The Glass Castle

Mike Gagnon
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
9 ½
I read the book The Glass Castle. This is by far the best book I have ever read, and I’m not joking. This book is a memoir about a girl named Jeannette Walls. She was born into a poor family, and she had a younger brother, younger sister, and older sister. Their dad, Rex Walls, was in trouble with the government, so they had to do the “skiddadle”. This book covers them in many different places. They move around the country a lot, and end up in Phoenix, where they live for a few years. Their mom was an artist, so she liked to say, and a teacher. She landed a job in phoenix, but the money she got went into whiskey or vodka for the dad. He was horrible. All he did all day was sit at the bar, and then find odd jobs and occasionally come home with enough food for dinner. They never had a normal Christmas. They found other peoples trees a week after, and shopped at the thrift shops and had a week late Christmas. A couple years later, they finally move to Rex’s parents. They stay there for a couple years, until his mom molests Brian (Jeannette’s brother). Now you’d think they move out because of it, but no one believes him, and Rex’s mom kicks them out for being “disrespectful”. Rex gets worse as time moves on. When Lori (Jeannette’s older sister), is about 16, they save up everything they get for her to go to NYC. They come home one night to a drunk dad, and a smashed piggy bank. Lori leaves that summer and gets a job in NYC. Jeannette drops out of high school at age 17 and goes to live with Lori. Brian does too when he’s 17. Then Maureen(Jeannette’s little sister). Then after about 4 years, the parents show up, and are homeless in NYC. The kids are all successful by now. Brian is a cop, Lori has a job, and Jeannette is the first in the family to graduate college. Maureen moves to California, and they don’t hear from her. That is how the story ends, them all successful, and the parents poor, but they like being homeless. They call it an “adventure”.
The reason they call it The Glass Castle is because the dad has promised them it all along, but it never happens. Jeannette was closest to her dad, and always believed in him. The night before she moves to NY, he sits her down and says he’s starting the glass castle, and she just says she is leaving. Her dad was loving, but drank too much. Even in NY, when the parents call to say the dad is dying, he just asks if she can buy him alcohol.
This was the best book I have ever read. It may sound boring, but you can never fit the whole story and sadness in a summary. I recommend this book to anyone who likes exciting, but not action excitement books. It is a great story, and you have to read it in 11th grade English.