Sitting on the cracked linoleum floor, Amanda solemnly closed the book and silently stared at the wall. She lost her concentration when she heard her baby brother cry. She ran to his room with only a glance at the ripped cover. As she reached into his crib, the front door smashed open as her father staggered in from the cold; there was a distinctive smell of Bernie’s Bar in the air.

With her baby brother cradled in her arms, as her father laid unconscious, she reassured her brother, “It won’t always be this way.”