Room by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

321 pages (September 2010)

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Title Read-alikes: Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips; The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne; His Illegal Self by Peter Carey; Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood; Only Child by Rhiannon Navin; Baby Doll by Hollie Overton; Trance by Christopher Sorrentino by The Bear by Claire Cameron; Child of God by Cormac McCarthy; Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk; We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver; The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides; and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

288 pages. (March 2005)

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Book Page at BookBrowse.
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To find a discussion guide for this book in the NoveList Plus database, go to the Library's website, click on Novelist under "We Recommend" → "Book Services". Click on "Book Discussion Guides" in the right sidebar on NoveList's home page. Then, either enter the title in the Search box or search for the title alphabetically. (You will need your Salt Lake County Library card number to access this resource outside a county library.)

 

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Title Read-alikes: Wishing for Snow by Minrose Gwin; Crave by Christine Scherick O'Brien; Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill; Bastards by Mary Anna King; Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey; Solo by Hope Solo; You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie; With or Without You by Domenica Ruta; Tender at the Bone Ruth Reichl; Wild by Cheryl Strayed; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; Educated by Tara Westover; and Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.