"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls’s no-nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town--riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband, Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette’s memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle. Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds—against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn’t fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Summary from Amazon I read one of Jeannette Walls's other books, The Glass Castle, last summer and I really enjoyed it--plus there are a lot of hidden "easter egg" connections between her books in this one! This is a story that, at its core, represents coming of age and survival in a world that even though it's not our own modern-day world, the lessons Lily learns in it still hold true. Okay, now that we have our daily sentimentality out of the way... Lily is amazing. She's such a powerful character, and a kind of character I like to call "work-in-progress-statue" characters. That means that she's a dynamic character, who changes throughout the book, but it goes deeper in that she is "chiseled" by each of her experiences; Jeannette Walls conveys Lily's changing attitudes and virtues perfectly. It really surprised me; I had to look back at the front cover of the book to make sure that Jeannette was really the author, not Lily. Overall, this book has great character development, a simple but still intriguing plot line, and a great batch of settings that take you back to your childhood dreams of living on a ranch. I'd say a 7/10 for this book--it's exceptionally well written! Read on for more + some spoilers! -Mallory As I mentioned before, this book contains a few "easter eggs" (hidden connections) to Jeannette's other books, especially The Glass Castle and Jeannette's relatively elusive mother Rosemary. In this book we learn about how Rosemary became an artist and married Rex Walls, and that really gives a stronger basis for their marriage as described throughout The Glass Castle.
I also love the chapter on the ranch about Halloween, when Rosemary's dress catches fire in a jack-o'-lantern. This is perfect because Lily describes how that's happened to her family members before and therefore must "run in the family". If you've ever read the first few chapters of The Glass Castle, in which something similar happens to Jeannette, you'll know why I thought this was an amazing touch. While we're on the topic of The Glass Castle, I think that these two books go together very nicely--you'll get a lot more out of reading both of them than you will by just reading one or the other, trust me. Jeannette Walls has an AMAZING writing style: she makes nonfiction memoirs, a genre which, in general, turns young adults in particular away because of fears of boredom, sound like fiction--a very valuable skill in authors. As I've already said, this book is an amazing addition to The Glass Castle, or by itself, and it conveys a very strong message about the things that make life worth living. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment suggestions! -Mallory
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