Family pressures from a young girl's perspective

Ramona's family is like many in that both parents work. Her father is attending school to become a teacher and is holding two part time jobs. Her mother works as a receptionist. They are paying close attention to their finances in order to make ends meet, and while Ramona does not understand the full details of the family's financial situation, she recognizes the practical effects on their lives. Her mother serves less expensive cuts of meat at dinner, for example, and the family does not go out to eat as often as it once did.

Sensing the importance of their finances to her parents, Ramona worries about them and their jobs. Her father worked as a supermarket checker but has quit to work in a frozen food warehouse where Ramona is afraid he may freeze. When Ramona becomes sick at school and...