Memorable Memoirs
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
This book was recommended to me by a friend who barely reads. That’s how powerful it is. The Glass Castle tells the story of Jennette Walls and how she became extremely successful after enduring a chaotic childhood. The book opened with this beautiful contrast of Walls walking into her quaint apartment on Park Avenue and then flashing back to her nomadic childhood.
It describes Walls’s childhood of having to live in mobile homes, ratty apartments, and in the basements of other people’s homes and scrambling to survive. It’s a very tough spot as you may feel some anger towards Walls’s parents for putting her through that. However, you also get a glimpse into how difficult poverty is to survive and how it does not bring about the best in people. Another important aspect is the Walls’s detailing of the shame that comes with the economic condition.
Overall, it an amazingly elegantly written and adventurous memoir.
I’m Glad My Mom Died
by Jenette McCurdy
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of death, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, and mentions of eating disorders.
As someone who is admittedly a “mommy’s girl,” the title of the book is disturbing. However, once you read it, you understand. In fact, if Debra McCurdy was my mother, I would want her dead, too. The book details the life of Jenette McCurdy. A former child star best known for her roles on the Nickelodeon shows iCarly and Sam and Cat, McCurdy describes a horrible childhood where her impoverished, cancer-ridden mother forced her daugher to become a child star. This was in part because Debra saw it as the only way to escape poverty and because she herself desperately wanted to be a star but unfortunately didn’t make it. It is quite sad as it details the sexual abuse McCurdy’s mother put her through, as well as how McCurdy’s mother pressured her daughter into an eating disorder, and the not-so-glamorous life as a child star.
All in all, if you were an ICarly kid or just want a good book to read, this is it.
—Jalaine Olks, Books Editor