Sunday, November 27, 2011

10. Recommend this book?

I would recommend this book to other AP students. It is a very good book to read because it shows how hard of a life the Walls family had, but in the end how much all the kids accomplished. It could be sad at times because of some of the events that occurred, but at the end it had a happy tone. Many students would enjoy reading about all the adventures they experienced.

9. Book Summary

"The Glass Castle" is a memoir of Jeannette Walls childhood. It included her parents and three siblings. She wrote about all adventures her entire family experienced. As she remembers her first memory of her pink dress catching on fire from cooking herself lunch because her mom was painting, you can tell the kids were on their own. You can also tell she was calm about everything that occurred. After that event she became fascinated with fire. The family then moved during the night and encountered many adventures. One night they slept in the desert, Jeannette fell out of the car as they were driving, and the reader learned about the plans for the Glass Castle. As they moved from one state to another you learned more about her life and family. Her parents didn't know how to handle money very well so they were always trying to find ways earn money and find food. When they did have money they would spend it on things that were not needed so it would disappear quickly. They never had a real place to call home and when they did live in a house it was not very nice. At one time they had a nice house in Phoenix that they inherited from their grandma, but it was very old and they didn't take care of it so it didn't last long. After they moved to Welch and lived with their other grandparents, but they didn't get along with them so they bought their own house that was small. As the kids became older the family became more distant and they all had goals of their own to accomplish. Jeannette and her sister Lori saved enough money and they had a plan to move to New York. Once Lori moved to New York, Jeannette followed her and soon their entire family moved there. As the book ended the family was getting along well and they spent Thanksgiving together.

8. Best Chapter

Throughout the book their were many good chapters, but one of the best was the Thanksgiving section. As I read the book I wondered what would happen at the end. Although they grew up with a lot of hard times you got to see how much they accomplished. I didn't think they would be as successful as they are because that wasn't how they grew up by moving all the time form place to place.

7. Author's Tone

On page 25 of the book the tone is hopeful. Their dad was describing the plans for the Glass Castle and the kids listened. Jeannette Walls explained everything the house would include like a glass staircase and a glass ceiling. All they had to do was find gold and they made it sound like that would be easy.

6. Significant Events

1. Jeannette Walls was burnt by fire as a kid - This event is her earliest memory and shows how strong she is and doesn't let that effect her. After the event she actually became interested in fire and wasn't scared of it.

2. Jeannette and her family rush out of the house during the night - They are running from the bill collectors and they tell their kids it's another adventure, but as you read you can tell they don't like the adventures anymore.

3. The Glass Castle plans are talked about - Their family has a dream of building a house in the desert and it shows the parents really do care about the kids.

4. Jeannette tumbled out of the car - She thought her parents would leave her, but they didn't and you see they all care a lot about each other.

5. The family saw the Joshua tree - Their mom thought the tree was amazing and had to paint it and their dad found a house they would live in. The tree related to them because they could easily live in the desert like it could.

6. They move into their new house in Phoenix - The family could have lived well for a while with the money they inherited, but they spent it all quickly and that showed they didn't know
how to spend their money correctly.

7. The family goes to the zoo - They go to the cheetah cage and it licks their hand. This experience shows how brave and adventurous their family is.

8. The family moves to Welch - The kids meet their grandparents and don't like them very much so they later buy their own house in Welch and begin the foundation for the Glass Castle, but their dad throws garbage in it instead.

9. Lori moves to New York first - Jeannette then follows and finally the entire family moves to New York and they all go their own ways to accomplish their own goals.

10. The family has Thanksgiving together - At the end you see everyone has went there own way to accomplish goals, but still cares about their family.

5. Important Places

Throughout the book the Walls family travels from place to place. They never really find a place and call it home until the end of the book when they stay in one place longer than they had any other. They had stayed in Phoenix and Welch. In Phoenix they had inherited a house from their grandma. It was a nice house and better than what they had been living in. They lived in the house for a while and everything went well, but then they decided to go to Welch. Once they got their they weren't as happy. They had to live with their grandparents and they didn't get along very well. After a while they bought their own house and stayed their a long time until the family started to separate and move to New York.

4. Important People

"The Glass Castle" includes many important people throughout the chapters. Jeannette and her parents are the most important people throughout the book. Her siblings are also important, but she has many more experiences that have an impact. As a kid Jeannette Walls was skinny and had red hair. She was curios at times and didn't let much bother her. Her parents cared about their kids, but didn't watch them very well and didn't give them much. Although they tried they never accomplished much. Jeannette's dad worked small jobs occasionally and her mom painted pictures trying to become an artist. When they did have money they would spend it on crazy things and before they knew it they had spent it all. They had goals, but rarely accomplished them. Jeannette Walls went through so much during her childhood, but continued to be strong as she went through new experiences.

3. "The Glass Castle"

The title of this book has a lot of importance. In the book the Glass Castle was a dream the entire Walls family hoped to build one day. This was a plan for a house in the desert and all they had to do to accomplish this goal was find gold. This relates to the book because they always referred to the Glass Castle when something wasn't going great they would think about the Glass Castle to make everything better. Although they never accomplished this goal it helped them get through some hard times.

2. Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls wrote "The Glass Castle" which is a memoir of her early life. She also wrote Dish and Half Broke Horses. Along with writing those books she has also written many columns for the newspaper. She is well known for her work on the MSNBC.com gossip column "Scoop". She graduated from Barnard College in 1984 and wrote for many magazine and newspaper publishers. She has accomplished so much with what happened when she was younger and still continues to.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

1. "The Glass Castle"

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle. Scribner; 1st edition. 9 Jan. 2006.