Shannon, Nancy, Sherry, Maureen, Carolyn, Amy, Jenni, and Pamela (not in the picture), were all there to discuss the book.
We had a great time discussing the "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. It was a memoir, which was a little different, but everyone agreed it was a captivating book.
Here is a quick synopsis to give you a background: Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict."
This book touched off a variety of discussions on
-
Do some people choose to be homeless?
-
How to teach your kids to be self-reliant and responsible like the Walls children, but without their intense experience.
-
What do parents owe children? What do children owe parents?
-
Different parenting techniques like "Love and Logic"
-
Age appropriate responsibilities
This book really highlighted the struggle that most parents have with assigning the right level of responsibility to their children. I would highly recomend this book!
Next month we are reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer