The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This memoir is a tough read due to its content. Jeannette had a really hard upbringing--and that's putting it lightly. She and her family were homeless for most of her childhood and moved around a lot. Her parents did not hold down full-time jobs with benefits not because they couldn't find work, but because they did not want to; they were happy moving from small job, to small job. At one point, Jeannette's mom gets a job as a teacher; however, that does not last long either. A lot happens to poor Jeannette, but she finally graduates high school and college (moving away was a tough, but important choice for her to make). She lives in New York and her mother is still homeless--the book begins with Jeannette seeing her mother rummaging through a garbage dumpster :/ If you like the Dave Pelzer books, you'll like this one.

Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle. New York: Scribner, 2005.