Hunger

Constant hunger and its impact on everyday life is the recurring theme of this book. The diary details Carolina's life and one thing readers will notice is that exact prices are often recorded. She tells how much she earned from a particular scrap sale, and then gives the prices and the weights of everything she buys with that money. In Carolina's world, there is seldom enough money to buy more than a few basic necessities. When she is unable to go out because of rain or because one or more of the children are ill, she describes being nervous, of pacing the house and being anxious to go to work gathering scraps. The reason isn't that she wants to work or that she hates being inside, it's that she's constantly worried about food.

Carolina's own hunger isn't the only issue. She talks often of how heartbreaking it is...