2.5 stars

Brigid lives in 1960's coal mining country Pennsylvania, where the ground is literally on fire. Brigid has had a hard life and it only continues to get more turbulent. Forced out of her home because of the coal fires, she moves into her Grandma and Grandpa's home, Her family is very dysfunctional and this extends to generations. Love is a foreign concept, favoritism is rampant, Brigid's father struggles to keep a job and is battling alcoholism. Her mother doesn't understand why she was dumped at a orphanage by her stepmother and father but they kept her brother. Brigid's family begins to break apart from the loose seams holding them together and Brigid struggles to understand what is happening to her.

Brigid is a pre-teen year old narrator but often seems inconsistent, depending on where you are in the story. I've never heard much about this part of the USA's history and was eager to hear more about it but found myself a little disappointed in the story. I couldn't connect with Brigid and there was just too much going on. I started to lose attention in the book, which is atypical for me when reading,