The Silver Star: A Novel

This is a stunningly apt quote for this glimmering story of Bean, 12, and Liz, 15. Similar to Walls' other books, their mother is narcissistic and unstable. However this mother is fictional and brings a fresh profile to this book. She and the girls live in California, but she disappears sporadically to seek work as a star or to pursue a man. Despite her avowal that nothing would be as important as her two girls, she leaves them for months with $200 for pot pies. When social services get too close, they travel to Virginia to stay with their certainly eccentric Uncle Tinsley. After Bean begs to bury her pet turtle Fido, the girls capture his heart, and he brings them into his home. Our narrator Bean is preternaturally wise with the charming erratic naïveté of a young girl. She isn't much for suffering fools,but she has befriended a number of the marginal of a failing mill town. Endearing is Aunt Al of the poor side of the family who nurtures the girls in her own way. Her children think "I hung the moon and scattered the stars." Her cousin Joe is that jewel in the rough, the honorable country boy. In the hands of a less skilled writer, the entire cast could easily go to pieces in a morass of cliche, but this author breathes life into her characters and enable them to encounter the inevitable powerful town boss with a fresh approach. The prose bears the mark of a small Southern town, and addresses the problems of the day with the Californian born Bean's take on the then shocking issue of integration. Many of us have awaited this book with anticipation, and I can say it has been worth the time. Those of you new to Walls will be treated to a talented writer.

Like most other reviewers, I will preface my review by stating that The Glass Castle is one of my all-time favorite books. I try to pass my copy onto anyone who will take it. I was so thrilled with GC that I purchased her follow-up Half Broke Horses, which I also thoroughly enjoyed and lent to my mother to read. Somehow last month, I stumbled upon a review of a new Jeannette Walls book and I was very excited to get my copy. It's an easy read for sure and a quick one. Overall, I liked it. It had the same feel as GC (Liz and Bean vs Lori and Jeannette, carefree Mother) and as I started to read I was excited for the adventure I was about to take part in, however it ended up feeling like I had ridden the kiddie Dragon Roller Coaster rather than the 200ft drop mega coaster, if you get what I mean. Although there are strong similarities between this book and GC, GC was more detailed and developed and really kept the reader drawn to the story. I can only guess it's because the author had so much more to go on because she had lived the story in GC, unlike this book. Each day when I picked the book up to read more about Bean & Liz's journey and then new life in Byler, I was waiting to get to the 'good part'; where the story would really take that turn into GreatBookLand, but it never did. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story and I will recommend it, but it was no sheer page turner. Level 1 Glass Castle if you will...a good starter book. One review I read said to think of The Silver Star as a prequel to what's to come and looking back at the story line and ending, I can see how this could be possible and I actually am hoping it will turn out that way. In the mean time, I will just reach over for my copy of GC when I want a good read.

This was much better than the first one. Really liked the characters. Almost want to know how they all turned out. Enjoyed it very much.

Yes, this review contains spoilers, but if you don't guess what's about to happen many pages before it does, you are not good detective material or you weren't concentrating. First, the good stuff. This woman can write some dialogue, no doubt about it. She has a wonderful writing style and there is something sweet and nostalgic about this novel. Her narrator is a spunky young girl, a combination of Nancy Drew, Scout Finch and Flavia de Luce, the heroine of a wonderfully literate series written by Alan Bradley. Unfortunately, it is one dimensional and predictable in every way. I agree with other reviewers who thought this book was better suited for a "young adult" audience. For one thing, it is doubtful that teens or even college age readers would have read The Glass Castle and, therefore, the book would not seem to be the novel version of that excellent memoir. If you have not read "The Glass Castle," get it and read it and forget this book. The Glass Castle was the real deal and this is the discount store version. Two young girls, half sisters, in 6th and 9th grade when the book begins, have been dragged around the country by their mother who believes she is destined to become a success as a country singer. Narcissistic and probably schizophrenic, already in her mid-thirties and without any evidence to support her belief, she is undaunted in her quest. In a bungalow in the California desert, she leaves her children alone for days at a time as she goes off to Los Angeles in pursuit of her dream. Once, enough time goes by without their mother's return that the girls, who have been subsisting on chicken pot pies bought from a mini-mart, take all their remaining money and buy bus tickets to Virginia to visit their uncle, the only relative they know that actually exists as their mother is prone to fantasy. The bus trip begins in California and without missing a beat, the same bus arrives in New Orleans. They change buses once between eastern California and Virginia. And not much happens. There is a bit where the girls outwit a "pervert" but otherwise, the trip is uneventful. The uncle is what one would expect: a hermit living in the family plantation house gone to ruin, surrounded by relics of ancestral glory days. Predictably, he is unhappy to see his nieces but they soon worm their way into his heart and are moved from sleeping in the barn to the "main house," where they take charge and clean the place up and generally act like responsible adults. The girls now live in the home of the former first family of Tiny, Virginia (not its real name)and everyone knows about them. They meet extended family and the younger daughter locates her father's family who are the goodhearted locals you've heard tell about in other books. At about this point is where this book lost me... Their uncle is so lost in the past that he doesn't understand why the girls need money for new school clothes - and, they are so afraid to hurt his feelings that they try to find jobs. Now, remember, this town is so small that anything of interest that happens is known by every resident in about fifteen minutes. So... SPOILER... Everyone in town turns them down except.... yes, you guessed it, the town villain. And, it's a big secret although the older sister is driving all over town with "the big villain" as his personal assistant. What happens then is so predictable I wanted to skip to the part where something actually happens. If you are waiting for a twist, a big reveal.. you won't get it. Every single thing one might assume would happen, does. Villain tries to molest daughter. Daughter resists. Driver for villain sees all and swears to tell all in court - but... and so on. It was a diversion for the couple of hours it took to read it but that's about it... so disappointing for a book so highly anticipated. Again, this is not a bad book. It is a simple fairy tale, well told, but probably much more appealing to a teenage audience.

Sometimes while we watch a movie, we tend to feel it is extremely slow but after we come out from the screens & think about it, there will be something special about the movie that will stay in our hearts. So is this book. I would rather substitute the word naturally paced rather than slowly paced, because that is the actual fact! I first felt the book is kinda boring & when will it end? But as soon as I completed the book, I started to feel why did it end so soon? Its now almost 9 hours since I had read the book & the characters are still in my mind. After watching the movie "The Glass Castle", I got an interest to explore the author "Ms.Jeannete Walls" & her world! My attempt did not fail & I am very very happy that I had bought this book. Proud to be frank that this book is also a part of my library!

Although a lot of the characters had recognisable traits of her characters in The Glass House, it is Jeanette Walls's magical storytelling craft that draws the reader in and carries them away on the journey of Bean Holladay. Bean's integrity, warmth and truth shine through the pages. Highly recommended.

It is 1970 in a small town called Lost Lake in the Colorado Desert of Southern California, where an artistic mother, Charlotte, and her two daughters, Liz and Bean (real name Jean) live. Liz is fifteen and Bean is twelve. They live on an inheritance that Charlotte's father left her. He was the owner of a cotton mill in Byler, Virginia. The mill and the big decaying old mansion called Mayfield were left to Charlotte's brother, Tinsley. A few years ago, Tinsley sold the mill and now lives in the big mansion with his wife, Martha. Charlotte thinks of herself as a singer, writer and actress. She is thirty-six years old and has had no success with either. She hadn't paid her bills, so now the telephone has been cut off, but she decided to take off to find a singing gig, leaving the girls enough money to last a month or two. The girls are now living on the usual chicken potpies, which they stocked up on and even ate for breakfast. Liz took charge of everything until their mother's return, whenever that will be. Bean loves her sister and does whatever she says. They kept their home spotless. They never missed school and they were never late. Charlotte finally returned home and told the girls that while she was at the recording studio, she met a man named Mark Parker, a record producer. He told Charlotte that her voice was too distinctive and she was upstaging the lead singers. He also told her at dinner that she had star quality and they talked about how he could help jump-start her career. She returned home saying that Mark Parker was coming to Lost Lake. Mark Parker never showed up. Bean began to question her mother and finally, Charlotte told them she lied about the whole thing. She started screaming and told the girls that they ruined her life and career and now she needed time for herself. Charlotte then stormed out and didn't return. In the meantime, Liz had been doing some babysitting and odd jobs and Bean got a job delivering newspapers. Together, they were making it financially. One day, they received a letter from their mother along with 200$ to buy chicken potpies until she would return. She also mentioned that she needed space for herself. She also added that nothing was more important to her than her girls. Liz and Bean headed out to Spinelli's grocery to fill up on chicken potpies. Mr. Spinelli began to get suspicious. He hadn't seen Charlotte in quite a while and he went over to their home to find out why. He always had an eye on her. The girls told him their mother was in Los Angeles. She had broken her leg and a friend would be bringing her home in a few days. Mr. Spinelli told them he would be back to see her. In the meantime, he left them a bag of groceries. They wondered if Mr. Spinelli was going to send over the "Bandersnatches" meaning the Government busybodies, who will take them away and put them in foster homes or a Juvenile Delinquent Center and also, throw their mother in jail for abandoning the girls. After school. Bean was always at home before Liz. On her way home Bean noticed a squad car parked in front of their home and a policeman looking through the window. She ran back to school and waited for Liz. She told Liz what she saw. Liz had been at the bus depot and found out the cost of two cross-country tickets. They had enough money to buy them. Liz always carried her money under the lining in her shoe to be safe. The girls would be on their way to Virginia with their turtle, Fido, the next morning. They planned on staying with their Uncle Tinsley and his wife. Liz left their mother a note in a way she would understand. Off they went. Liz remembered their Uncle Tinsley as being a nice man, who seemed to like children. The girls arrived at their Uncle Tinsley's home, where they stayed. Uncle Tinsley made eggs and toast the next morning and when Liz asked about Aunt Martha, their Uncle told them she had passed away. They soon learned about their fathers and why their mother left Byler in the first place. While the girls stayed at their Uncle's, Liz and Bean decided to look for jobs, since money was scarce. They both found jobs working for Jerry Maddox, a married man with children. He was foreman of the mill in town and a big bully. When school time arrived, it was Bean who adjusted well and made friends easily, while Liz had become withdrawn and then something happens....... As for Charlotte, she's still in New York. The story is filled with secrets, lies, abuse and resilience. I loved Liz and Bean, the characters that Walls created. I found myself rooting for them from beginning to end. Jeannette Walls is a talented storyteller with a great story. The Silver Star is one of those books that you can't put down for a moment. It is that good. May I also suggest her memoir, The Glass Castle. It has been a New York Times bestseller for more than six years. Both merit FIVE STARS.

Love the story. Highly recommend for easy reading.

The story was good but not as good as her other 2 books. Her 'Glass Castle' is still the best of all three as it was quite a 'page turner' the story was so interesting. But I liked the sisters and their differences and how each one looked at life their own way. And, of course how with the one sister, it led to her being abused. Walls seems to have running through her books, a theme of absentee mothers and/or fathers and the problems it leads to.