Okey, so I read this book a couple of years ago, and I haven't found the courage in me to read it again. But still, favorite book. I am not exaggerating when I say I cried for three days straight. Had to put the book down for three days, literally, before finishing it. I don't know, maybe I was emotional at the time? Maybe that's the reason why I can't re-read it? Who cares, point is, this book is so freaking REAL. 
 Basically, this is the story of a little girl that becomes a woman, and it is the real thing, not some romanticized story or whatever. Sure, the first chapters may be a little slow and dense. There's a lot of description about the characters, the home, the way her parent met, etc... but when you get past that the real story begins. And it just slaps you in the face with harsh reality. 
 Don't wanna spoil anyone so I'm gonna stop writing soon. But once you've read the book, please go check Betty Smith's wikipedia page or something and you'll see how similar her life was to the book, and that just makes it even better (or sadder) because I've read somewhere that she said this is not how her childhood was, but how it should have been.