I thought this books was absolutely amazing. it shows you that you can achieve anything. Even if your parents choose the harder path, you get tougher from it. There was nothing I didn't like about this book except the father dying. That was sad. He loved those kids, even if he didn't show it as much as he should. I'm definitely going to buy it and read it again.
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I generally do not enjoy reading nonfiction - in fact I will read 2-3 chapters and then put it down. However, this book was very intriguing. It didn't read as nonfiction; I had to remind myself that this was truly someone's life.

If Ms. Wells were put down in any type of living situation, I think that she could find a way to survive, whether she was destitute or quite comfortable. She has a lot of "street smarts".

What can I say? I am a high school student and reading is not one of the things I consider fun. When I read this book for class, I just couldn't put it down. It is by far the best book I have ever read. The story drove me crazy and I wanted to read more about this VERY corrupt family. It was amazing!!!!

I felt I was reading my own story, Jeannette's humor and strength is amazing. To have the self esteem to pursue a future any way she could, she is a "mountain Goat" to push for a better life.

I recommend this book for those of us who have little to complain about. Compared to the little girl. The true love of family is amazing and how they all stuck together and ambled on.

Jeanette Walls captivated me in the first chapter. Describing her early childhood and her life from then on made me appreciate my good fortune as girl. It made me cry and life, and all though the story and plot weren't pleasing, Walls told it in a way that made the novel a masterpiece. I am incredibly grateful for the way her, and her family's life turned out!

I must say that I truly enjoyed the telling of this story even though it was as one reviewer described it, a 'train wreck that you can't get off'. It was touching and it was very telling about the state that a lot of young children in this country are in.

There are comments about the book saying it doesn't sound plausible, that it is impossible for her to remember the conversations she had at such young ages. My answer to that is that this woman apparently had a very trying childhood, one that isn't considered normal by any stretch of the imagination. In order to get that story into some sort of readable form she must fill in quite a bit with what she thinks 'may' have happened. She more than likely remembers snatches and bits and comments made and has either turned them into full conversations or looking back through her life she reviewed certain situations and conversations and still remembers the gist of them. If she hadn't done this, the book would have been such a disjointed mess that nobody could read it.

Give the woman her due, I whole-heartedly believe her story is true and I commend her and her siblings for breaking out of what could have been a vicious cycle of poverty and abuse. Someone commented on the lack of the mothers' believability, that mother acts JUST like my sister and we had a very normal childhood. The resentment of the children and the artistic bend, the lack of any interest in the home itself and the odd views towards the children esp when it comes to medical issues and such. So mothers like Jeannette's DO exist here in America in 2008!

This book was recommended to me by a friend. When I started reading it I couldn't stop. It is the kind of book, anyone who feels sorry for themselves should read. It makes you ashamed, for ever thinking you didn't have a good enough childhood. I heard it is being made into a movie. I hope so, and can't wait for it to come out.

Really enjoyed this book. Sometimes I questioned the reality of all that happened to Jeanette, but in a post-Frey memoir publishing world, I feel this memoir would have been researched thoroughly. Reading what she and her siblings went through certainly makes me appreciate my life and the life that my mother gave me. The "traumatic" childhood I thought I experienced seems a lot less traumatic in light of some of Jeanette's experiences!! I find inspiration in Jeanette that she could rise from that upbringing to be successful and could find the path in her life that led her to an acceptance of the life her parents chose for themselves and their children