The Glass Castle Part III, Chapter 18 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Jeannette starts the seventh grade. She isn't friends with Dinitia anymore.
  • Jeannette thinks that Dinitia is pregnant with her mom's boyfriend's baby.
  • Jeannette goes to visit Dinitia at home, but Dinitia's mom's boyfriend won't let Jeannette see her.
  • Later, Jeannette learns that Dinitia was arrested for stabbing the man to death.
  • Worried about her awkward looks in middle school, Jeannette makes her own braces with a wire coat hanger and some rubber bands.
  • Dad tells Jeannette these braces are a "goddamn feat of engineering genius" (3.18.26) and that they're working.
  • Someone tell the ghost of Joan Crawford that wire hangers are good for something.