The Silver Star by: Jeannette Walls

Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: June 11, 2013 by: Scribner
Pages: 267
Rating: 4/5 stars

Bean Holladay is living in 1970's California when her mother abandons her and her older sister Liz to go "find herself." The sisters get along fine for a while, but when the money runs out they decide to leave California and go live with their patient Uncle Tinsley in Virginia. While there, Bean learns more about her father's past in the war, and while she becomes fascinated with family history, her once bright sister begins to slip deeper into a depression, and is soon abused by the town bully, a wealthy man named Jerry Maddox. Soon Bean will have to take on the role of big sister, as well as learn more about the complicated race and class relations in 1970's Virginia.

Last summer I seemed to be on a mission to read whatever Jeanette Walls book I could get my hands on. I love her writing and I always seem to be fully captivated in all of her books. The worlds she creates are just incredible. While this book did keep me fully engrossed, it wasn't necessarily my favourite of hers, and this is mostly because of I think when a white writer is writing about race, there are always some issues needing to be brought up.

First off on a positive note, I did love the concept of this book. I think Walls did a great job at capturing the atmosphere of the South during the 70's, and the characters were also very well written. Bean was courageous and optimistic, and I really felt for Liz. Walls wrote amazing characters and made me feel a lot of emotion for them.

I was kept engaged through the entire book, however I did find some issues with some of the terms that Walls used. While I totally understand that she is writing a very harsh depiction of racial issues in Virginia during the time, frequent use of the n-word really shocked me because at the end of the day, she is a white author. Her white characters really do speak negatively and stereotypically of the black characters, and again, while this definitely did happen during the time, I wonder if Walls consulted black men and women living during the time period to draw upon their experiences. I cannot speak to whether or not the use of the n-word is ok in this context because I am not a black blogger, but I would love to read black reviewers thoughts on the subject. It just didn't sit well with me.

Overall, this book definitely had some great aspects to it, but like I said, I need to read some reviews from POC bloggers to see their opinions. It definitely did get me thinking.

Have you read The Silver Star? What did you think?

The Glass Castle by: Jeannette Walls

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir
Published: January 26, 2006 by: Scribner
Pages: 288
Rating: 5/5 stars

Jeannette Walls tells the both tender and heartbreaking story of her life. Of living in a family of nomads, travelling along the Southwest desert and scrounging up whatever they could find. Her father was a drunk, but when sober, he captivated Jeannette and her three siblings with imagination and teachings that you could not replicate in a classroom. But when the money ran out, the family had to settle, and with it, Jeannette's father started drinking and became abusive. Their mother was absent and uncaring, and the Walls children began to fend for themselves. When they finally found the courage to leave home, Jeannette knew that this story had to be told.

Wow. Just wow. This book was unreal, unexplainable, probably the most captivating non-fiction I have ever read. What's incredible about this story is that it reads like a fiction, it's almost like the characters are made up and the author is simply telling just a heartbreaking tale. But it's all real. Jeannette used such vivid descriptions of her childhood that drew me in and made me not want to put it down.

Jeannette obviously had a hard life. Her and her siblings grew up very fast, and they could have ended up anywhere, but they decided to turn their lives around. But amazingly, Jeannette speaks of her parents with such fondness and affection. She doesn't look at them as horrid people who she is estranged from, instead, she looks upon them with generosity for their sacrifices and an appreciation for the fond memories. This is one strong woman.

I would recommend this book to anyone. Even if you don't like non-fiction, this book is not boring in the slightest and has such a beautifully painted picture of a not so beautiful life.

Have you read The Glass Castle? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess