Two Thousand Minnows, An American Story by Sandra Leigh; 2003; 455 pages; The Lyons Press, Guilford, CT; 1-58574-854-4; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Central; 2/22-2/28

A memoir of a family following their father as he chases his American Dream around the United States. They travel from Arizona to West Virginia to Florida to Ohio to California with lots of adventures in between and in each place.  Narrated by Sandra the, the oldest of five children, we first meet the family when she is 5 or 6 and ends when she is in her early 20’s.  She is the glue that holds her family together knowing how and when to react to her parents different moods.  She knows how to protect her siblings from her father’s alcoholism and their mother’s depression.  She exhibits the insecurity that comes fr0m moving so often and seemingly not belonging anywhere, somehow she survives the trauma that comes from being torn out by the roots just as those roots seemingly are digging in.  To me there are two threads that run throughout the book, one is Sandra’s dedication to finding a sister that is given up at birth and Sandra’s determination to live her own life, not one that has been supposedly predetermined for her.  This could have been a very depressing book but Sandra puts in just enough humor to keep it from being too heavy.

I think the reason I picked up the book was the frequent moves described in the synopsis.  I was surprised one day when I was trying to remember why I picked it up to see that one of the blurbs was by Holly-Goldberg Sloan, whom I had gone to high school with.  Maybe that was why I picked it up, if so thanks Holly.  Grade-A