The Silver Star

A Novel

De: Jeannette Walls

Narrado por: Jeannette Walls

Duración: 7 h y 48 m

Resumen del Editor

From one of the best-selling memoirists of all time, a stunning and heartbreaking novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world - a triumph of imagination and storytelling.

It is 1970. "Bean" Holladay is 12 and her sister, Liz, is 15 when their artistic mother, Charlotte, a woman who flees every place she’s ever lived at the first sign of trouble," takes off to find herself." She leaves her girls enough money for food to last a month or two. But when Bean gets home from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz board a bus from California to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying antebellum mansion that’s been in the family for generations.

An impetuous optimist, Bean discovers who her father was and learns many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, so Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, a big man who bullies workers, tenants, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister, inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, non-conformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.

The author of The Glass Castle, hyper-alert to abuse of adult power, has written a gorgeous, riveting, heartbreaking novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love the world despite its flaws and injustices.

©2013 Jeannette Walls (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

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What did you like best about The Silver Star? What did you like least?

Jeannette Wall's is a good writer. I look forward to her books.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Hire a narrator!

What didn’t you like about Jeannette Walls’s performance?

Drab, too like her other books.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe

Any additional comments?

No

Lovely book!

This lovely read was a lot like Jeannette’s other books, in the same style and detail. I enjoyed that she read it herself. It was nice to hear the author reading her own material!
The characters are relatable, the mother being nuts and the family members answering their calls to action.
I really enjoyed all of Jeannette Walls’ books, a lot better than the movie, in fact!!

Could not stop reading it

I loved it and I hope there's more books in the future by her.All of her book I have fell in love with.

Loved it.

This is a captivating story that you don’t want to stop listening to until it’s done. The narrators voice is also very easy to listen to.

Always a Pleasure

Jeannette Walls books are always a pleasure to listen to. I love her narration and story lines are serious and fun at the same time.

A Bronze Star

Silver Star was a comfy read with a similar feel to Walls' Glass Castle, with a little less luster. Again there is the ditzy egocentric mother and the self-reliant young children, and Walls own southern-sweet voice giving life to young Bean and her sister Liz. Walls' brand of story telling is engaging and colorful, which makes for a pleasant read, and you can't help but find these girls and their quirky uncle endearing. But this is some tough territory in spite of its cuteness and "aww" moments. You are reading about child neglect and abuse wrapped up in a cute pretty package, so be prepared for a possible subconscious squirm ( I'm pretty sure Nancy G would back me up on this one--so back off Floyd). There are a lot of borrowed elements from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird: Bean and Scout, an ominous man in town, a sexual assault, a courtroom scene, even birds--emus not mockingbirds, but that is where the similarities end. (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interrestings, also noted these similarities in her NPR review.)

There were times Wall's chipper voice seemed incongruent with the events, for example: the girls, alone on a cross country bus, after fleeing the child welfare agents, finally escape a pervert that has been stalking them the entire trip. The passengers, who have silently observed this drama, sit back, applaud, then laugh at the site of the pervert stamping his feet and wringing his hands in the dust of the departing bus...I could hear the smile in Wall's voice, but couldn't connect to any humor, and if I had the courage (I'm going to get slaughtered here), I'd probably give this a 2 1/2 * rating overall. Even though Silver Star isn't as moving as Glass Castle, or as forgiving in its portrayal of a narcissistic, absentee mother, fans of Walls will probably appreciate the story and find it an entertaining, worthwhile listen. This was just an ok read for me, and likely due to my own frame of reference.

Just OK

I really wanted to like this book. It took me several tries, starting to listen to this book & abandoning it, to finally get interested enough to stay with it. I finally got far enough into it to get interested in the story & want to finish it. Narrator wasn't great - I think a better narrator would have helped. It was an OK story & I was rooting for the girls towards the end.

Best author around

Between Half Broke Horses, A Glass Castle, and now this book I couldn't tell you which is my favorite. Jeannette Walls is my go to author I love her!

Walls Doesn’t Disappoints

This is the third novel I’ve read from Walls, and it was great. Just like her other two. I really enjoy reading and listening to Walls read her novels. I can’t wait for her next novel.

Does not Measure up to Walls' Other Novels

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No--the plot is too predictable in many important regards.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Too pedestrian.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jeannette Walls?

I have read all of her other books--this is the first one to which I did not give 5 stars, but I am not sure I would try her next book after this disappointment.