In the Fall of 2022, I picked up my copy of The Glass Castle. I only knew bits about Jeannette Walls’ book. Still, I knew I was excited to discuss themes such as poverty, generational trauma, and dysfunctional families with my peers in Sophomore English.
During the pre-reading discussions, many of my peers expressed that they believed a person who comes from a dysfunctional family will eventually be a dysfunctional adult. I was shocked that they thought someone’s environment would automatically dictate their future. I wanted to prove that even though kids can’t control their environment, they can control their individual fate.
What is The Glass Castle?
The Glass Castle is Walls’ memoir where she details her childhood experiences with neglect, abuse, poverty, alcoholic parents, generational trauma, and more dysfunction. Despite their situation, Walls and her older sister, Lori, crave stability, leading them to devise an escape plan. After the girls have escaped, Jeannette scores her dream job as a news reporter. She later married a writer, John Taylor, and moved to a farm where she continues to share her stories.
Real-World Insight
As someone who has grown up in varied cities and social climates around Oklahoma, I believe Edmond is one of the most important places to read Walls’ story. Many people don’t realize the advantages provided by Edmond Public Schools.
EPS is in the top 3 for best school districts in Oklahoma. During COVID-19, the district provided wi-fi for students. Students have the opportunity to receive early college credit through AP courses, as well as numerous electives to choose from that allow students to learn about different career fields, setting us up for college and career readiness. Everyone in the building can get a hot lunch, and for some it’s free. The school offers 34 clubs and literature that caters to a variety of student interests. Even until the age of 21, EPS students can attend Francis Tuttle Technology Center for free.
Many students have benefitted from the diverse selection of literature at EPS, and our peers have finally highlighted our everyday struggles. We were given the opportunity to see that success and stability are attainable, even for those not born into a successful, stable environment.
Porn in EPS Libraries?
So, why is The Glass Castle leaving shelves?
The Glass Castle is no longer a group read in EPS due to opposition from a small minority group in the community who believe the book is “inappropriate.”
Additionally, the State Department of Education, headed by Ryan Walters, pushed the agenda to ban the memoir, asserting that there was pornographic content within the pages.
However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected the State Department of Education’s attempt to ban the memoir within the district.
There is still a copy of The Glass Castle available in our school library for personal reading. It is also an option for literature circles at the Junior level.
If a student did not want to read The Glass Castle with their class, there was an alternate option: Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri.
Guide to Success
After our group reading of The Glass Castle, we were given an assignment to write personal narrative essays. Inspired by Walls, I wrote about my experience with poverty.
My essay became my first award-winning piece, published in the 2023 OKCTE Young Writers Anthology.
This piece was not only published in the Young Writers Anthology but also led to my future in writing. I was published for a second time in the 2024 OKCTE Young Writers Anthology, and have been a proud member of the newspaper staff for two years. In the future, I aspire to publish in psychology journals as a research psychologist.
Walls’ memoir made a huge impact in my life, and I know I am not the only student who has been positively impacted by her story.
