This book has to be one of the most poignant books I have read in quite a while. It presents an accurate portrayal of life in a small southern farming community in the early 1950s. Through the eyes of a charming seven-year-old, the reader re-visits the struggles of a small cotton farm, the closeness and distance in an intergenerational household, racial and socioeconomic conflicts, co-existence of despair and hope, and the loss of innocence. This is a MUST read for southerners whose backgrounds have roots in a small farming community where life was influenced by forces beyond a person's control and where families lived in "unpainted houses". Most enjoyable!