This is the unforgettable true story of a family torn by divorce, and how they manage to struggle through the Depression years of the thirties and the devastations of World War II. The account centers around Chuck, the second of five children. He tells about Growing Up in Lincoln County West Virginia. They eat wild game and grow their own food to exist. Chuck and his younger sister scavenge for food under a neighbor's apple tree. They carry home half-rotten apples for the evening meal. There is laughter, tragedy and hard discipline while being educated in a one-room rural schoolhouse. He fills the role of caretaker to his brother and sisters and prepares meals on a wood-fired cook stove. Finally, separated from his family, living with his grandparents, and sleeping in the smokehouse, his quest is to find family and home.