Without Uncle Joe

by A. Bates

Uncle Joe is good at losing himself but when he does it just before the social worker is due, Jessie has to take over, making it look like the four Stewart children have adequate food, clean clothes, and proper care. None of that is true, but Jessie is good at bluffing social workers. This time will be different, though. There’s a new social worker and he doesn’t bluff. This time things are worse than ever and if Jessie wants to keep the four of them together she’s going to have to learn a few new tricks—fast. Faster than Ruthie can get dirty, faster than Petey can get into trouble. Even with BoJoe’s help, things don’t look good. The kids have a few tricks left to try, though the social worker isn’t going to like them. But without Uncle Joe, they’re running out of options.

157 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2012