The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, an emotionally gripping story of the major events and day-to-day struggles of the narrator, is a stunning read. It has earned both a Christopher Award and a New York Times Notable Book award and was the #1 New York Times Bestseller for 3 years. The author has also written titles such as Half Broke Horses and The Silver Star. Jeannette Walls is the second-oldest child of 4, with the oldest being a girl named Lori, the youngest below Jeannette a boy named Brian, and the absolute youngest a girl named Maureen. Her mother’s name is Rose Mary Walls and her fathers’ was Rex Walls. The memoir begins not with the start of her life, but with a memory of her mother and her sitting and eating in a restaurant when she was an adult. It establishes an important baseline for her relationship with her mother throughout the book, and also sets up what kind of person her mother is for the reader. From there, the book continues on about her life as a young girl and the various different places she and her family travel to as she grows older. It features such sites as Battle Mountain, Phoenix, and other locations, and all throughout this bout of traveling, the interactions between the characters establish their various personalities and ideals. Her father is an intelligent, ambitious man with eccentric tendencies and grand plans for continuing their adventures. He teaches her much about math, science, the stars, and all the while still fulfilling the role of a caring father. Her mother is an aspiring artist and writer, and wherever they travel, whole rooms and a multitude of materials are dedicated to her mother practicing her craft. Brian is an athletic boy, always out playing and roughing it up in all the new places they frequently travel to. Lori is the typical intelligent bookworm, only occasionally venturing outside to play and normally stuck reading a book inside on a comfortable perch. Maureen is only a young baby for most of the book, and so I’ll not go into detail about her. It quickly becomes apparent to the reader, though, that her family is, to put it simply, heavily dysfunctional. For all her father’s brilliance, grand plans of adventure for the family, and everything he taught Jeannette, he was a severe drinker, and it wasn't uncommon for him to be gone for hours at a time, getting absolutely pickled and only stumbling home when he was retrieved by his family or managed the walk there. Her mother, in spite of loving her children, tended to place her own wants and desires above theirs were her art or literary career concerned, like the time she kept refusing to go to her job at their local school unless forced to by her kids. She also held out of the ordinary beliefs, and this governed the way she raised her kids. The chief example of this is when, as a very young child, she was being treated at a hospital for severe burns after spilling boiling water over herself at home. After a few weeks spent at the hospital, getting her burn wounds healed, her family broke her out of the hospital, with her mother herself suggesting that they should’ve just taken her to a local Native American witch doctor.

got this due to it being on the summer hw but my was this book insanely touching and just amazing! something i will remember for the rest of my life and surely tell others to get it! love this book, 1000000/10 😭♡

"The Glass Castle: A Memoir" by Jeannette Walls is an unforgettable journey through a life marked by hardship, resilience, and the enduring bonds of family, for better or for worse. This poignant memoir offers readers a captivating glimpse into the tumultuous world of a family struggling with poverty, neglect, and unconventional parenting. I wasn't sure when I first picked up the book, but after only a few pages in, I could not put it down. At its core, this is a coming-of-age story that revolves around Jeannette's unconventional upbringing by her free-spirited, often neglectful, parents. The Walls family lives a nomadic life, constantly on the run from debt, the law, and assumed societal conventions. Jeannette's vivid and candid writing style draws readers deep into her world, painting a vivid picture of their struggles and her complex feelings toward her parents. What sets this memoir apart is its ability to evoke a wide range of emotions. I found myself rooting for her (naturally), then rooting for her mom, and then oscillating wildly to a deep resentment for her parents neglect and frustration at their failures. The author's storytelling is both heart-wrenching and uplifting, leaving you with a profound sense of empathy for her and her siblings. If you've dealt with absentee or neglectful parents, you'll appreciate Jeanette's portrayal of the complicated love she holds for her own parents. Her ability to convey the inner conflict and the enduring bond she shares with her family is a testament to her writing prowess. It's a good book, though be prepared to feel incredibly frustrated at times, and incredibly melancholic at others. Honestly, I'd say this is a must-read for anyone that can relate to the complexities of having absentee or neglectful parents.