The Silver Star: a story of discovery

The Silver Star is the newest book by Jeannette Walls and her first book of real fiction. It is the story of Jean “Bean” and her sister, Liz after their mother disappears and they live with their uncle in Virginia.

Jean is 12 years old and her sister is 15 when their mother, Charlotte, an aspiring songwriter, singer, and actress disappears. Fearing they will be picked up by the authorities for not having their mom home, the girls take off, traveling from California to Virginia to their mother’s childhood home and their Uncle Tinsley, who is not happy to see them but takes them in. The girls explore their new town, where they met Jean’s father’s family. The Wyatts offer Jean some history about her father, her mother and the town. With school approaching, the girls decide to get jobs in order to buy new clothes. They get a job with Jerry Maddox, a man who appears to be up to no good and hires the girls. Liz becomes his private secretary and Jean becomes his wife’s helper with the children. The jobs quickly go from good to bad to worse as Liz finds her herself in a tough situation and goes up against the town bully, Mr. Maddox.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read and I truly enjoyed the character, Jean. I enjoyed her journey of discovery who she is and who her father was. I enjoyed how the military medal, The Silver Star, plays into the story. Although the resolution of the conflict fell short and rushed, I enjoyed this story of discovery and watching Jean mature and grow. The book makes reference to To Kill a Mockingbird a lot and I think Ms. Walls was trying to write a similar story. While The Silver Star is a good book, it is nowhere near the great storytelling of To Kill a Mockingbird.

“No one who dares to be great and reach for the stars worries about being realistic.” -Charlotte

Half Broke Horses a true life novel by Jeannette Walls: a review

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Wells is a true life novel about her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. A true life novel is biography with fictionalized information because it cannot be verified and the details are vague.

The book opens with 10 year old Lily in the fields with her younger brother, Buster, 9, and young sister, Helen, 7, when the trio is caught in the middle of a flash flood on their homestead along the Pecos River. Through insight and bravery, Lily is able to get her siblings in a tree where they stay all night and wait until the water subsides. He father, Adam Casey, is a dreamer with moneymaking schemes which don’t work out. Her mother, Daisy Mae, feels she is not made to live on a homestead and always talking about “our due.” After a tornado destroys their house, the family moves to the KC Ranch in Hondo Valley, Capitan Mountains, New Mexico. As Lily grows, she learns the rough life of breaking horses and begins her career early as a teacher since teachers were in short supply for the rural areas during WWI. She would hop from town to town, teaching as long as she was needed. The book ventures into her married life and motherhood and her ability to find ways to survive in the toughest economic times. 

Half broke Horses is an easy read and if you’ve read The Glass Castle, many details will be repeated especially when Ms. Walls’ mother enters the story. I enjoyed the book as a fictionalized version of her grandmother’s life. I enjoyed the parents’ descriptions about the Lord. Her mother said that if you want to see the love of the Lord, look at the sunrise. Her father would say if you want to see the wrath of the Lord, watch a tornado. I also had to laugh at the “foreshadowing” as the author writes about her mother. For instance, at Rosemary’s birth, the midwife is claimed to have said, “I see a wanderer.” There was one glaring typo that I found that really irritated me for the rest of the book. In an incident where Lily must whip Rosemary for disobedience, it is written “…then whipped off my belt and started hiding her” (page 211). I know the author meant hitting. I really dislikes typos, even my own. I think that a book being published would be more closely checked for typos. Overall, Half Broke Horses is an easy read with great details about life in the Southwest during the first half of the 20^th century. If you’re a fan of Jeannette Walls, you will enjoy this book.

“Most important thing in life is learning how to fall” –Adam Casey

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: a memoir of a different type of childhood

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir about her childhood and life with her parents. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, were dreamers who set out to have a life beyond the dictates of society. Ms. Walls retells the adventures and missteps of her childhood.

The book opens with adult Jeannette seeing her homeless mother on the street, rummaging though the trash. Hoping that she’s not spotting, she runs back to her safe apartment. Ashamed that she ran from her mother, she opens up on how her mother ended up on the street. The Walls’ family’s life as they lived in various places of the southwest and eventually a small town in coal country of West Virginia. The Walls children go through various injuries that would seem extreme to anyone else but to her parents, they were battle scars of life and they would learn and survive. The family had the habit of picking up and leaving in the middle of the night. They lived like nomads, moving from place to place, only leaving when they got caught or were in danger of getting caught. Caught for what? Jeannette’s dad always told fantastical stories about why they had to run, mostly in entertain the children.

The Glass Castle is her father’s impossible dream. His dream of a big house in the desert with glass ceiling and walls with solar panels. Her father always had a “get rich quick” schemes. Her parents’ relationship was volatile fueled by alcohol and disappointment. As the children grow and learn to see their parents’ lives and lies for what they were. They find the strength within themselves to better themselves. Eventually all the children would make it to New York City. There, they would graduate high school, college and begins their careers. All the while their parents live their lives as they always have, on the edge of society, taking with little giving and making promises that cannot be delivered.

I enjoyed reading The Glass Castle, although there were sometimes I thought this can’t be possible but then I’ve heard stranger stories. Jeannette Walls’ story is told with brutal honest and love. As you read, you see the world through the wonderment of a 3 year old eyes to the critical eye of an adult. You get that the parents’ loved their children and they did their best in their education and their care. They just couldn’t or didn’t want to live the conventional life that everyone else did.

“Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. 

You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more” 

–Rose Mary Walls