Two Thousand Minnows: An American Story - Hardcover

The author recounts growing up the oldest of three in a dysfunctional family, crisscrossing the country with and without their abusive, drunken father, searching for stability and struggling to stay together.

Sandra Leigh, the oldest of three, was only seven when she protected her mother against her father's fury, helping her escape the house in the midst of winter, and then retrieving her through an open window. They had just moved to the isolated mountains of West Virginia to being their new life. A city girl, Sandra became lost in the magic of the long hot summer days full of discoveries, from rope swings to catching minnows in the clear river, all while navigating her abusive and unpredictable father. Then her mother, pregnant again, went to the hospital to give birth and returned without the baby.
For the next ten years, her family - with her peripatetic father at the helm - traveled across the country from West Virginia to California and back again in search of stability, each destination holding out the promise of this time "making it." And as we travel with Sandra and her family in their crowded car and precarious truck back and forth across the country, we come to realize that in chasing the dream they are actually running from truth. The truth that, with each new attempt at finding home, Sandra gradually comes closer to uncovering - the mystery of what really happened to the baby.
In a memoir full of stunning honesty, which begins in her vibrant seven-year-old voice and matures throughout, Sandra brings us with her on her journey. She is a bright shining star in the midst of this American tragedy. She is full of surprises, humor, joy and magic. And, in the end, with tremendous fortitude and bravery, she performs a true miracle - and the family secret is finally revealed.