The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually they found their way to New York City. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless, even as their children prospered.
The Glass Castle is truly astonishing - a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family. Poetic and powerful, The Glass Castle will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
“Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever to be set down on the page. This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Family History
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually they found their way to New York City. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless, even as their children prospered.
The Glass Castle is truly astonishing - a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family. Poetic and powerful, The Glass Castle will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
“Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever to be set down on the page. This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Family History
The Pearl - John Steinbeck
Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the Gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a seagull's egg, as "perfect as the moon." With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security...
When the news of Kino's great find - the "pearl of the world" - spreads throughout their small town, no suspects its power to deceive, to corrupt, to destroy. A parable of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.
"The Pearl is a many-layered story that teaches a deep lesson about the pursuit of wealth while at the same time exploring the differences between the sexes and the real meaning of family life. Every reader should experience this classic piece of fiction," praised Publisher's Weekly.
When the news of Kino's great find - the "pearl of the world" - spreads throughout their small town, no suspects its power to deceive, to corrupt, to destroy. A parable of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love.
"The Pearl is a many-layered story that teaches a deep lesson about the pursuit of wealth while at the same time exploring the differences between the sexes and the real meaning of family life. Every reader should experience this classic piece of fiction," praised Publisher's Weekly.