The Fire Incident
What was Jeannette cooking when her dress caught on fire?
What are hot dogs?
What does “doing the skedaddle” mean in the Walls family?
What is fleeing town suddenly, usually in the middle of the night?
What did Dad teach Jeannette to do with a candle flame?
How to pass her finger through the flame without getting burned.
What was the Glass Castle supposed to be made of?
What is glass?
What kind of town did the Walls family prefer to live in?
What are remote, desolate mining towns?
How old was Jeannette when the fire happened?
What is three years old?
What did Jeannette’s dad call the car they used to flee in the middle of the night?
What is the Blue Goose?
According to Dad, why should burns be left unbandaged?
He believed burns should breathe instead of being wrapped.
What would power the Glass Castle?
What are solar panels (solar energy)?
Why did Mom like the desert?
She loved the heat, the emptiness, and survival challenges.
What did the nurses suspect after noticing Jeannette’s burns and bruises?
They suspected abuse and neglect from her parents.
What essential items did Dad pack when they fled?
A cast-iron skillet, Dutch oven, tin plates, knives, Dad’s pistol, and Mom’s archery set.
What was Dad's plan for finding gold?
He would finish building the Prospector to find gold.
What did Dad always carry with him related to the Glass Castle?
What are the blueprints for the Glass Castle?
What were sandstorms like in the desert?
They hit without warning, filled the air with sand, and knocked you over.
What medical procedure was performed on Jeannette’s burns?
What is a skin graft?
What happened to Jeannette’s toy Tinkerbell during her fascination with fire?
Her plastic Tinkerbell melted when she held fire too close to it.
What did Mom say about drinking unpurified water?
She believed wild water built up immunity; city water was for “namby-pambies.”
What did Jeannette’s mom call toothpaste users?
What are “namby-pambies”?
What unusual method did the kids use to clean their teeth?
What are baking soda and hydrogen peroxide used with fingers?
Why did Jeannette say she liked being in the hospital?
The order, cleanliness, attention, her own room, TV, and the food.
What happened to the family cat, Quixote, during a skedaddle?
Dad threw Quixote out the car window, saying cats don’t like to travel.
What was the name of the machine Dad built to find gold?
What is the Prospector?
What food did the Walls family live on for weeks after a train crash?
What are cantaloupes (from a derailed train)?
What was Mom's reaction to the children playing in the rain?
She let them dance in the lightning and thunder; she wasn’t worried.