The Glass Castle

What two things did her mom say when Jeannette suggested she leave dad to get welfare or get a job herself?

"It's against the Catholic faith." and "I'm an excitement addict."

When Jeannette is going to drop out of school because she is $1000 short of the needed tuition, what does her dad do?

A week later, her dad gives Jeannette $950 and a mink coat to pawn that he has won playing poker with New Yorkers.

What was the ugliest pet that the Walls ever owned?

A wounded buzzer they named Buster

What college did Jeannette go to?

Barnard (sister college, all-female, to the then all-male Columbia University, then and now considered one of the best schools of journalism)

In what city did the Walls live in an old depot and where Jeannette gathered her collection of rocks?

Battle Mountain, Nevada

Why did they have to move away from Las Vegas?

Because Jeannette's dad played blackjack and one of the dealers figured out he had a system that was enabling him to win.

What reason did her dad give for ruining Lori's clay bust of Shakespeare?

Because he thought that Shakespeare was a fraud. (Do you think that's the whole explanation of why he did it?)

When Jeannette was in 1st grade, why did the 2 mexican girls beat her up?

Because she was tall, pale, skinny, and raised her hand too fast when the teacher asked questions because she was smarter and knew more than the other kids in her class.

What was Jeannettes favorite book?

Black Beauty

What was the family's first car? second? others

Blue Goose (Plymouth). Green Caboose (station wagon). Ford Fairlane, Piggy Bank Special (Oldsmobile). Elvis (gold Cadillac)

What was Jeannette's brother's name and relative age?

Brian (one year younger)

What would the family do after her father's plan of finding gold succeeded?

Build a glass castle

What did the nurse give Jeanette that she tried for the first time in her life?

Chewing gum

What famous person did Jeannette interview for her school newspaper?

Chuck Yeager

Why does Jeannette get whipped by her father with his belt?

For backtalking her mother and father. She responds to their demand for respect by saying if they want to be respected as a mom and dad they should act like a mom and dad.

How does Jeannette respond when Lori greets her at the German restaurant with "Velkomen to New Yorken"?

Grazi! (Why do all the clientele get a chuckle out of that?)

What did Jeannette's father make her do once after he had been in a fight?

He made her sew stitches in a gash in his arm,

How did Jeanette learn how to swim?

Her dad kept throwing her into the deep part of a hot spring until she finally could make it to the side by herself.

Why was Jeannette glad they didn't have enough money to buy her class picture one year?

Her mom put mayonnaise in her hair because she heard it was good for it but did not realize she was supposed to then wash it out.

Who did Jeannette see searching through a trash can as she rode by in a taxi?

Her mother

What did Jeannette's dad give her before she got on the bus to New York?

His favorite jackknife

Where did the kids ride when they were moving from Blythe to Nevada.

In the back of the U-haul, with the baby.

As family crossed Mojave Desert from S.F. to Midland what did Jeannette think was ugly but her mother thought was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen?

Joshua tree, "permanently stuck in twisted, tortured position"

What were the names of Jeannette's dog and cat when she was 3? (how did she "lose" each?)

Juju (bit by rattlesnake) and Quixote (thrown out of car by her father)

What was the name of the street on which the Walls lived in their house partly painted yellow?

Little Hobart Street

What were the names (and relative age) of Jeannette's sisters?

Lori (3 years older), Mary Charlene (died at 9 months, 2 years older), Marlene (5 years younger)

What was the name of the sister who died?

Mary Charlene

They could each bring one thing with them to Phoenix. What was Jeannette's one thing?

She chose to bring a geode.

How did Jeannettes mother finally help bring in money for the family?

She got a job at the middle school and taught Lori's class.

What did they find out about Grandma Smith when they were moving to Phoenix?

That she had died.

Who did the Walls move in with when they moved to West Virginia?

The father's parents, Erma and Ted, and uncle Stanley

What did the Walls call it when they had to leave town quickly?

The skedaddle

What is the setting of The Glass Castle

The time: from approximately 1957 to 2005. The places: Nevada (Battle Mountain, Las Vegas); California (Blythe, San Francisco); Phoenix, Arizona; Welch, West Virginia; and New York City

What did Jeannette and her brother and sisters fight over when it was cold at night?

Their dogs, Tinkle and Pippin, because they were warm.

What happened to Jeannette on her and her family's way to Las Vegas?

They took a sharp turn around some rail road tracks, the car (Green Caboose) door flew open and she fell out.

What disease did Jeannette's father come down with? What two diseases was he able to then (at least temporarily) "beat"?

Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis and Alcoholism.

Who touched Jeannette inappropriately while watching TV when she was in Welch, W. Va.?

Uncle Stanley

Where did Erma and Ted, Rex's parents, live?

Welch, West Virginia

Where were Jeannette's first jobs in New York?

1. hamburger joint on 14th St. in Manhattan 2. internship at The Phoenix and then full-time job

What are her mom's "options" to escape homelessness that Jeannette wants to discuss with her mom after her mom and dad become homeless?

1. move back to W. Va. or Phoenix; 2. get a job 3. sell her collection of antique Indian jewelry 4. sell the diamond ring 5. sell her property in Phoenix or her land in Texas 6. find a home-sitting arrangement like Jeannette's

What did Jeannette's dad buy on his first pay day in Phoenix?

3 bicycles

What did Jeannettes dad have her pet at the zoo?

A cheetah

What was Jeannette doing when she was set on fire?

Cooking a hot dog in pan of boiling water on gas stove

Who was responsible for sexually abusing her grandson Brian and, years earlier, possibly also her son Rex?

Erma

Where did Rose Mary Walls mother, Grandma Smith, live?

Phoenix, Arizona

What made Lori decide that she wanted to be an artist, just like her mom?

She got glasses at age 12 and she could finally see the world clearly.

What did Jeannette's mom do with the diamond ring that Jeannette and Brian found and wanted to use to pay off house and buy food?

She had it appraised and then kept it to help her self-esteem.

What idea did Jeannette come up with to increase circulation of the high school newspaper?

The Birthday Corner to get more students' names in the paper than just the few popular ones

At what job does Jeannette steal a watch (and then return it)? How does she justify her stealing?

The job was as clerk at a jewelry store for Mr Becker. She heard that others got commission as well as the $40 salary and felt she was owed. Also, Mr. Becker had touched her inappropriately and she was angry about that.

What addiction did Jeannette's father have? What addictions did Jeannette's mom claim to have?

father: alcohol; mother: reading, chocolate, excitement

What were Jeannette's parents' names?

mother: Rosemary father: Rex

How much is the land Jeannette's mother owns in Texas worth?

possibly $1,000,000

What extracurricular activity does Jeannette decide to get involved in?

proofreader and paste-up for the school newspaper, The Maroon Wave; she decides she wants to be a reporter

What does Jeannette decide to do when her guidance counselor advises that she should stay in Welch for her senior year since it is the highlight of your entire high school experience?

to leave for New York immediately after her junior year ended

What did Jeannette say she wanted for her 10th birthday?

For her dad to stop drinking, and he did for a while.

At the "family Christmas" in New York what is her dad's reaction to the gift of warm clothes from Jeannette?

He gets up and leaves and her mom explains, "He's the father. He's the one who is supposed to be taking care of you."

How did Jeannette's father make Jeannette safe after 6 weeks of hospital treatment for her severe burns?

He snuck her out of the hospital.

Jeannettes father would say that all the running around and moving was temporary because he had a plan. What was the plan?

He was going to find gold.

What did Billy Deel do the day after Jeannette gave him his ring back? And what did Brian do?

He went to where they lived and was shooting a BB gun at them. Brian got their father's gun and he and Jeannette shot back at him.

What was the important invention her father had in order to find gold?

It was called "The Prospector". It would dig into the ground and raise up the dirt to find the gold.

After her dad's death, what changes does Jeannette make in her life?

Jeannette was restless and needed to reconsider everything. A year later, she divorced Eric, moved to west side, taking walks west to river and on clear nights can see Venus, "glowing steadily."

What did Jeannette promise baby Maureen as she held her in the car on the way home from the hospital?

Jeannette would always take care of Maureen. (Jeannette is troubled on several occasions about failing to keep her promise to Maureen.)

What was her father's nickname for her and why?

Mountain Goat, because she was sure-footed and never fell down when climbing mountains.

What was the name of the piggy bank Jeannette and Lori had (and Brian contributed to) to save up money to move to New York?

Oz (Jeannette felt that Lori thought of New York as The Emerald City)

Why didn't Maureen have to dig throught the trash for food?

She made friends throughout the neighborhood and showed up at their houses throughout dinner time.

What did Jeannette do when she found out that it would cost 1200 dollars for braces?

She made her own braces for her teeth.

What did Lori say when her mom asked the kids if they had anything nice to say about their Grandma Erma when she died?

She said "Ding-dong, the witch is dead".

Who was Jeannette named after?

She was named after her high school teacher, who was also her father's English teacher, Jeanette Bivens.

Where did Jeannette and Lori first live in New York?

South Bronx

What made Jeannette's mom and dad "famous" upon their arrival in New York?

There was a radio report about a van that had broken down on the New Jersey turnpike that had spilled clothes and furniture all over the road and a dog had jumped out of van and was running about the turnpike.

What weapon did Jeannette and Brian use in their most spectacular fight against Ernie Goad?

a catapult made with a mattress and ropes looped over tree branches

What does Jeannette's mom paint after hearing about the child-welfare man's visit the evening before she gets a teaching job?

a picture of a woman drowning

What word did the father use for nose that made Jeannette laugh after being hurt when she feel from car?

snot locker

What did Jeannette's father give her for Christmas when she was 5?

the planet Venus