When an old woman is asked to tell the story of her life, she tells an intense and poignant tale about growing up in and surviving a warring suburban family during the 1950s and '60s. From her complicated and unwanted birth, to her witnessing a suicide at age 3, to her stint as a runaway at age 14, the story progresses to the final crisis where as a young woman she is turned out of her house and banished from her family forever. Told in breathtakingly beautiful prose, this is a powerful and timeless coming of age story set against the backdrop of a uniquely dysfunctional family. This book (under its former title of "My Life in Dogs, the Early Years") was a Quarter finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. It was also on the short list of finalists in the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom Writing Competition.