In the Ozzie and Harriet world of the 1950s, households were meant to be prosperous, merry, and ever so bright. Home life couln't have been more different for Christine Pechacek. Poverty, abuse and a voaltile father created an atomosphere of emotional and material deprivation that flew in the face of the American dream. A vivid imagination, humor and a knack for optimism even in the darkest of times flow through the pages of this memoir. It's a gripping tale that is as profoundly harrowing as it is richly humorous. Living in this world of chaos, abuse, and fear, the author charts a tragic tale of a childhood lost navigating the tormented adults who controlled her, while remaining mindless of her desperate cries. What was lost and stolen of her young life, have become a path to success and empowerment. At once devestating and uplifting, this deeply affecting story illuminates the possibility of hope and goodness.