Winter's Bone

by Daniel Woodrell

224 pages

I love books that help us understand different cultures. That often means a book set in another country or in another era. But here is a book set right here in Missouri, yet the culture is so different from mine. In this Ozark culture, the code of keeping secrets is sacred.

(from a reader's review on Amazon) "It is a novel about a young girl on a journey of discovery, a discovery not just about her meth lab cooker dad, but about herself. It is picturesque novel, much like Portis's True Grit. She finds "justice" at a cost, but her determination and heart, to keep her family from homelessness makes her one of America's most down-on-her-luck, inspirational characters in contemporary lit."

This is a quick read, and the movie was released this year.

Ginger