Reader! Reader!

I just saw today that this book made the New York Times' list of 100 notable books of 2015.

And I agree. Hannaham manages to include many current issues: corporate agriculture, drug addiction, illegal and immoral labor practices, racism, grief, modern slavery, and single parenting.

Eddie's mother Darlene gives in to drug addiction in her extreme grief after her husband's murder. As she struggles to raise and support her son--and ten support her addiction--she grows desperate. An offer of an amazing agricultural job leaves her virtually enslaved and in debt to the company. As young Eddie tries to find his mom, she continues to struggle with grief, addiction, and her own feelings of worthlessness.

Meanwhile, during the same time period, Eddie has tried to understand what happened to his father, what happened to his mother's relationship with her sister Bethella, what his mother's addiction is and means, and what to do as an "abandoned" child with little help. He also learns about trust--though not the trust most children learn, as he discovers he really cannot trust his mother, though she does intend her best, even if she cannot deliver.

It is Bethella who comes though for him, as well as the strangers/family he met while at Delicious Foods.