Walls of Glass

By: J.W. Elliot

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

One crack and the walls will shatter.

When you’re the new white kid in an Oklahoma town hemorrhaging with racial and class divisions, accidentally taking the wallet from a dead black man isn’t a simple matter for the police. James embarks on a tortuous journey to navigate tensions in the town while trying to correct the mistake he never should have made.

His efforts are hampered by his inability to understand racial prejudice and by those who refuse to let him cross entrenched racial and class barriers. When James’s only friend his age, an African-American girl, is targeted by both the white and the black kids, James discovers that his greatest weakness and his greatest strength is that he is color blind.

Walls of Glass is a story of forbidden friendship, failure, and redemption.

©2019 James Wadsworth (P)2025 James Wadsworth

Critic reviews

“J.W. Elliot wields a gifted pen. His novel, Walls of Glass, is a powerful work of fiction. Elliot creates a cast of memorable characters that jump off the page and escort you into a very real and relatable world. Walls of Glass is a page-turner that kept me up late into the night. Highly recommended!” –Steven Manchester, #1 bestselling author, The Rockin’ Chair and Ashes

Very compelling narrative

I listened to the audobook version of this story; I must say I enjoyed both the book and the performance of Benjamin Fife.
The book itself addresses some subjects of racism and discrimination from the perspective of someone who is discovering what they are for the first time. I can see this book as a great introductory to such topics.

So Fitting for Today - A Must Read

In such a racially charged environment right now this is a fantastic read! My local middle schools have been having the kids read The Outsiders, I really think this is a perfect book to use to bring up racial discrimination and have real discussions about it. The book is so well written and narrated that couldn't put it down and I ended up finishing it in one day. I love how it shows a bit of both sides and really points it's finger at many of the areas that need to be addressed. I am definitely going to have my kids read it too. There is a bit of graphic violence (the worst of it around the discovery of the body) and the use of the n word happened I think once. As a parent I would say 6th grade and up level read, adults will enjoy it too.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

EXCELLENT READ!

I really enjoyed it! The narration was great and kept me entertained! The author did an excellent job with the character builds and plot! I look forward to reading more books by this author! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Great Listen

James has a knack for finding trouble as most 12 year old boys do, but once he moves to Oklahoma, he even surprises himself. Though James believes his brain doesn't function quite right because of his age, at times he's far wiser then a lot of adults around him even though he's made some bad decisions. A well written book, based in 1980 dealing with prejudice: white, black, poor , rich. The characters were very interesting and the story entertained as it taught. An excellent combination of author and narrator. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review.

Excellent story for kids & adults

A book for these times for children and their parents preferably read as a family and then discussed. The only character in the book that didn’t have a dark side was the dog that revealed on his own way what non discrimination looks like. Narration was excellent as well.