“Salvage the Bones” follows the Batise family, a poor black family living in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi eleven days prior to Hurricane Katrina making landfall. The Batiste family consists of, Claude, a verbally and physically abusive father and alcoholic, Esch, his 15-year old daughter who unbeknownst to him is pregnant, his son Randall who because of his failings as a father is forced to become the patriarch of the family, Skeetah, his middle son whose only concern is China his beloved prize-fighting Pitbull and her puppies he plans on selling, and Junior his youngest son whom his wife died giving birth to. 

For as much as I hate dog fighting and reading the parts involving in China in battle with another pit, Skeetah’s love and loyalty to her jumped from the pages and I saw a lot of my younger self in Esch, a young girl looking for love in all the wrong faces. 

This book is a great read! It tackles poverty, alcoholism, promiscuity, loss, motherhood, and in the end, the importance of family and community!