My prevailing thought whenever I picked this up was that it's just a not-as-well-written version of The Grapes of Wrath. 

The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favourite books. It keeps you reading through the desperation and tragedies of the characters with it's beautiful writing style and evocative descriptions.

This book is not that. It's just boringly written poverty/disaster porn. No thank you.