“What makes a family sad? It’s a hard question to answer. Maybe it’s better to think about what makes a family happy and then subtract it.”

Having grown up in a famously dysfunctional family, actress Mariel Hemingway has become a national advocate for mental health awareness. Here she candidly shares vignettes about her family and how those relationships made her feel disconnected and lonely as a child. She writes as a young person confiding in her readers, kids who might also be feeling invisible and alone.

This book might appeal to tweens who are feeling that things are not exactly right within their own families.  Each chapter wraps up with the author’s inner reflections on her family and suggestions for coping, touching upon many issues such as alcoholism, choosing a trustworthy adult to talk to, finding the joy in each day, and trusting your own feelings.