Glass House People

by Kathryn Reiss

Beth's mother decides to reunite the family after twenty years and drags Beth and her brother to a sleepy town in Pennsylvania, where Beth learns of her mother's tragic family history and begins to better understand herself.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Teen, Middle Grade

Hardcover

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

Kathryn Reiss was born in Massachusetts, grew up in Ohio, and received B.A. degrees in English and German from Duke University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. After college, she lived in Bonn, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, and during this time wrote the first draft of her first novel, Time Windows.

Ms. Reiss is an award -winning author of 20 novels for kids and teens. She has been a Writer in Residence for the Princeton Arts Council, a recipient of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grant for Writers, and has been a featured speaker with (among others) Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, The Northern California Library Association, The International Reading Association, Fresno County Office of Education, California Reading Association, The American Library Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. She lives in Northern California with her husband and the last of her seven children still in the nest. She is a Full Professor of English at Mills College at Northeastern University, and also teaches in the low -residency MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Reviews

[Atishay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Glass House People is a typical summer recipe with the right ingredients in just the right amounts. Witnessed through the eyes of its third generation, a family broken and separated twenty years ago due to a tragic incident gets together once again. Envy, guilt and tension wreck the household.
The story lacks substance and I'd recommend it as a light read, definitely not to be bought. Read it if you see it on a library shelf and you can't find any book that you'd been longing to read since a long time.

[Annie Brancato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this first in middle school. I constantly go back to reread it. The death and family secrets. The drama. I never get tired of this book.

[Katarina B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glass House People, is an easy read. The lesson in it, is what gives the book substance. Throughout the book it’s lacking details and is kinda slow. The ending is the real kicker and I recommend finishing it because it’s worth it. I wouldn’t read again but I really resonated with the family drama and watching generational family altercations unfold as a child.

[Juicy_Groot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty boring,but some good parts.It probably would have been more interesting if there was more mystery surrounding Clifton's death.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️

Boring hahah. Not so boring that it’s a DNF but damn did nothing happen. I was expecting a 2nd murder but no. I hate the “holding a grudge for 20 years” trope. Get over it! Hannah was obviously a delusion teen at the time of the incident but girl how tf did she not realize she was just young and dumb? Has she not grown in 20 years?? That was really stupid imo. At least Beth realized she was seeing her current “relationship” through rose colored glasses. And grandma is a bitch !!! Someone should have pushed her ass down those stairs!

Not a bad read but just not for me.

[sayitwithasmile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood fave that I was just reminded of. My 10 year old self liked this one slightly less than Reiss' others

[Thomas Reese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read but not quite a page turner. I simply enjoyed it but wouldn't read it again

[Taylor Fenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Glass House people takes place in two different times. The bulk of the novel is set in the present as 16-year-old Beth and her brother Tom travel to their mother Hannah's hometown, Philadelphia, to visit the family they've never met.

The other chapters in between (distinguished from the other's by being headed by month instead of chapter) tell the story of the events leading up to Beth and Tom's mother leaving home at the age of 17 twenty years earlier. These chapters are told from the perspective of Clifton Becker, Hannah's older sister's fiance.

Upon their arrival Beth and Tom instantly pick up on the tension between Hannah and her sister Iris, as well as their grandmother's obvious favoring of Iris, who is crippled from a childhood bout of Polio. They soon learn that the event that drove Hannah away was the death of Iris's fiance Clifton, the man that both women loved. Hannah tells her children that Clifton was really in love with her and only stayed with Iris out of pity and insists that Iris pushed him down the stairs when she found out the truth. Iris, the children's scary, frail , alcoholic aunt insists that their mother was always jealous of her and that Hannah pushed Clifton when she realized he would never love her.

Beth and Tom decide to unravel the truth. Is there a murderer in the house? Is it really possible that their mother could have killed someone?

I read this book when I was younger and later bought a copy online. It has sat my bookshelf for a long time and recently I picked it up. I both loved and disliked aspects of this book. It kept me interested despite my not liking certain characters.

Clifton, the unfortunate victim, I could not stand. He appears arrogant and full of himself. As an author myself I can understand wanting to make a name for yourself and thinking that your work is amazing; but at the same time I think he's a bit cocky to think he's better than the popular writers of his chosen genre. He also claims to not want Hannah's attention or affection and yet he enjoys not only her throwing herself at him but towards the end he enjoys both Hannah and Iris fighting over him.

I didn't like that Hannah both in the past and present seemed delusional about her relationship with Clifton. Being young still, I can remember having crushes on boys, but I knew fantasy from reality. Hannah doesn't seem to know the difference, even as an adult with two children of her own. I can definitely see parallels between Hannah's fantasy romance with Clifton and Beth's relationship with her older boyfriend, Ray.

As for Iris, yes I understand that she's disabled and that she's self-conscious about it but at the same time you can't use that as a crutch and constantly blame others when your life doesn't go as planned. It sucks that her fiance died but you need to move on with your life.

All in all, The Glass House People is a really good book. I think I understand it better now that I'm a little older than I did when I first read it in my early teens.

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty deep into the book now and it has been annoying me for a while. Is some what understandable that the family hates each other or what not but the murder of a love that is probably twice the age of those teen girls seems a little over the top. In my opinion that was a pretty ridiculous purpose to make the book. Later on 20 years later to have the mother allow he daughter to date a guy 10 years older than her when the girl is only 17 seriously! All these people were raised in some really crappy environment with terrible examples. Will read about two more chapter and determine if it gets closed or not

[Stephanie Tuell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beth is dragged across country for the summer to visit her mother's parents for the first time. She is very reluctant to go, thinking it will be extremely boring. When she gets there, so finds not only a boring life, but that she may living with a murderer. She gets together with her younger brother to solve the 20 year old mystery of who really killed their Aunt Iris's fiance. Was it their mother? Was it their aunt? Maybe their grandfather or grandmother? Or maybe just a freak accident? Beth will do what she can to get to the bottom of it.

[Chelsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dead Girls' DanceBeastlySwitchedSwitched

[Katie Katieneedsabiggerbookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in 6th grade after a recommendation from a teacher. I loved it back then and have been trying to think of the title for a while now. I finally figured it out and re-read it. I really liked it. I thought it was very interesting and read it in one sitting. I don't know if I liked it so much because I read it when I was younger, and it is most likely written for a much younger audience, but I still really enjoyed it

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good books but I didnt like how they never found out who this guy liked. ( yes you find out but the people in the books dont.)

I really like this book exept for one thing. I HATED how we found out what happened to the guy that they are fighting over but they never do. I hate that it just doesn't seem to fit together as well without them finding out what happened to the guy they both loved.

[Kailin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to reread this book because I had such good memories of it when I read it in middle school. I remember feeling suspended in the plot, that it was a page turner. Nah, what was my 11 year self thinking? The story is alright, the suspense is ... non-existent. You have to keep in mind that this is written for adolescents, and I clearly no longer belong in that category.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of lame but somehow I remembered it, so that gets it an okay. I probably remembered it because of how dumb and pointless the ending was. Ugh, the more I think about it- well I think I'll just stop thinking about it and move on.

[Mary]

I loved this book when I was younger and I have just discovered it again!! I am so excited to re-read it! Whoo Whoo!! :>

[SeriouslyJerome · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know this was an adolescent, coming of age book when I picked it up off our shelf. I don't even know where it came from. I didn't buy it. I thought it was Tom's... till I read it.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, especially the ending. I've re-read it a few times to find out if I missed a piece of the puzzle that positively solves the mystery...

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book made me cry all the time and i love it, i actually got it from my teacher a few years back, she told me it was a good book and i should try reading it and i did.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its not what i would say her best book....... but still really good. You wont be able to put it down!!!!!!!!

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay mystery - - thought it ended all too sudden and tidy!

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book didn't pass my first chapter test.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and fast read (it's geared toward young adults). While it's not the greatest writing in the world, I thought the story, which centers on family secrets, was intriguing.

[Kathy Stoops · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up down, up down, this is how I felt. When an author can make me feel, I will always be back for more.

[Stephanie Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's much different than her other books. It's similar to some of Margaret Peterson Haddix's non-dystopian non-scifi books.

[c.c. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book screwed me over. I didn't know whether to scream, laugh, or cry when I finished it. This is why I need to stop reading the books off my grandma's shelf.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

At one point while reading, I put the book down because I was so nervous to keep going. I needed to take a breather.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Great book! A real page turner! Highly recommended! Stayed up until 3 am reading it. A new favorite! A+! :)

[Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good reading