{"product_id":"my-life-as-a-rat-9780062899835","title":"My Life as a Rat","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A painful truth of family life: the most tender emotions can change in an instant. You think your parents love you but is it \u003cem\u003eyou \u003c\/em\u003ethey love, or the child who is \u003cem\u003etheirs?\u003c\/em\u003e\" --Joyce Carol Oates, \u003cem\u003eMy Life as a Rat\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhich should prevail: loyalty to family or loyalty to the truth? Is telling the truth ever a mistake and is lying for one's family ever justified? Can one do the right thing, but bitterly regret it? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMy Life as a Rat \u003c\/em\u003efollows Violet Rue Kerrigan, a young woman who looks back upon her life in exile from her family following her testimony, at age twelve, concerning what she knew to be the racist murder of an African-American boy by her older brothers. In a succession of vividly recalled episodes Violet contemplates the circumstances of her life as the initially beloved youngest child of seven Kerrigan children who inadvertently \"informs\" on her brothers, setting into motion their arrests and convictions and her own long estrangement. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArresting and poignant, \u003cem\u003eMy Life as a Rat \u003c\/em\u003etraces a life of banishment from a family--banishment from parents, siblings, and the Church--that forces Violet to discover her own identity, to break the powerful spell of family, and to emerge from her long exile as a \"rat\" into a transformed life. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ecco Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/04\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062899835\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2019 pg. 53\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/15\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/29\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2019 pg. 66\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Joyce Carol Oates","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36634519339164,"sku":"9780062899835","price":24.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_424d1f2f-1d19-4034-84ee-86eb6583a5d0.jpg?v=1603836915","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/my-life-as-a-rat-9780062899835","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}