New Student Book Experience: Current Book: Book Reviews

Glass Castle Author Jeannette Walls

The committee recommends this book because:
This engaging, fast paced book draws the reader in from the first sentence. It includes strong messages about the importance of education and of taking responsibility for oneself and one’s future. While the author is female, the
story involves her entire family, including her brother and her father (who is a very strong presence). The author describes a nomadic life with constantly changing rules, roles, and expectations. She is a white American who
experiences a variety of cultures and a range of economic conditions from extreme poverty to upper middle class.

The story begins when the author is very young and proceeds chronologically well into adulthood. The author includes her experiences selecting, applying to, and attending college. She describes how the dynamic in the family changes as she and her siblings take on adult roles and move away from home. New college students may relate to her experiences adapting to new circumstances and learn from the way she makes the most of each situation.

What people are saying about The Glass Castle :

The autobiographer is faced with the daunting challenge of...attempting to understand, forgive and even love the witch...Readers will marvel at the intelligence and resilience of the Walls kids.

-Francine Prose, The New York Times Book Review

Charles Dickens has nothing on Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, the unflinching story about her grueling, nomadic childhood. Dickens' scenes of poverty and hardship are no more audacious and no more provocative than those in the pages of this stunning memoir.

–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Glass Castle will at times exhaust you, occassionally fill you with fury, and finally leave you in slack-jawed wonderment.

-National Review Online