Build a tree house for your children:
Books for Mature Teens and Adults
Theme: Houses and Homes
A Painted House - (ISBN: 978-0385337939)
by John Grisham
Life is tough on the Chandler farm in the 50’s; the migrant workers and the locals battle with each other as both groups come to pick cotton. Babies are born and the exterior of the Chandler house begins to gleam white.
I Capture the Castle - (ISBN: 978-0312316167)
by Dodie Smith
Dreamy Cassandra hardly notices her family’s extreme poverty while they live in a rented castle. They burn furniture for firewood, and Cassandra can hardly find paper to write her journal on. Fortunately, some wealthier neighbors move in close by, and Cassandra learns about young love. At one point, she and her romantic interest even swim the moat! Enjoy her burgeoning writing skills as you follow the events of her family’s lives in the journal she creates. Create your own journal about your family and adventures.
The Glass Castle - (ISBN: 978-0743247542)
by Jeannette Walls
This non-fiction account of Walls’ desperate life growing up with unconventional parents contains circumstances too radical to be believable fiction! After the father and mother fail to provide for their children, they return to West Virginia to live in the family home, and the father begins digging out their promised swimming pool, only to fill it with their trash for the next few years. When Walls escapes with her sister to finish school in N.Y. City, her parents eventually follow and willingly become street people, refusing offers of help and permanent abodes.
The Leisure Seeker - (ISBN: 978-0061671791)
by Michael Zadorian
An eighty-something couple runs away from home and their debilitating illnesses to try out their new mobile home along old Route 66. Their children and doctors are soon forgotten as the husband (a victim of Alzheimer’s) drives, and the wife handles the daily transactions despite her terminal cancer. They make friends, meet outlandish characters, and even get hauled in by the police, but, as Ella the wife thinks, between them, they are an entire person! What do you think about the couple running away from their family and doctors?
Tipis and Tipis Tepees Teepees - (ISBN: 978-1586855116)
by Linda Holley
This non-fiction book examines the history of the making of teepees, focusing on the materials used to create the homes for Native Americans. In addition to reading about the history, you can learn to construct your own portable homes.