Long Bright River by Liz Moore

This is the story of both the American family in the age of a flagging middle class, few good jobs for those who have little education, and health care and housing challenges. Add to that dirty cops, accessible opiates, and cheap heroin and you have the makings of a story. This one involves Mickey Fitzpatrick, a 30-something patrol officer in the Philadelphia Police Departmentand her younger sister, Kacey, who walks the streets of Kensington for a different reason: She’s an addict who supports her habit by turning tricks and catering to the commuter trade that drives through Kensington to buy drugs. Mickey recalls in flashbacks interspersed throughout the main narrative the past bearing fruit in the present. She stepped into the role of Kacey’s caretaker early, when the two girls were abandoned to the stinting care of their grandmother after their parents fell victim to drugs. Kacey subsequently began using — and overdosing — in high school. Their paths diverged early, but they come together in the end. It is on Obama's 2020 reading list, and it is well worth reading.