Man of the Family — Kathleen Karr

A moving father-son story.

At ten, Istvan Csere is learning from his father all about running the family's chicken farm in South Jersey. The father, a flamboyant, proud character who fled Hungary with Istvan's mother on the brink of the First World War, has great plans for his family and their little farm. And Istvan is increasingly aware of his own responsibilities in helping to realize these dreams. First steps are taken -- money is saved for an electrical generator, seedlings for a fruit orchard are planted. Then something terrible happens and Istvan must suddenly take over as man of the family, having to rely on the lessons learned from his father sooner than he ever expected. Transforming her own family history into compelling historical fiction, Kathleen Karr examines a pivotal year in her father's childhood -- a year that changed his life forever.