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The Silver Star A Novel Jeannette Walls 9781451661507 Books

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The Silver Star A Novel Jeannette Walls 9781451661507 Books

I read Silver Star after reading Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle, both of which were based in the life and family of the author and were jarringly authentic (and I loved them). The Silver Star seemed like a retelling of Walls' story, but with happier circumstances, an attempt to heal the bleak and really heartless neglect that her parents actually provided with a story where the neglect was escapable. The free spirited father of the Glass Castle becomes the free spirited but dead father with the warm and loving family who sheltered Bean (Jean), and the neglectful, narcissistic mother was counter balanced by the well meaning if out of touch uncle. The author grants her young characters, Liz and Bean a reprieve that Jeannette Walls and her siblings never had. Their lives are still difficult. Bean's older sister Liz suffers, but in the end the villain dies and and Bean and her sister are accepted into the community as Jeannette never was as a child in The Glass Castle. Walls doesn't disregard the bleak reality of these children's lives, but she smooths away the jagged edges so that there is an hospitable place for them to grow and flourish. The wonder, though, is that Jeannette Walls herself lived to tell a kinder tale than the one into which she was born.


Tags : The Silver Star: A Novel [Jeannette Walls] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Silver Star, Jeannette Walls has written a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world—a triumph of imagination and storytelling.<BR><BR>It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister,Jeannette Walls,The Silver Star: A Novel,Scribner,1451661509,Coming of Age,Family Life,Literary,Self-actualization (Psychology) in adolescence,Self-actualization (Psychology) in adolescence;Fiction.,Sisters,Sisters;Fiction.,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,FICTION Biographical,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Family Life General,FICTION General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Coming of Age,FictionFamily Life - General,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),United States,jeannette walls; half broke horses; silver star; homelessness; bestseller; coming of age novel; homeless; 20th century; 21st century; 50 book challenge; non-fiction; nonfiction; homeless persons; books about dysfunctional family; autobiographical novel; novels set in california; journalism; book club; journalist; neglect; dysfunction; contemporary; children of alcoholics; childhood neglect; growing up; family; mental health; mental illness; parenting; resilience; poverty; psychology; adversity; obstacles; poor; relationships; siblings; social science; survival; strength; novels set in virginia; glass castle novel,jeannette walls; half broke horses; silver star; homelessness; bestseller; coming of age novel; homeless; 20th century; 21st century; 50 book challenge; non-fiction; nonfiction; homeless persons; books about dysfunctional family; autobiographical novel; novels set in california; journalism; book club; journalist; neglect; dysfunction; contemporary; children of alcoholics; childhood neglect; growing up; family; mental health; mental illness;parenting; resilience; poverty; psychology; adversity; obstacles; poor; relationships; siblings; social science; survival; strength; novels set in virginia; glass castle novel;

The Silver Star A Novel Jeannette Walls 9781451661507 Books Reviews

Dare I say I was thoroughly disappointed with this book? It feels sacrilegious to even type those words! I'm giving "The Silver Star" 2 stars, not because it's a total garbage book, but because I had higher expectations for this author. Taking that out of the equation, the book, alone, would be a 3-star.

I'm sure, as most other people, I was looking forward to this next book by one of my favorite authors. "The Glass Castle" ranks in the Top 5 of my "favorite books of all time" category. Loved "Half Broke Horses," in which Walls created a believable (and interesting) fiction novel out of true family stories/memories. Both of her previous books are the kind that stick with you, which you recommend to others, and that you wish you'd never read....so you could read them all over again.

I didn't realize that this was going to be a purely fictional story, so I had to get over that initial disappointment. But having read, "Half Broke Horses," I had no doubt Walls could write a great fiction novel. However, in this book the characters didn't resonate with me. I didn't root for any of them, which is DREADFUL when that even includes a girl who was assaulted. I knew every second that I was reading the book that it was exactly THAT....a fictional book. I didn't get lost in the characters, the storyline or in the author's style of writing.

It was the storyline of a sophomoric author. An easy concept that's been done a zillion times before. A crazy mother, two sisters sticking together through the chaos of their lives, a life of town-hopping. So far, this is the plot of "Mermaids," correct? (To be honest if I had more time, I could probably dissect the whole book into separate movie plots). The characters were predictable, the storyline was predictable, and the outcome of every conflict was predictable.

It became so dragged out and boring, by the time we got to the courtroom trial, I literally skipped to the end of that chapter just to confirm that it ended as I suspected it would. I didn't care about the trial and furthermore, I didn't want to risk reading about someone in the court room yelling, "The truth! You can't handle the truth!" Too many cliches in this book for my liking.

All in all, I still believe Jeanette Walls is a better author than this and I hope she comes out with more books. I'm not giving up on her writing another winner in the future.
It's the summer of 1970, and sisters Liz and "Bean" Holladay are alone while their eccentric mother Charlotte takes some time away for herself.

Although she's left the girls some money for a month or so, they are starting to get nervous as weeks pass without word from her. After all, Liz is 15 and Bean only 12, and neighbors are beginning to catch on. Not knowing what else to do, the sisters decide to leave California for Virginia -- and the uncle they last saw as babies.

Once they arrive, they find Uncle Tinsley and his life not at all as they imagined. Yet little by little, the trio acclimates to a shared life.

Yet even when Charlotte returns, it's clear that all is not well. She seems to have suffered some mental setbacks, and money is a huge issue as well. Worse, Uncle Tinsley refuses to acknowledge it, as the Holladays were one of the town's founding families.

Overall, Walls sets up an intriguing premise, with complex characters and the potential for numerous rich storylines. Not only are their family secrets with which to contend, but there's also heated racial tension, as the two town high schools are finally to integrate in September. Yet Walls fails to delve into any of these stories as fully as she might, and what she does write lacks anything to make it stand apart from other similar-themed books. Having read The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses, I feel the author is fully capable of much more, so this is especially disappointing.
I felt so bad for the girls and yet so humbled. They were given a mother who wasn't capable of being one and yet managed to thrive. Serious situations were shown with pragmatism merely as a part of growing up and a lesson learned (sometimes a hard one). The girls were so different in personality and appearance and yet supported each other without fail. Their mother was simply incapable of being that and as I wanted to not like her but she wasn't unlikeable. She was simply incredibly flawed and never should have been a parent. Wonderful prose. And I sat up and read it late at night and that the hallmark of a good book.
I read Silver Star after reading Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle, both of which were based in the life and family of the author and were jarringly authentic (and I loved them). The Silver Star seemed like a retelling of Walls' story, but with happier circumstances, an attempt to heal the bleak and really heartless neglect that her parents actually provided with a story where the neglect was escapable. The free spirited father of the Glass Castle becomes the free spirited but dead father with the warm and loving family who sheltered Bean (Jean), and the neglectful, narcissistic mother was counter balanced by the well meaning if out of touch uncle. The author grants her young characters, Liz and Bean a reprieve that Jeannette Walls and her siblings never had. Their lives are still difficult. Bean's older sister Liz suffers, but in the end the villain dies and and Bean and her sister are accepted into the community as Jeannette never was as a child in The Glass Castle. Walls doesn't disregard the bleak reality of these children's lives, but she smooths away the jagged edges so that there is an hospitable place for them to grow and flourish. The wonder, though, is that Jeannette Walls herself lived to tell a kinder tale than the one into which she was born.