As a little girl, Teressa’s father dotes on her and little sister,
Karen, while mercilessly mocking her older sister, Debbie. Teressa
thinks its Debbie’s fault—until she gets a little older and he begins
tormenting her, too. Soon enough, his verbal abuse turns physical. Her
sergeant father brings his military life home, meeting each of his
daughters’ infractions with extreme punishment for them all. Meanwhile,
their mother watches silently, never defending her daughters and never
subjected to physical abuse herself. Terrified to be at home and
terrified to tell anyone, Teressa seeks solace in books, music, and the
family she can find outside of her home: a best friend, a kind neighbor,
and a doting grandfather. At first cowed by her father’s abuse and
desperate to believe that maybe, one day, things will change, Teressa
ultimately grows into a young woman who understands that if she wants a
better life, she’ll have to build it for herself—so she does.