A nostalgic, hilarious, and deeply touching coming-of-age memoir rooted in Cleveland’s postwar Polish Catholic neighborhoods.

Welcome to The Hanging Branch Club—where the first rule is don’t make Mother mad, and the second is… there are a lot of rules. Set in 1950s Cleveland, this richly detailed and riotously funny story follows young Hope, a sharp-witted girl navigating a world of a domineering mother, secret childhood alliances, and the brutal honesty of growing up in a working-class Polish American family.

Whether she’s dodging the wrath of her ear-pulling mother, praying to St. Jude for breast development, enduring the agony of the dentist’s chair without Novocain, or rescuing her little brother from a near-death broom handle beating, Hope’s voice will grab your heart and not let go.

Based on a true story, C. A. Sadlowski invites readers into an unforgettable Cleveland neighborhood, where every porch has a story, every aunt has an opinion, and survival often depends on knowing when to duck