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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Soloway, the daughter of European Jewish immigrants, grew up in a quintessential Chicago neighborhood during and after World War II. Small for her age, bookish, and circumspect, she rarely seemed to please her beautiful, stylish, and hardworking mother but was called Princess by her cheerful father, who could not for the life of him control his appetites for fattening foods, cigarettes, and gambling. The family of four lived in cramped quarters above their small grocery store, where they all worked. Soloway's child's-eye view of her ill-matched yet loving parents struggling to rise above poverty and ensure that their children live easier and more fulfilling lives enlivens a classic immigrant's tale. Simply and gracefully told, Soloway's sweet and lucid memoir affirms the vulnerability and valor of young girls and captures the atmosphere of a striving ethnic community in a rapidly changing city neighborhood. The world Soloway remembers is a microcosm of America, where wave after wave of diverse immigrants enrich our lives. --Donna Seaman Copyright 2006 Booklist