Confession: I'm really far away from being working class or living in the US. I grew up in a fairly well-off family and, even when my father lost his job when I was 12, we never had to struggle to make ends meet. But I'm very aware of my privilege in that regard, and reading this book reminded me that a lot of things I take for granted (education, proper nutrition, healthcare and even the dentist) are not available for a lot of people, even in countries that are developed. I think Sarah Smarsh does a fantastic work at portraying how grating poverty is and how it becomes a cycle that is very difficult to break in this system that is allegdly a meritocracy.

Also, I appreciate how Sarah Smarsh expressed the ways in which gender shapes the experiences of poverty and how she acknowledges that things can be harder if you're a person of colour or an immigrant. Because life is way more complicated than just one aspect of it defining how you stand. And while it's not a competition, some people do have it worse than others and we need to acknowledge this and work towards making EVERYONE more free and happier.

I'm probably not the best person to review this book, because what I know about poverty is mostly second-hand. I haven't lived any of these things, but I know that this is a reality for most of the people in this world, and I know we need change to allow people to break away from these cycles of poverty that have basically kept the system as it is now for generations.