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.