One child's vulnerability and resilience to forces beyond her control make a raw and colorful splash in this tenderhearted memoir.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review

"In my family, as far back as I can tell, there was no such thing as communication, only secrets."
Skinny Dipping in a Dirty Pond is highly recommended for fiction readers looking for coming-of-age and family narratives that are anything but ordinary and predictable. Its lively tone packs a punch.

Midwest Book Review

A young girl in a small southern town in the 80's enlists the help of an unlikely group of friends and family to help her survive an unconventional, sometimes abusive childhood. Often left in the care of a paranoid schizophrenic uncle who lives downstairs and a psychotic uncle upstairs, the narrator stacks up a few heartbreaking observations. When her mother abandons her in favor of her addictions, the girl goes to live with her grandmother but finds happiness cut short when her grandmother dies. Her uncle believes the voices in his head have trapped his mother in a basement across town and as he slowly looses grip on reality, he also looses his ability to take care of her. Taken to a Group Home to live until a case worker can find her a place to go, her mom's ex shows up and is forced to make a choice.