"What else would you wish for?" Daddy says. "If you could have anything in the world, what would you wish for?"

I shrug. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe . . ."

"Maybe what?"

"For us to live better than we do."

He does not say anything.

In 1948, award-winning author Ruth White lived in Jewell Valley, a coal camp nestled between the hills of southwestern Virginia, with her mother, still mourning for a baby who died four years earlier; her father, who spent the weekends and most of his pay out drinking; and her three older sisters, Audrey, Yvonne, and Eleanor. Told in Audrey's voice, this is how the author imagines Audrey's experiences during a time of great trauma for the White family - and what happened before they were able to live a better life.

This snapshot of life in a coal camp, complete with everyday heartaches and joys - as well as stories, songs, and jokes - is Ruth White's most personal work to date.

Little Audrey is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.