THE BEAN TREES by Barbara Kingsolver

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she unexpectedly acquires a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle. In Tucson, Arizona, Taylor finds surprising resources in apparently empty places as she deals with motherhood, love, friendship, abandonment and putting down roots.