Once, during the night, when her brother was sick and was having a hard time breathing, Katia had to call a taxi to take him to the hospital.
Katia’s parents, the Blakes, worked hard and were often in poor health themselves. Katia felt this and that is why she helped her parents as much as she could.
Katia had to change schools often because sometimes the family was homeless and had to live in shelters. Katia took part in some reading programs, and her older brother helped her too, but it was still hard for her to read.
Katia lives in an old building that is so crowded and noisy that it often makes people angry with each other. For Katia the hardest part is that no matter how hard her family tries to make a better life, the Blakes are always being put down by others. Nobody seems to understand them.
