Sticklebacks and Snow Globes

Although I'm not usually a fan of child-centric fiction, I enjoyed these stories (chapters?) about young Tot and her family living under difficult conditions in England. Tot's challenges–she has “fits” (epilepsy); she's younger (and brighter) than everyone else in the neighborhood; her father's ambitions of jazz stardom have taken him off to New Orleans. The book is filled with very believable characters and situations.

While the chapters read like stand-alone stories, the overall effect is of a novel. Recommended!