Bastards

Bastards: A Memoir by Mary Anna King, 248 pages

When she was little, Mary King lived in New Jersey with her mom, her older brother, her baby sister, and sometimes her dad. But when it becomes to much for her mom to handle, the baby sister is sent to live with Mary's grandparents in Oklahoma. A few years later, Mary and her brother join their little sister in Oklahoma, and Mary and her sister, Becca, are eventually adopted by their grandparents. Meanwhile, Mary's mother keeps getting pregnant, and ends up giving up four baby girls for adoption.

Bastards is Mary's account of losing and finding family, of trying to find her own place in her convoluted family. As someone who's intimately familiar with family trees that are shaped more like bushes, I found this to be an insightful memoir that doesn't shy away from the realities of stitched-together families.