Monday, February 25, 2008

Memoirs..Take Two

There are just too many great memoirs that we wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

Finding Fish by Antwone Quenton Fisher

Antwone Fisher tells the story of his life, from his birth to a prison inmate to his success as a screenwriter in Hollywood, discussing his childhood and teen years in foster homes, his stint in the Navy, his attempts to find his mother and father, and the determination that led him to create the life of his dreams.
Check it out!



The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

The author presents his memoirs of growing up without his father and finding himself looking for male role models among the regulars at Publicans, a Manhasset, Long Island, bar.

Check it out!




Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers

Award winning YA author, Walter Dean Myers, describes his childhood in Harlem in the 1940s and 1950s, discussing his loving stepmother, his problems in school, his reasons for leaving home, and his beginnings as a writer.

Check it out!



Lost in Place by Mark Salzman

You thought you were weird? You've seen nothing yet! This humrous memoir tells the tale of how author, Mark Salzman, who tried to rise above the everyday normalcy of his childhood.

Check it out!


Soldier by Jordan June

Poet June Jordan chronicles the first twelve years of her life and discusses how her experiences during those years influenced her writing.

Check it out!





Wasted by Marya Hornbacher

The author reflects on her fourteen-year battle with bulimia and anorexia, discussing how the eating disorders have affected her life from childhood through the present day.

Check it out!



Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

A personal memoir of Elizabeth Wurtzel's breakdowns, suicide attempts, hospitalizations, and her battle with depression.

Check it out!


The Nazi Officier's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer

Edith Hahn tells how she survived the Holocaust, first by going underground, using a Christian friend's identity papers, and eventually marrying Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member who knew she was Jewish.

Check it out!



A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind

Follows gifted African-American student Cedric Jennings from his crime-infested high school in Washington D.C. to his junior year at Brown University, discussing the problems he encountered along the road out of the ghetto.
Check it out!



The Lost Childhood by Yehuda Nir
Describes six years in the life of a daring and resourceful Polish Jewish boy and his family, who survived the Holocaust by using false papers and posing as Catholics.
Check it out!


The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcohol father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.
When a Crocodile eats the sun by Peter Godwin

Peter Godwin recounts the experiences he had after returning to his birthplace in Zimbabwe to be with his dying father, and shares his impressions of the country and the political and social changes that have thrown it into a vortex of brutality and hatred.

Check it out!


Barefoot Heart by Elva Trevino Hart

The author, born in south Texas to Mexican immigrants, provides an account of her life growing up in a family of migrant farm workers, and tells how she overcame the disadvantages of her youth to attend college and earn a master's degree in computer science/engineering.
Check it out!


Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Lucy Grealy describes her journey to find physical beauty after surgery left her face disfigured.

Check it out!



Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl by Renee

A translation from French of the memoir of a young woman named Renee, who began suffering from schizophrenia at age five, and an interpretation of Renee's experiences by her analyst, Marguerite Sechehaye.
Check it out!


Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

The author chronicles his impoverished childhood in Limerick, Ireland, in the 1930s and 1940s, describing his father's alcoholism and talent for storytelling; the challenges and tragedies his mother faced, including the loss of three children; and his early experiences in the Catholic church, and balances painful memories with humor.
Check it out!


A Long way gone by Ismael Beah

Ishmael Beah describes his experiences after he was driven from his home by war in Sierra Leone and picked up by the government army at the age of thirteen, serving as a soldier for three years before being removed from fighting by UNICEF and eventually moving to the United States.
Check it out!


My Losing Season by Pat Conroy

The author reflects on his days at a South Carolina military college. He recalls his love of basketball and its value to him as a means of self-expression, and shares experiences that shed new light on his novel "The Great Santini."

Check it out!


Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Memoir of three Chinese women, Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother in twentieth-century China.

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Hello, America by Livia Bitton-Jackson

The author tells the story of how she and her mother came to New York City in 1951 to try to leave the horrors of the Holocaust behind, but found it harder than they expected to fit into this "new world."

Check it out!


Funny in Farsi by by Firoozeh Dumas

Firoozeh Dumas recounts the experiences she had after her family moved from Iran to Southern California, discussing how her family adapted to life in America.
Check it out!



My Life in and out of the rough by John Daly

Presents the author's first-hand account of his experiences as a professional golfer, providing information on his family life, his addictions, and his accomplishments.

Check it out!


Bowman's Store by Joseph Bruchac
A memoir in which the author describes his upbringing in his grandparent's home where he was loved, nurtured, and encouraged, and tells how he came to fully claim his Abenaki heritage in spite of the fact that his grandfather never admitted to being Native American.

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