Shrug

It's Berkeley in the 1960s, and Martha Goldenthal's home life is a cauldron of kooky ideas, impossible demands, and explosive physical violence. Can she overcome her obstacles and make it to college? Shrug is the absorbing, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting story of one young woman’s journey toward independence.

“As persuasive as the memoirs Educated and The Glass Castle, Shrug yanks at the heartstrings . . . I felt white-knuckled empathy for the tough and fragile Martha.” — Carolyn McVickar Edwards, author of Return of the Light and The Storyteller's Goddess

“A book that slowly creeps up on you before grabbing you by the throat and
demanding that you pay attention . . . I highly recommend this read.”

— Grant Leishman, Readers’ Favorite

"Gripping from beginning to end, this beautifully written work is impossible to put down.” — The BookLife Prize