I appreciated the cultural information that was shared in terms of protocols and teachings. Again, for anyone just learning about their culture, this is a good outline to draw from. If you are learning specifically about Cree or Lakota cultures, there is beautiful familiarity to the book.

The writing in the book is accessible enough for a 13+ audience (in my opinion) and the questions provided in the back of the book double it's accessibility by offering supportive ways to teach in classrooms or guide a book club.

Thank-you Monique for expressing your gift with the world.

[Rikka Tannert Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This truly is a story of hope and resilience.

I received this book as a firstread gift. The book was a gift for me as I got to read a book that I otherwise never would have come across. Then I actually got to learn something as I was introduced to the story of the aboriginals in Canada and finally the gifts of inspiration I found in the pages of the book.
I could finish the book with a big THANK YOU.
I give the book 3 stars because I throughout the book, was confronted with the feeling that: I need more details, I need depth, I need the writer to delve more into the main character Tilly; her emotions, her story, why she does what she does, feels the way she feels, what shaped her etc. I got the feeling that I only scratched the surface of who Tilly is and what a shame.
The writer touches upon the aboriginal teachings and culture and she touches on the fate of the aboriginals in Canada. Children being taken away from their families and culture; put in residential schools and put up for adoption, separated from families but also from their siblings and the dire ramifications of that. But unfortunately she also only touches on Tilly’s life. I don’t really get the chance of being moved by Tilly and her battle for sobriety and search for identity. I had hoped for a less fragmented, more detailed and in depth story about Tilly and her background; the culture and story of the aboriginals in Canada.
I recommend reading the book despite the few “problems “I have with the story, because you might just get inspired especially when Monique Gray Smith, writes about the Indian teachings and values.

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monique Gray Smith's Tilly is a novel "loosely based on my life," she explains in her introduction. Gray Smith is one of a rich legacy of women writers who have blended autobiography and fiction.

Recently, at a reading, I heard an author say when she first started writing, she didn't know how to get a character through the door and across the room. That came to mind as I read Gray Smith's book. She appears to move her character, Tilly, not only across the room but seamlessly through several decades of life.

The story begins in Kelowna, British Columbia in 1974, when Tilly is a child. She was named for her Grandma Tilly who is part Lakota. Tilly's mother is Cree and doesn't know her family, as she was taken away from them when she was a baby.

Following a racist incident during which Tilly's Mom is called a "squaw" and told to get back to the reserve "where you belong," Tilly's Auntie Pauline offers some teaching and says she will help Tilly find out more about being Cree. This initial incident is an example of the experiences, learning, and resilience Tilly demonstrates throughout the decades she describes.

Grandma Tilly is another fine teacher whose school "was the land, the rivers, the stars, our ceremonies, and my grandma and grandpa." She teaches young Tilly how to fish and to make an offering with sage, a form of gratitude.

While telling one woman's story of "hope and resilience," Gray Smith includes the history of Canada's First Nations, including: residential schools (boarding schools that intended to assimilate Native children); hospitals that were racially segregated and treated only Aboriginal people, mostly for tuberculosis; and what is referred to as the Sixties Scoop, when children were taken from their families and, for the most part, placed in non-Aboriginal homes.

When Tilly started grade seven, Grandma Tilly died. The woman who had been Tilly's anchor was gone and it was in the spring of the year she was in grade seven that her "real attachment to alcohol began."

In the years to follow, Tilly says, "my drinking would lead to humiliating situations, soul-shattering loneliness, one-night stands and suicidal fantasies."The family moved frequently, and when she was fifteen, her Dad left for good.

Tilly is grateful for teachers and mentors as she recounts her story. One of them, a teacher called Mrs. Murphy, sees potential in Tilly and tells her: "You have the ability to make the world a better place. But somehow you need to find a way to see all that good in yourself." Tilly later realizes she had been treated with dignity.

Following graduation from nursing school, Tilly moves to Kamloops, British Columbia where she learns about the services offered by the local Friendship Center. There she meets a counselor called Bea, who becomes a steadfast presence in her life.

One of Bea's assignments is that Tilly go to Alcoholics Anonymous. As Tilly says as she learns about her First Nations heritage, Bea helped her "to live the life my Ancestors had dreamed for me."

This is a gently unfolding story in which the protagonist, Tilly, is held by the spirit of her ancestors. Her resilience comes from a natural strength as well as from guides and teachers along the way.

The author includes a glossary in the back of the book as well as questions for discussion and a diagram of The Umbrella of First Nations Resiliency she created.

As word gets out about Tilly, I know the author will continue to receive many gifts as she connects to others, and as her readers are inspired to honor their own stories of resilience.

by Mary Ann Moore
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

[Beverley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent story. My niece who is 9 years old, read this book with her mother and really enjoyed the story. The story is based on the writer's life, and grandmother (Tilly), and shows optimism and healing through racism and family pain. I recommend reading this amazing story.

[Kaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conversational, compelling, honest and hopeful.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monique G. Smith's thinly veiled memoir was a lovely read. Speaking as an educator who is always on the lookout for First Nations / Aboriginal materials of high quality writing and of high interest for a variety of vocabulary levels (secondary grades) for my students here in Canada's North, Tilly was particularly exciting.

Gray's strength is, perhaps, in her ability to gracefully draw characters to whom readers can connect, but to do so in a manner that is almost unobtrusive. I was reminded of stylized art, where deceptively simple looking lines manage to imply the essence of a flower or a human shape, without busy detail, but do so in such a way that you never doubt what it is you are looking at. Gray trusts the reader to grasp what it is that Tilly is experiencing as a child, the many reasons that her Grandmother, the Tilly the Elder is named, is so vital to the sense of identity that enables her to survive later challenges, and the many ways and reasons you can love people but may need to let them come into and go out of your life as years pass.

Characters, events and settings alike are treated with this delicacy, each offered to the reader like gifts - honestly and openly but never with a sense that the author is scrambling to over explain or to force her experience on anyone. Rather the gift is an invitation, as if Gray is saying: here is my story, here is how I remember it, how I felt, what I knew then, and what others taught me and gave to me, and I offer it to you in case you find something you need in what I have to share.

That is not to say that there are not raw memories, or difficult passages. Tilly's family are viscerally impacted by both the cultural genocide that was the travesty of the Residential School assimilation plan in Canada, a joint effort of the Federal Governments, the Roman Catholic Church's and Anglican Church's governing bodies of several decades, and of the subsequent Sixties Scoop, during which time the systemic racism of the Residential School era was continued under inequitably administered health and social service policies such that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were not only seized from their homes, often with little or no warning, nevermind permission, but were then placed entirely outside their home communities and in non-Aboriginal communities, where they were subjected to more of the teaching which ingrained in them a belief that their only hope at being valued in this world was to deny anything and everything about themselves that might mark them as being Aboriginal.

One of the tragedies in this history of system and internalized racism, which is still very much a part of our country's mental framework when it comes to how we treat with our Aboriginal neighbours, is that there are few easy lines where Evil is on one side and Good on the other. There were people who honestly felt that what they did was in the best interest of the Aboriginal peoples, who thought that their ham-handed approach was helpful, and whose intentions, if narrow minded, were also ultimately, driven by a foundational assumption that they were trying to make things "better" for people who were "other" in some way. That they were causing - and in many ways continue to cause - profound and significant harm, sometimes even while they offer some limited benefits, was often not discussed, or even recognized. In fact, in many cases, the truth of the situations were unknown, except to those compromised by the realities of hundreds of years of theft, subjugation, dehumanization, marginalization, enforced poverty and systemic and officially condoned - even codified - racism.

Tilly is a novel which not only demonstrates some of that reality, uncovering it for the reader as the main character, maturing from confused child, to hurt adult, to strong woman, discovers how it has impacted her own life, and the lives of her neighbours, friends and family, but offers this truth as well: despite formal and informal attempts to rid North America of it's First Peoples, despite physical wars aimed at attrition, social and cultural policies aimed at cultural genocide, at getting rid of, to quote Duncan Campbell Scott, "the Indian Problem" ( Conversations With A Dead Man , Mark Abley>), the First Nations peoples are still here. They are resilient beyond anything that the first European settlers could have imagined. They have resisted the attempts of interlopers to destroy their connection to the land, to make it impossible for them to keep any of their traditions alive, or to pass on knowledge and values through that most vital of all cultural tools, language. Unlike what many European powers have done in similar situations, they have never instigated a large scale war against those who invaded, they never brought to bear weapons of mass destruction. Their resilience, almost entirely, almost uniformly around the world, has been rooted in community, in culture, not in meeting violence with increased violence.

Ultimately, that is the gift Gray shares in Tilly - how the people in our lives, our various cultural connections - in Tilly's case a mixed ancestry of Scottish, Lakota and Cree - provides a wealth of knowledge, of connections, and of strength that sustains her, that is the basis of her resilience, resilience which is ultimately, her hope and her story.

As there is no graphic / explicit sex or violence, although there is mention of sexual attraction and activity, drinking and drug use, it is my observation as an educator that with appropriate classroom support this resource could be used in the upper middle school to high school classroom. The vocabulary is not complex but the writing is descriptive, with the use of literary devices, particularly vivid imagery, simile and metaphor, with some personification. The entire story is told in the first person limited pov narrative style. It is my opinion, based on having heard Monique G. Smith speak and having read the book, that it is listed as a novel in order to allow for certain liberties with meshing certain characters or omitting others, without the hullabaloo that ensued after the Frey incident.

[Sue Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book accidentally as part of a book group and was pleasantly surprised. Although it is written more simplistically that I would have liked, it touched on a lot of values learned in life. This is an very easy read and it almost feels as if it should be a book in the youth section. I wish it would have been more detailed.

This book is about a Aboriginal woman who starts out as an uninformed girl. She becomes an alcoholic and on her way to recovering, discovers a lot not only about herself but of her native people. The book talks about the terrible things that were done to the Native children of Canada mostly about them being taken from their families to be "educated" by others. Still, the book does not dwell on that and the other issues that they had to face.

Instead, this book mostly shows the growth of "Tilly" a woman based on the author. Tilly is a recovering addict who becomes stronger as a woman. She also becomes more aware of her Aboriginal culture and learns to embrace it. Many of the chapters are about lessons she learned about her culture and about how to share it. She talks about the ways of her ancestors and about the unique celebrations and spiritual ways of her people.

Although a lot of this book is specific to how a Aboriginal views their ancestors, their celebrations, and their traditions, it is equally valuable to a non-native person. It provokes a lot of deep thinking and opens the mind to be a better person.

[Q2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me through a GoodReads Giveaway. I wouldn't have read it otherwise, but I am so glad I did! It was a privilege. This book is a sort of memoir; the main character Tilly is descended from the people indigenous to Canada. This novel follows her struggle with alcoholism and to find identity.

I grew up in the U.S. in a place with a strong Native American population and yet it never occurred to me that the native people's of this continent (of course!) were from what is now Canada as well. I feel so foolish. But I was also glad to learn about this culture, their struggles, their past, their rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs. It is beautiful to learn alongwith Tilly about what her people believe--that dragonflies are the gatekeepers of the dream world, that an animal crossing your path means something, that you should offer up tobacco as incense--these are just a few examples. I learned and experienced a nation's hurt (and healing) from this book and I won't ever forget it.

My only critique is that some near the last quarter of the book, the author seems to lose her focus. Instead of feeling the forward momentum of Tilly's story, it became a scattering of other people's stories--strangers. I would also have loved more focus on the mystery of Tilly's ancestry and the journey to discover her past.

[Chris Wejr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put this book down. Although it is fiction, it is “loosely tied” to the author’s life. Through dialogue with others, she not only finds a way to bring in such topics as 60s scoop and residential schools (abuse and loss of family, history, language, and culture) but also traditional teachings that have helped her and others try to find their way back to culture and community... with such resiliency and hope. Be sure to watch Gray Smith’s TEDx talk as well.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific book! Looking forward to read more from Monique!

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really something other than fiction, but it's compelling nonetheless and very honest and heartfelt. More thoughts later!

[Chris Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year, I am reading CBC’s “12 Books by Indigenous Women You Should Read”. This is one of them.

Tilly is an engaging book and an easy read. Tilly grows up with knowledge of her father’s Lakota heritage, but not her mother’s Cree heritage. Her paternal grandmother (after whom she is named) is an important early influence who helps her begin to understand her First Nations roots. Tilly is only twelve when her grandmother dies. The loss of the stabilizing force of Grandma Tilly and her connection to her Lakota heritage is difficult for Tilly. She turns to drinking to cope with her loss. Tilly’s descent into alcoholism and her return to health are interwoven with stories of the people she meets and their struggles with the injustices First People’s endured, and continue to experience, in Canada, including residential schools, “Indian hospitals”, tuberculosis epidemics, the Sixties Scoop and displacement from their traditional territories.

http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/08/12-bo...

[Lester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very impressive. A book to recommend to many of my friends.
Quote:
"These special people in our lives, they don't always like our behaviour, but they love us, and they see what we COULD be. .....Cookie People." "...When we are around 'em, we feel good about ourselves."

Good phrase..Cookie People..!!

Also..something easy for everyone to do..
Genuinely see and listen to each person that you 'meet' through your day (the bank teller, all cashiers etc.).
"Everyone,..You never know who might have a story or teaching for you, or whose day you could brighten".

I would add that as much as you could brighten someone's day..they may also brighten your own.

Thank you for your truths Monique Gray Smith.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally I find books of this topic are long, too detailed, and dark. This book was exactly as it was portrayed in the title.... a story of hope and resilience...a wonderful book to read...it carried me along with Tilly on her journey of self discovery and healing. The descriptions of the ceremonies, traditions and teachings via the voice of the wise Grandma Tilly ...and the personal stories of young Tilly and the people she met along her way to recovery and healing.... were a perfect way to tell of their importance to First Nations people. A must read for anyone wanting insight into First Nations traditions and teachings.

[Patricia M Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone has a story

Tilly's story was captivating. The story was of an native American but it could easily be anyone's story. A need to know heritage and family is very important. What is it that makes us who we are? Where do we come from and who do we look like? The spirits within us and our beliefs help to make us the person we are. Some of us take the wrong path but as shown in this book healing can happen. Dwelling in the past will not heal, it is the future that will heal for the generations that come after us.

[lori hoad · Rating 4 out of 5]

a simple story of one woman's fall into & climb out of addictions. i can't get enough of these stories, what drives people to their breaking point & what drives them out again after that. it's inspiring but also just a good reminder that there is always hope.
i also appreciated learning bits of native culture along with the main character. good insights.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to share this book with students. It would be great in an intro class: has a good glossary and study questions. And it is a story to which too few readers (especially non-Native readers) are exposed--a story of recovery from alcoholism and trauma, a story of indigenous resurgence.

[Paula Hollohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fictionalizing of many common aboriginal stories; foster care, alcoholism, parent alienation, residential schools, mixed race identities, re-learning of traditions. Gray Smith relates many stories to illustrate what we often read in reports of our struggling indigenous peoples.

[Leslie]

A fictionalized autobiography- great read!

[Ruth Tucker]

Enlightning on a teen journey through alcoholism as well as identifying with her Indian ancestry and traditions, A wonderful story of why it is important that children learn of their ancestry.

[Karen Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good description of native rituals and spiritualality that were used as tools to help Tilly overcome her alcoholism. An easy read.

[Ruth Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insight into the lives of present day Native Americans.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful little book, with the written words and the messages of love and hope. Inspiring. We need to get this book in the hands of others. Looking for a book for your book club, use it. Choose it and start some conversations we need to be having. May we all be lucky enough to have strong women in our lives like Tilly.

[Matt C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching and important story about identity and the search for one’s history, healing, and finding your way after hardship. This is actually the first of two novels following Tilly’s life, and I ended up reading them out of order, which I think impacted my connection to the story.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book I've read by this author this month. I loved them both. Tilly's story tells us so much about the struggles of First Nations persons to deal with the heartbreak and disconnect of the residential schools and the Sixties Scoop. It crushed me to read how desolate so many families felt, and how hard it is to recover. Those who dare to say "Just get over it!" have no idea how much pain that causes.
I loved Tilly. She was strong, tough and a born survivor, but she couldn't do it without the help of her extended family, and her determination to stay sober and set a good example for her own kids.
This book was a treasure to discover.

[Terri Durling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a book of hope and resilience and one I'm glad I read. Tilley is educational and informative, not only about how a young person becomes an alcoholic starting with drinks after school with girlfriends in grade 7 but also the struggles of being part indigenous. The writing style is basic but divided into short charters making it a quick and easy read. It chronicles the author's roots, her parents separation and the moves that were a consequence of several factors beyond her control. Liquor made her feel invincible and more interesting or so she thought. Soon it controlled her life and she started lying to cover up her addiction. She suffered blackouts and numerous humiliations but, until she faced her demons much later down the road, it ruled her life and relationships. This book lets you into the rituals and culture of the indigenous people of Canada. It speaks of the many problems they face and how hard it has been to retain their traditions and pass then down to future generations. Thank you, Monique Gray Smith, for telling your story and letting us into your world so we can learn about the indigenous people who are the root of our country, Canada.

[Evonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to read to learn about the pain of Canadian First Nations Peoples and some of their cultural practices. It is simple to read, simple to understand, and simple to follow, but smacks of truthfulness. I don't know if there were embellishments for the sake of the story or not, but enough of it is true that the piece as a whole works for me.

Chapter 32 in particular, "Decisions", teaches about the Fire: you get to come to the fire four times to tell your painful story and have ears to listen to you. On the 4th time though, if you haven't already, you have to forgive those who have caused you pain, and move along to live your good life. You aren't allowed to use up time at the fire after that. You can't wallow. You can't bottle it up either.

The decision is this: tell your story, tell it again, and tell it a third time. Work through the pains of it and learn what lessons it has to teach. But then, it's time to take responsibility for how you will deal with that pain. It might not go away, but you choose how you manage it. Love this!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Monique Gray Smith’s works in preparation for her speaking engagement at our library for an Indigenous authors event during our “Writes of Spring”. This was a beautiful book and I truly did learn of hope and resilience through Tilly, her grandmother, and all the characters whose paths they crossed. Learning about the traditional ways was an important aspect of the book, to me. I really appreciated reading about Indigenous characters who were each on a journey, seeking to understand their own, their family’s, and our collective past and find hope for the future.

I can’t wait to meet Monique Gray Smith and hear her read. I highly recommend this book to all who seek to learn more about the truths shared, and travel the path to reconciliation.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on the author’s life. Tilly started drinking while in grade seven. She didn’t stop until she was in her twenties. This is her story of becoming sober, healing, and finding out how to help others.
Through it, readers discover the experiences of many indigenous people across Canada: residential schools, 60’s scoop, dysfunctional families, poverty, addiction, abuse and survival. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. There’s a reason the full title of this book is A Story of Hope and Resilience.