Here is a biography that will quietly take your breath away. The
main characters aren't famous, infamous, or doing anything that
will remotely change the world. But in every way, and in a
beautiful way, this is a story about the very essence of human
spirit.
The writer, Jeanette Walls, is one of four children brought up by
parents who are totally eccentric and often dangerously neglectful.
As Walls explains early in the story: "Mom believed that children
shouldn't be burdened with rules and restrictions." We experience
their growing-up years through the eyes of Jeanette and what an
incredibly moving and heartwrenching growing-up it is.
While Walls and her siblings aren't abused by their parents in the
conventional sense of the word, the constant chaos and upheaval in
their everyday lives and the things they had to do to deal with the
extreme poverty they faced - rummaging for food in dumpsters was an
everyday occurrence - leave the reader wondering how the kids could
even begin to survive such ramshackle parenting. Incredibly, three
of the four siblings do better than survive. They grow into highly
responsible, caring and contributing members of society. Perhaps
most touching and inspiring is the gentle love that Walls maintains
for both parents - together with a profound sense of acceptance
that this is simply the kind of parents she was born to. From the
opening paragraphs, when Jeanette, already grown-up, catches sight
of her mother living as a homeless person on the street in New
York, and through all the events which come before that moment,
this is a story which will touch your heart and make you count your
blessings, no matter what challenges you face.