The Glass Castle Read-a-Likes
... compiled by Ricki Nordmeyer

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Scores of people have read and discussed The Glass Castle in book discussion groups, among their friends and families, or online. If you, too, were fascinated by this tale of an extremely dysfunctional family, and would like to read other books which explore troubled childhoods and how the protagonist rose above them, try one of these titles. All of these titles are located in the Adult Nonfiction section of the Library.

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Barnes, Kim. In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country. 1996. (818.54 B2612.in).

Bolton, Ruthie Mae. Gal: A True Life. 1994 (B B6945.ga). Also available: Cassette

Bragg, Rick. All Over but the Shoutin’. 1997. (B B8135.aL).
Also available: Large Type, Cassette

Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land. 1965. (309.17471 B).

Burroughs, Augusten. Running With Scissors: A Memoir. 2002. (B B9721.ru).
Also available: CD, eAudiobook

Dobie, Kathy. The Only Girl in the Car. 2003. (B D6335.on).

Fuller, Alexandra. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood. 2001. (968.9104 F). Also available: Cassette, eAudiobook

Gilmore, Mikal. Shot In the Heart. 1994. (364.1523 G).

Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. 1994. (B G7865.au).

Gregory, Julie. Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood. 2003.
(B G8186.si).

Hart, Elva Treviño. Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child. 1999. (B H3253.ba).

Helget, Nicole Lea. The Summer of Ordinary Ways. 2005. (B H4746.su).

Karr, Mary. The Liars’ Club. 1995. (B K1877.Li). Also available: Large Type, Cassette

Kayson, Susanna. Girl, Interrupted. 1993. (616.89 K). Also available: Large Type, Cassette

Kim, Elizabeth. Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan. 2000. (B K4914.te). Also available: CD, Cassette

Kotlowitz, Alex. There Are No Children Here. 1991. (305.2309773 K).

Lauck, Jennifer. Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found. 2000. (B L3664.bL).
Also available on Cassette.

Lyden, Jacki. Daughter of the Queen of Sheba. 1997. (B L9835.da).

MacDonald, Michael P. All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. 1999. (974.46104 M).

Mah, Adeline Yen. Falling Leaves: A True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter. 1997. (B M2141.fa).

McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother. 1996.
(B M1197ma). Also available: Large Type, CD, Cassette

Moss, Barbara Robinette. Change Me Into Zeus’ Daughter. 1999. (B M9133.ch).

Pelzer, David. A Child Called “It”. 1995. (B P3938.ch). Also available: Cassette

Rhodes, Richard. A Hole in the World: An American Boyhood. 1990. (B R4775.ho).

Smith, Alison. Name All the Animals. 2004. (155.937 S). Also available: eAudiobook

Summer, Lauralee. Learning Joy from Dogs Without Collars. 2003. (B S9554.Le).

Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life. 1989. (B W85595.th). Also available: Cassette

Zailckas, Koren. Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood. 2005. (B Z214.sm).
Also available: CD