HALF BROKE HORSES and THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls

 This story is listed as a true-life novel about the life of the author's grandmother.  If you like stories about strong women who lived a rough lives,  this might be the story for you.  There are many good qualities told about the main character, Lily Casey, the mustang-breaking, poker-playing, horse-race-winning schoolmarm.  The story tells of how she had to adapt to life's circumstances and her ideas on raising and teaching children. At one turn, I would be thinking how strong and inventive this lady was but I also was always thinking in the back of my mind that Lily was a little over the edge. This was an easy read and I recommend reading this book first and then read the story of  THE GLASS CASTLE which continues to tell the family history as it unfolds two generations later.  This story tells how the dysfunction in families sometimes gets carried on into the next generation and how the children struggle to be set free from their family's troubles.  Teenagers that think their parents are embarrassing or weird would benefit from reading this book.  They will be sure to look at their "normal" parents in a more favorable light.