In a novel drawn from her early childhood, author Ruth White tells of her family’s struggling existence in a coal-mining town from the vantage of her eldest sister, Audrey. Audrey dislikes the “Little Audrey” jokes she’s teased about—jokes based on a silly girl from the newspaper comics. Little Audrey of comics fame always finds herself making the best of outrageous situations, whereas Audrey White doesn’t find much to laugh about when her father comes home drunk or her depressed mother can barely scrape together a meal for her and her sisters, the “three little pigs.” Writing in a fresh voice and distinct dialect, Ruth White creates a strong visual impression of their painful, hardscrabble life in 1948 rural Virginia. Despite the gritty tone, moments of tenderness make Little Audrey a meaningful read, and there is hope born of tragedy by the novel’s end. (Ages 10–14)