The Silver Star

In a little Californian community, the year is 1970. When their creative mother, Charlotte, leaves to discover herself, leaving her daughters just enough money to last a month or two, "Bean" Holladay, then twelve, and her sister, Liz, then fifteen. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.

An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Due to financial difficulties, the sisters begin working as office assistants and babysitters for Jerry Maddox, the town's mill foreman who abuses his employees, renters, kids, and spouse. Liz is a quick study, a voracious reader of Edgar Allan Poe, and a nonconformist. However, when school resumes in the autumn, Bean adapts more readily than Liz, who becomes more reclusive. Then Liz experiences something while driving with Maddox.

A very touching book about overcoming hardship and individuals who manage to love the world and one other in spite of its imperfections and injustices is written by Jeannette Walls.