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A Woman On The Street, Pages 3-5
Jeannette Walls sees her mom picking through the garbage because her parents live on the streets. She offers to help them out, but they don't want anything. She feels embarrassed talking about her parents so she lies. -
The Desert, Pages 4-14
She was 3 years old cooking hot dogs and her dress caught on fire giving her severe burns. She went to the hospital and had to get a skin gaft. The nurses questioned her and realized her parents didn't really watch what she was doing. Her parents also didn't like the hospital. One day her dad came and ran with her out the the car, with nurses yelling to stop, -
The Desert, Pages 15-16
Instead of having a fear of fire, she now loves it. -
The Desert, Pages 17-18
Unexpectedly, her dad said they had to go so they packed some stuff and took off driving with no exact destination. -
The Desert, Pages 19-25
She considered her family to be nomads as people were always trying to get ger dad. Her parents could never really keep a job, and they never really went to school. They really enjoyed living in the desert though. Her dad believed they would find gold with his inventions as he was very smart. His biggest plan was to build the Glass Castle which was to be a house made out of glass with everything you ever needed. -
The Desert, Pages 26-28
Her dad was in the air force, and tells them how he met their mother and got married 6 months later. One of their kids, Mary Charlene, died and they grieved a lot. To get money, he pawned his wife's ring which made her upset. -
The Desert, Pages 29-31
The kids sat in the car for hours while the parents went into the bar. She fell out of the car and waited a while for them to come back and get her. -
The Desert, Pages 32-34
Her dad was making money in a casino at Las Vegas, but of course then they had to move. A fire had burned down another hotel they were staying at so they had to live on the beach. -
The Desert, Pages 35-38
They now rented a small house in the Mojave Desert because her mom saw something special in a Joshua tree. Her dad made up a story of a Demon so she would not be afraid of anything. -
The Desert, Pages 39-41
They celebrated Christmas a week later than normal and did not believe in Santa Claus. They had no money, so for presents, their dad said for them to choose a star from the sky. -
The Desert, Pages 42-47
Her mom got out of the car when they were arguing, and her dad sped up after her and almost hit her. In the city, they had to go to school, where she exceeded very well. She would get jumped from 6 mexican school girls, so one day, her and Brian fought back. Her mom finally gave birth to a girl, and they called her Maureen. -
The Desert, Pages 48-50
They almost got caught so they had to leave the city. They rented a U-Haul truck and had to ride in the back. The back door flew open, and they almost fell out. -
The Desert, Pages 51-53
They now lived in a railway depot and could not afford furniture so they had to improvise. For some reason, her mom wanted a piano. When they tried to get it in, the plan failed and the piano was left outside. -
The Desert, Pages 54-57
Her dad got a job as an electrician, so they would go out to the Owl Club for dinner. They ate out so much that they had no money again. -
The Desert, Pages 58-61
The kids were enrolled into school and she already knew what the teacher was teaching. Other kids in the neighbourhood loved when their dad played. She liked to collect rocks and had set the labratory on fire, but her dad wasn't mad. -
The Desert, Pages 62-63
They liked to spy on the Green Lantern, where men came into a house full of women. -
The Desert, Pages 64-66
Her mom did not like to kill anything whether it be animals or nature. She learned how to swim when they went to a naturally sulfur spring called the Hot Pot. -
The Desert, Pages 67-72
Their dad lost his job, so they had to eat way less. They started scavenging any food they could find, and their parents got into a fight because both of them are doing nothing. The fight was so bad that her mom almost went through the window, and all of the neighbours were watching. -
The Desert, Pages 73-75
Their mom got a job as a teacher at the school but hated it. She was no good at it, and Lori often had to help her because she was so smart. -
The Desert, Pages 76-80
Her dad was in charge of her mom's paycheck and spent it only on alcohol. They had no food again, and Brian said that the people in the Green Lantern make lots of money. -
The Desert, Pages 81-90
A boy named Billy Deel moved into the neighbourhood. The other kids said they should date, but she didn't want to. She met his disgusting dad, and told her family. He had been trying to hook up with her and had "raped" her. She almost shot him with her dad's gun. They were now moving to Phoenix to live there and visit her grandma Smith. -
The Desert, Pages 91-93
Her grandma died, so now they lived in her big house. They now had some money that her mom inherited. -
The Desert, Pages 94-101
In the new school, the teacher assigned her to a reading group for gifted children. Lori got glasses and cried because she could acutally see things she never used to be able to see. Her mom went into the art career. Her parents now had all of this money and bought the kids very nice bikes, however, the house was starting to have some problems. -
The Desert, Pages 102-105
At night they would leave the door open and sometimes perverts would walk in thinking it was deserted. At church it was embarrassing as their dad would shout and make unnecessary comments. -
The Desert, Pages 106-109
Their dad took them to a zoo. Her and her dad went over the fence and touched the cheetah, while the cheetah licked them. They had to leave though once guards came by. -
The Desert, Pages 110-115
They had once again lost all of their money, and could not afford food. They had to shoplift and steal money from the bank. They started saving any money they could get as Christmas was arriving. They had bought a Christmas tree, but their dad got drunk and lit in on fire. -
The Desert, Pages 116-121
Her birthday wish was for her dad to stop drinking, and so he tried. Their car broke down 80 miles away so they started to walk back and ended up getting a ride home from an elderly woman. -
The Desert, Pages 122-125
Their dad had started drinking again. They had bought a cheap car for a very cheap price and had to move again. -
Welch, Pages 129-132
Over a one month period, they had finally arrived in Welch, where their dad lived when he was a kid. They were going to live with their dad's mom Erma and brother Stanley. They did not like her though. -
Welch, Pages 133-135
Their dad showed them around Welch and how run-down it now was. -
Welch, Pages 136-139
At their new school, she was placed into special classes for students with learing disabilities because the principal couldn't undertand her. A tall black girl did not like her and started beating on her. -
Welch, Pages 140-144
The bullying continued for 2 weeks. She saved a small black boy from a dog and Dinitia Hewitt stopped bullying her. Her grandma dispised black people. -
Welch, Pages 145-148
Their parents left to go back to Phoenix. Erma was touching Brian inappropriately, which started a fight between her and Lori. -
Welch, Pages 149-154
When their parents returned, they said they found a new house in Welch. When they went to move in that afternoon, they realized it was extremely small and run-down. To "decorate," her mom put paintings on the walls. -
Welch, Pages 155-158
They dug a whole under the house for the Glass Castle, but they ended up just filling it up with garbage. A rat now lived in the house with them before their dog killed it. To make the house look better, she painted it yellow, even though it still looked like a dump. -
Welch, Pages 159-163
They did not have it the worst, however; their whole neighbourhood was extremely poor and run-down. -
Welch, Pages 164-167
The whole neighbourhood liked to get into big fights and brawls. A kid named Ernie threw rocks at them so they set up a trap where tons of rocks fell and hit Ernie and his friends off their bikes. -
Welch, Pages 168-170
Her dad made her sew a gash in his arm that he got from fighting a mountain. -
Welch, Pages 171-174
Her dad would disappear for days at a time. They would all get made fun of from other kids, and would have to scavenge food from the garbage. Their mom would try to hide chocolate from them because she was a sugar addict. -
Welch, Pages 175-179
Winter had hit them hard that year, and it was hard for them to start a fire. The heat that they would get would just escape and heat the outside. She dreamt that they could have a furnace. -
Welch, Pages 180-185
Their grandma Erma had died, and their dad started drinking even more at the bars. She had to go get him from the bars or else he would not come home. They could only take baths at their grandpa and uncle's house, and one time when they went, uncle Stanley behaved inappropriately towards her. -
Welch, Pages 186-188
They found a diamond ring but their mom wouldn't sell it even though they all desperately needed it. -
Welch, Pages 189-192
It was very hot this time of the year, and one morning Dinitia invited her to go swimming with her and all of the other black women. At first she felt awkward, but then it was fine. -
Welch, Pages 193-195
A child welfare agent showed up, and she got very scared because she thought he was going to take them away from their parents. -
Welch, Pages 196-198
Her mom's paycheck was suddenly disappearing, so her and Lori set up a budget and were put in charge. -
Welch, Pages 199-202
She didn't really talk to Dinitia anymore because she was pregnant. She made her own contraption that was supposed to work like braces, as they couldn't affored real ones. -
Welch, Pages 203-205
She worked for the school newspaper and got to hear the real news now instead of what her parents told her. -
Welch, Pages 206-213
She felt like she failed to protect Maureen who often asked about California. Her mom did not feel like working anymore, so she was in charge of the money. Her dad would then talk her into giving him money for booze and cigarettes. To get the money back, her and her dad would go to bars and he would play pool. One time a guy took her upstairs but she resisted and her dad said she was fine. -
Welch, Pages 214-217
She landed a job at the local jewelery store, which she very much enjoyed. She wasn't getting paid commission so she stole a watch that she wanted. -
Welch, Pages 218-221
Her mom returned and refused to work. She said that she should act like a real mother and her dad beat her for saying that comment. She bought a plastic piggy bank that would hold her escape funds to get out of there. -
Welch, Pages 222-225
She and Lori wanted to move to New York, so they started saving any money that they could. Her dad won a car named Elvis from a pocker hand. -
Welch, Pages 226-230
Lori heard about a scholarship where students had to create a work of art, so she made a sculpture of Shakespeare that took days to make. Her dad came home drunk and wrecked the sculpture which upset Lor very much. Their dad also stole all of their New York funds, so Lori ended up going to New York because Mrs. Sanders bought her a bus ticket there. -
Welch, Pages 231-234
She became the editor for the school newspaper, and ended up making it very popular. An air force pilot named Chuck Yeager was visiting their school, so her dad made her memorize questions to ask him. -
Welch, Pages 235-238
She hatched a plan to move to New York earlier than expected so she could go to college there cheaper. This upset her parents; mainly her dad. -
Welch, Pages 239-241
It was time for her to leave to New York, and her dad gave her his pocket knife as she left and disappeard to the big city. -
New York City, Pages 245-251
She couldn't believe what she saw when she arrived in New York. Lori's friend Evan was waiting for her when she arrived. She got a job and quickly quit it to work at a school as a newspaper journalist. She got accepted to the college, and convinced Brian to also come to New York. They all lived in different places with jobs. -
New York City, Pages 252-254
3 years later their parents had also moved to New York as Maureen had moved shortly after Brian did, living with Lori. They were all fed up with their parents, who ended up now being homeless. -
New York City, Pages 255-257
She offered to help her parents out, but they said they enjoyed being homeless because it was an adventure. -
New York City, Pages 258-259
She gave her mom suggestions to get money but she turned them all down. -
New York City, Pages 260-261
The winter was bad for their parents, and they seemed to look even worse every time she saw them. -
New York City, Pages 262-263
Her dad got TB and had to stay in the hospital for 6 weeks. He didn't accept his presents at Christmas because he had nothing for her. -
New York City, Pages 264-265
She couldn't afford to enroll for college again, but her dad forced her to, giving her $950 he won from playing poker. -
New York City, Pages 266-268
Her parents found a place they could live at for free as it was so run-down, but they felt like they finally belonged there. She met a guy named Eric and moved in with him. -
New York City, Pages 269-271
She got a job that she loved, but hates constantly lying to people about her parents because she feels so embarrassed. -
New York City, Pages 272-273
Her and Eric got married, and shortly after her mom's brother Jim died. Her mom asked her to buy the land for her because it costs one million dollars. She got very mad and confused because her mom has the exact same size of land, so technically they could have had it better the whole time. She refused to buy the land, and her mom was very disappointed in her. -
New York City, Pages 274-276
Maureen ended up living with her parents, eventually stabbing their mom who did not die, but was sent to an upstate hospital. She later moved to California. -
New York City, Pages 277-279
Her dad called her and asked her to bring him cheap liquor. They talked about the plans of the Glass Castle and life in general. -
New York City, Pages 280-281
2 weeks later her dad had a hear attack, and died when they turned the machines off. A year later, she left Eric and moved into a small apartment. -
Thanksgiving, Pages 285-288
She had the whole family come to her and her second husband John's house for Thanksgiving. Everybody was now grown up and living their own lives. They later had a toast to her dad, Rex Walls.