Mama Dear took the enema bottle-a large red rubber bag with a long red hose attached, with a white stem at the tip of the hose-filled it with warm soapy water and stuck it in my rectum. In a matter of minutes, I was running to the bathroom. Blood appeared on the tissue as I wiped myself. The sight of the blood filled me with panic, and I screamed out calling Mama Dear. The author of A Portrait of a Single Mother, Sharon D. Clark, reflects on her childhood and exposes the tragedies and triumphs she endured throughout her life. This is not a how-to book, it is a book about how one African American woman who, against all odds, managed to rise above her circumstances, as she lived in a world where hopelessness abided. Read how this single mother accomplished goal after goal through hard work and staying focused on what was important to her, her children. This book reflects one woman's story about the mayhem she endured living in the Pruitt-Igoe Complex, and how she managed to pull herself up in spite of the hardships she suffered living inside this monstrosity and the terror she faced daily. Although her future was bleak, she held on to the words of her mother, "Nothing beats a failure, but a try." Determined to make her mother proud, after giving birth at the age of 14, she worked tirelessly so her mother wouldn't assume all the responsibility of caring for and raising her daughter.