There are books that change you, books that you remember vividly since childhood. These are books that can shape a frame of reference: I never knew cold until I read the Little House series, Laura Ingalls Wilder made you understand freezing temperatures and blizzards and frozen ground even if you had never experienced them. SE Hinton wrote in a way you understood being a teenager facing adult consequences whether that character was ready to grow up or not. As a reader we learn lessons from stories, and even in YA fiction stark realism of what teens face can help shape empathy, and develop a different world view .Life can be hard and unjust, and this author paints the truth of poverty and strength of character with broad strokes, and if I was a high school English teacher I would be ordering this in bulk for my classroom. Destined to win the Good Reads YA of the year.