Street Kid by Judy Westwater

When Judy was an infant, her father who's a fake spiritualist leeching money off gullible people, grabbed her from her mother's crutches for revenge and oppressed her brutally with no mercy, as did his new wife Freda. For the following years to come, she is treated like a slave constantly, allowed meagre communication with the outside world, forbidden to play with other kids, starved and beaten but hardly anyone realises her father is such an abominable monster as they're all fooled by his charming charisma. Then Judy's smuggled to South Africa without informing her mother where her father fails at setting up a spiritualist sanctuary. After a while, she is abandoned - again. It's a tough life on the streets, scavenging in bins, sneaking in public toilets for baths and even stealing from the unwary until her father finally returns. Judy knows her mother and sisters are in England, but how will she ever make it back? She imagines a warm, welcoming family will be waiting for her but she's sadly mistaken. This is the story of a girl leading a miserable and shattered life, waiting to escape one day and start anew.

If you enjoy realistic fiction then you might want to try this novel. Child abuse is still a huge problem and this novel does raise awareness of it.