Book Club #1 Response

THE GLASS CASTLE

BY

JEANNETTE WALLS  

         According to most dictionaries, the definition of home is, "the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household." However, home takes a new meaning when it enters Jeannette's life in The Glass Castle. For Jeannette, she would not have a "home" at all if she followed the dictionary definition of home, for she moves from place to place, often staying for only a day or two. Having a drunk, alcoholic for a father and ditsy,immature mother, this is expected of Jeannette's life, especially having three other siblings. Continuing to move from place to place throughout the book, the reader wonders if Jeannette will ever have anything to call home.
         Money was hard to come by and in order for Jeannette's father to avoid paying bills and rent, he forced everyone to move before he could get caught with the landlords. As a result, Jeanette couldn't really call any place she moved in, a home. Several times during the story, Jeannette thought that her family had finally established a home to call their own, but she spoke too soon, when her father would wake the family up to get up and leave. However, Jeannette never lost hope, for she still had faith in the Glass Castle. This would be her family's dream house and she believed every new move was a new option to consider building the Glass Castle on and they would surely find that perfect land and would finally settle down and have a home. "Of course I love moving!"
         And finally Jeannette's wish had come true, or so she thought. The family had moved to Welch and they found a house that only cost a thousand dollars to buy. They were planning to pay fifty dollars a month until they paid off the cost. The house was old and run down, with mold growing and the house rotting in a certain places with no insulation. But Jeannette's father assured Jeannette that they just wanted the property so they could build the Glass Castle on it and would live in the house for the time being as it was built. Jeannette couldn't wait until it was built and marveled at the fact that she would have a home. She was so excited that she and her brother, Brian, dug a deep hole for the foundation of the house. But as soon as it was built, garbage bags started to pile in it since Jeannette's father couldn't pay the weekly garbage fee. So as the garbage increased, Jeannette's hope decreased until it finally was gone and Jeannette decided that it was time she made a home for herself without her dead beat father who never came through for her. At a last ditch effort to keep Jeannette with him, Jeannette's father brings up the Glass Castle and how he's ready to start. But Jeannette has lost faith in him and only says, "Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don't do it for me."
          The plan was to meet her older sister, Lori, in New York. Jeannette was desperate for a home and she hoped everything would end in New York City. But as soon as her bus pulled into New York, Jeannette knew this was her home. Jeannette pursued her dream in New York as a writer and owned a house with her husband, John, and her 15 year old step- daughter. Jeannette's family also made a home in New York and Jeannette never felt happier. It was there she stayed and called home. 
          Throughout the story, Jeannette has gone through an emotional journey. All her life she wanted a home and she had gone from hopeful to dejected and then finally enthusiastic. When you think about your home, you originally think it as a building you live in. Nothing important.  But really, your home is where you have family and can be happy. Jeannette found her home in New York, where she was with family and was happy. Having a home impacted Jeannette Walls in such a way that she retold it in The Glass Castle. 

Summer Response

RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA

BY

KIMBERLY McCREIGHT

Have you ever felt what its like to live in a shell your entire life? And finally when that moment comes when you can hatch from that shell, you realize your mistake but its too late to go back? That is what happened to 15 year old Amelia Baron. Attending one of the most prestigious and expensive schools in Brooklyn, who would have thought such a sweet, beautiful girl with straight A’s and a respected lawyer as her single mother, would have got into so much trouble that eventually led to her jumping off her school roof, to her suicide. Or was it suicide? Life crashing around her, Kate Baron cannot grasp the impossible idea that her only daughter would have taken her own life, especially under the fact that Kate hadn't had a single clue of the stress and pain that might have led to Amelia’s suicide. But with the police confirming the suicide, Kate can only blame herself for not being a good enough parent and her raging guilt that Amelia’s suicide could have been from her refusing and lying to her about Amelia’s real dad. Little did she know, Amelia was involved in a secret club that led her to be paralyzed in fear of the things that the club made her do and miserable in school. Kate might have continued to blame herself until she got a text from an anonymous text saying that Amelia didn't jump. Fueled with this new information, Kate sets out n a journey retracing the steps that led to her daughter’s death, while Amelia re-lives the moments up to her death. In this exciting novel, Reconstructing Amelia, by Kimberly McCreight, having a person in the world that you can be able to confide to and trust in, is valuable in life, and therefore you should not lose them at any cost.

Every time Amelia asked about her father, Kate always lied and said that she met her father at a bar and shortly after Kate found out she was pregnant with Amelia, he had left to Africa to help the poor there. It wasn't the truth but Kate didn't want Amelia to know the true identity of her father and so made up a wonderful father that she wished Amelia had. Naturally Amelia accepted it as truth even though she had doubts about her mother at a bar with a stranger. But recently before Amelia’s death, Amelia had received an anonymous text stating that her mother had lied to her. Amelia tried again to get the truth about Amelia’s real father, but again Kate lied. This led Amelia upset and crumbling to have her mother keep secrets from her. “I can’t even trust my own mother.” If Kate was to have told Amelia the real truth, maybe Amelia could have been able to confide to her mother of her real troubles and maybe this could have prevented her death.

Amelia and her best friend, Sylvia, had made a pact that they would never join a secret club unless they were both tapped to join. However, when Amelia was tapped to join the Magpies after school, Amelia couldn’t believe she was cool enough to be wanted in such a popular club with all the popular girls from her school. Giddily, Amelia pushed away thoughts about her pact and raced to the meeting space where she would meet her new club. She was given a choice to join or backout but Amelia was tired of being uncool and relished the idea that she would be known as one of the Magpies and s she broke her pact and joined. “It’s my time to have fun.” Little did Amelia know that this one “yes” sent her life into a pit of lies. She lied to her best friend and mother about her secret meetings for the Magpies and the parties she attended to. It dawned on her that she would never be able to talk to Sylvia the way she used to and that made life even worse. No longer was she able to talk to the closest people she had ever known and the lies ripped her apart as she refused to tell Sylvia the truth and avoided her mother. Amelia had never felt so alone in life, and so finally, she told Sylvia her secret joining of the club. Amelia feared that Sylvia would get angry and hate her but she was surprised that Sylvia was more hurt than angry that Amelia didn't trust her enough to tell her all this from the start. But Sylvia stayed and listened to Amelia, but Amelia held back, fearing that Sylvia wouldn't understand. Amelia could have saved herself trouble if she had only told Sylvia the whole truth.

Its hard to earn trust and be able to trust so when you've found those people you can trust, you can’t lose them. In this book, I think the major key point that led to Amelia’s death was her trust issues. She had people she loved and trusted but she second guessed them and instead lied. Amelia had to learn that her loved ones would never turn from her, no matter the damages she had done. She was scared to lose her mother and Sylvia by telling them the truth but she didn't realize that she was losing them anyway with her lies building a wall between her and them, that eventually came crashing down. Trust is not a small matter. It is important to pick out the true people who care about you in life, and the cheaters among them. But when you have found those special people, you can be sure that they will always stick by you through anything, and they will never judge you.