After driving for months, the Walls finally make it to Welch, West Virginia. They stay with their grandparents and uncle. Rose Mary decides she will be an artist in Welch because there is no competition. At the new school, Brian and Jeannette are not understood because of their accents. They are also made fun of and bullied by Dinitia Hewitt. One day Jeannette helps a young African American boy escape from a dog attack. Dinitia sees this and becomes friends with Jeanette. Jeannette’s parents are racist and don’t like Jeanettes choice in friends. Her parents say that people will consider her a “nigger lover”. Jeannette’s parents go back to Phoenix to get some of their things from the house. While they are gone, Jeannette’s grandmother forces herself onto Brian claiming his pants needed mending. When Rex and Rose Mary get back they are mad at the kids. Rex does not seem to care about what happened to Brian. The family gets kicked out of their grandparents’ house after this. They live in a rental without plumbing. With their dad's encouragement, Jeannette and her brother begin digging the foundation for the glass castle.
#9 Apartment
The family moves into an apartment. Brian and Jeannette are attacked by a bully, Ernie Goad. Ernie dumps a bucket of rocks on them. Rex continues to drink. One night he comes home with a gash on his arm which Jeannette tries to sew up. Rex starts disappearing from the house for days. Jeannette starts to lose faith in her father.
The family cannot afford heat, plumbing, and water during the winter. On top of all that, Rex’s mother dies and the house she lived in burns down. Jeannette’s grandfather and uncle who lived in the house have to relocate to an apartment. Jeannette sometimes goes over to her grandfather’s apartment to use water until one day when her uncle touches her inappropriately. Rose Mary tells Jeannette to calm down, and says sexual assault is a "crime of perception”.
#10 More troubles
When Jeannette and her brother find a diamond ring, her mom refuses to sell it for income. Money runs out, and Jeannette loses faith in her father. She encourages her mom to leave her dad so the family can receive welfare. Her mom refuses. Mom gets another teaching job, but the money isn’t enough. The kids go hungry, and have to scrounge for food. Social Services tries to investigate the family for neglect, but Jeannette tries to dodge the investigation. In the meantime, Jeannette’s friend, Dinitia, grows distant. It turns out Dinitia is pregnant, likely from Dinitia’s mom’s boyfriend. Dinitia goes to jail for stabbing the boyfriend.
#11 Discovering the normal world
Jeannette discovers her love of journalism in high school. She learns more about what is normal, and tries to encourage her parents to assume their parental duties; however, she is not successful. Her father continues to drink, and her mother chooses art over a paying teaching job. While her mom is away during the summer renewing her teaching license, Jeannette manages the money. Her father talks her into letting him borrow money. He loses the money. In a scheme to gain the money back, he uses Jeannette as a decoy. Jeannette becomes more disillusioned with her life, as do her sisters. Jeannette gets whipped by her father for complaining about her parents. She resolves to save money to run away. Jeannette’s sister, Maureen, is pretty and spends more and more time with her ‘born again’ friends. Lori, goes off to summer enrichment camp, and returns with a dream to escape the dysfunctional family.
#12 An escape plan
Filmmakers come to Welch and encourage Lori to pursue an art career in New York. Lori shares her dream with Jeannette. Jeannette tells Lori about her escape fund, and Lori starts contributing to the fund. Both girls dream of moving to New York. Despite her efforts, nothing goes well for Lori; her art projects are destroyed, and her dad steals all the money the girls save. Jeannette is offered an opportunity to go to Iowa with a family she babysits for. Jeannette lets Lori go instead, with the understanding that the family will send Lori to New York when her job is done. In the meantime, Jeannette becomes more successful at school and continues to save money. When the school year ends, she gets on the bus to meet her sister in New York. Jeannette’s father does not want her to go, and tries to entice her to stay. He talks about the glass castle, but Jeannette no longer cares.
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