The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls chronicles her upbringing in a family both deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. Her father, when sober, was brilliant and charismatic, teaching his children physics and geology and urging them to embrace life fearlessly; when he drank, he became dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred domesticity and did not want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves, feeding, clothing, and protecting one another until they eventually found their way to New York. Their parents later followed them and chose to be homeless even as the children prospered. The book was adapted as a 2017 film starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.