Part 1

Part 1 is about what happened to Tara and her family before she turned 17 years old and ends with the good news of her admission to the university. 
In the later chapters of this part, Tara tells a lot about her brother Shawn, who was always on her side, although he could lose his temper out of sudden and became another person. I feel that Shawn must love his young sister and tried to protect her from their father's nonsense craziness. I was also terribly worried when he got the upper hand and tried to strangle his own sister, watching her suffering in pain. Then he must be struggling on the inside too, as his parents, love and torture side by side.
Tara made her great effort on the admission test. Between her work at the grocery store and her father's crew team, in days and nights, and with her brother Tyler's help, she made it! When she received the congradulation letter, her mother was happy for her too. Her mother also believed that she should live outside of this house, to get proper education and to live her own life. In this sense, her mother was a kind person, knowing what could change her daughter's life and encouraging her to go for it.
Now I am getting more excited to read about her stories after she leaved the house in the mountain and started her new life in the university!