The subject matter is very hard to take. It's quite a sad story and doesn't get any happier at the end, but I still really loved this book. I found myself feeling like I was the only friend to little Bone, the main character, and I wished I could do something to help her.

I read this book in one of my college lit classes that was focused on stories about "the other." Bone is not the only person in this story who feels outcast and alone. I found it very interesting to examine the behavior of each of the characters in response to their feelings of being "the other."

Dorothy Allison wrote this as a semi-autobiographical novel.

It's so sad that people feel it is necessary to abuse and exploit others, especially children.