“The Glass Castle” written by Jeannette Walls is very captivating. It is a book about life growing up as part of the Walls family. It is full of vivid descriptors that help you picture life as a low class citizen, just barely getting by. You think life is bad when you’re without technology for a few days or you don’t have all the best clothes, but what if you were homeless or very close to homelessness. This is a shocking story that everyone should read when they feel sorry for themselves that makes you feel grateful for what you do have.

You feel the anger and frustration that Jeannette does when her dad comes home drunk, they have no money for food, or her mom is off in a daze. You feel her joy when she gets to eat, no matter how small the portion, and when she finally gets to escape from her family to New York. As she grows in her social class, Jeannette becomes ashamed of her roots and her now homeless parents.

Her book is easy to relate to because everything she feels about a situation, you feel the same way. There are many twists and turns that you do not always see coming that usually end up making the situation worse rather than better. She has a different style of writing and she tells you every little detail of her life, whether you like it or not.

When Jeannette Walls writes about her father, Rex Walls, you can tell that she idolizes him. She is the only one in their family who really understands him because she has the same mind as him. When everyone sees him as just a drunk she thinks he is just a misunderstood genius.

The way she describes her mom, Rose Marry, is as someone who is in her own world. All she cares about is reading and painting and her excuse for when everything goes wrong is that life is an adventure. As Jeannette’s sister, Lori, grows older she starts to act just like their mother, except a little more mature.

In the book, Jeannette describes her little brother, Brian, as her best friend. They are only a year apart and go everywhere together. As their dad starts to become a drunk and disappearing for days, Brian becomes the man of the house. Maureen is the youngest child of the Walls family and the most different. She has blonde hair and tanned skin instead of red hair and pale skin like her siblings. She is also always at her friends’ houses being raised by their parents. When she gets older she leaves her family and goes to California.

In the end of “The Glass Castle” Jeannette Walls gives you some vivid images of her family and how they all ended up. Reading this book helps you realize that no matter who your family is, they’ll always be there for you in the end. You should always be grateful for what you have today, because you might not have it tomorrow.