The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls · first published 2005 · ISBN 9781417777891
Walls recounts her childhood moving between states with parents who rejected conventional stability in favor of a nomadic, sometimes homeless lifestyle. She eventually left home as a teenager, worked her way through college, and built a completely different adult life from the one her family modeled.
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The Best Books for First-Generation College Students
Like Westover, Walls demonstrates that education and determination can rewire your entire path. Her specific experience of choosing to leave her family's life behind and creating something new resonates with many first-gen students who feel caught between two worlds.