The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This heart wrenching memoir of Jeannette Walls was probably my favorite of all the books we experienced during this blogging journey. I actually listened to the cd version on my way to and from CT over break. The up side of this was that the narrator was excellent and the story unfolded in a truly captivating way; the down side, I couldn't skip to the last page to see how it all turned out in the end!

I'm not sure where to begin. There were times I found my self shouting at the dashboard, "Don't you dare give him any money...are you crazy!??" and then other times I needed to wipe a tear or two from my eye. I think what surprises me the most about Walls's work is her lack of sentimentality. She tells her story with much objectivity and honesty. She does not blame or excuse her parents, as one reviewer said, "The author's tell-it-like-it-was memoir is moving...she neither demonizes nor idealizes her parents..." I, however, found it easy to demonize them!

To be honest, at times her parents impressed me. In the beginning I thought, They're a bit odd, but not so bad,and they were raising bright, creative, unconventional thinkers, but as Rex spiralled downward and her mother went from flighty to unstable, their unconventional ways became a curse.

For me there were a couple of very poignant parts of the book. The first was the section where Jeannette talks about how much she loved the bookA Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and how much she was like Francine- both having alcoholic fathers and tough childhoods. I too loved this book as a young girl when I read it. I didn't have an alcoholic father, but we certainly had some rough spots and struggled as a family. I believe that it was my immersion in books, especially those like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, that gave me the incentive to do better and be more.

The second situation that gave me pause and made me think was the section where Jeanette's mother and older sister are gone for the summer and Jeannette is "in charge." She started the summer thinking she was going to be in control and then realized how hard it is to stand up to her father. This was the section in which I yelled at the CD player. And it broke my heart when Rex lets her go up to the apartment with the pool player.

Would students read this book? I think it definitely has an audience in the high school, especially for older students. I could almost see this as a good lit. circle book, paired with Angela's Ashes or even A Child Called It (which students love to read!) I wonder if any of the upper level ELA classes do a unit or circle on the memoir? Anyone know?

I am anxious to see what everyone thought!

Hole in My Life - by Jack Gantos

"Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos was a quick read, however I am not sure I would recommend this book to students. Gantos tells his story in a journal form about his teenage years and his "adventures". The story starts in Fort Lauderdale, travels to St. Croix after finishing high school on his own. In St. Croix, Gantos meets up with a shady character who hire him to help smuggle hash to NYC. I feel students will read this book and think that smuggling drugs is glamorous and the punishment will be light. Being that this story takes place in 1971 when convictions may have been easier.

Stick Figure by Lori Gottlieb

This memoir may be a quick read for students. Written in a journal format was a refreshing style since it was easier to follow along with than "Lucky Man". As an eleven year old, Lori gets a lesson early in life about what women feel about eating. Her mother skips desserts, tastes from her husbands plate and mentions how important her appearance repeatedly. Definitely a problem in society during the 70's and perhaps still an issue today in 2010.

I was amazed at how young Lori was when she wrote this journal as well as how quickly she deteriorated. I was very surprised at the awareness of eating habits that an eleven year old girl noticed. The relationships in this memoir between Lori and her friends, her parents, andf her doctor all played a role ub her eating disorder. The one relationship that played an important factor in her getting better was with the terminally ill, Nora. I think this story will appeal to students because they can maker connections to Lori about appearance and how peers relate to them.