The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

This is a haunting, yet hopeful tale of a boy, his two younger sisters, and their physically and verbally abusive mother. Matt, the narrator and protagonist, has lived in fear his entire life and has learned to deal with it. He has created his own, conscious and subconscious, rules for him and his sisters to survive their mother's tyranny. He uses these survival mechanisms every day without really realizing this way of life is even wrong. That is until one day when he sees a man in a grocery st...more  
This is a haunting, yet hopeful tale of a boy, his two younger sisters, and their physically and verbally abusive mother. Matt, the narrator and protagonist, has lived in fear his entire life and has learned to deal with it. He has created his own, conscious and subconscious, rules for him and his sisters to survive their mother's tyranny. He uses these survival mechanisms every day without really realizing this way of life is even wrong. That is until one day when he sees a man in a grocery store defend an abused child. This encounter creates a sudden shift in Matt's mind about what is and is not right and what he has to do about it. The story twists and turns, always engaging the reader while at the same time explaining that the ending is a happy one.

I liked this book a great deal. It addressed a serious and uncomfortable topic in a tasteful way. I really liked that in never made you wonder if they might not get out. It was always hopeful, yet still gripping. I would recommend it.