Memoirs/Personal Narratives: Tough Stuff

A college-educated young professional details the grueling realities of hourly labor for the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce while outlining strategies for more humane employment practices.

The author provides an account of her thirteen months in a minimum security correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, where she was sent after being convicted on a ten-year-old charge of drug smuggling and money laundering in 2003, offering insights into the heirarchies, communities, and friendships that characterize the women's prison.

A graphic novel that chronicles the life of American author and illustrator David Small, detailing his sickly childhood and teenage years, relationship with his parents, his cancer, and more.

A collection of poems in which the author details her struggle with eating disorders and her changed outlook on life after the suicide attempt of her boyfriend.

The author reveals a first-hand account of her and her family's experiences when they and other Dutch residents on the island of Java, were captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp where they spent over three years.

A memoir about Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and about his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his story, and with history itself. Cartoon format portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as cats.

A memoir that shares the author's life, covering her rape at thirteen, her difficult early childhood, and her experiences surrounding her publication of 'Speak'.

An autobiography in which Mawi Asgedom tells the story of how, at the age of three, he fled civil war in Ethiopia by walking with his mother and brother to a Sudanese refugee camp, and later moved to Chicago and earned a full scholarship to Harvard University.

A memoir in which the author describes her childhood as a Palestinian refugee, discussing her family's experiences during and after the Six-Day War, and the freedom she felt at learning to read and write.

Recounts the author's experiences as a Jew in Nazi occupied Europe, her survival in a concentration camp, and post-war life in America speaking out as a Holocaust survivor.

A brave teen recounts her debilitating struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder--and brings readers through every painful step as she finds her way to the other side--in this powerful and inspiring memoir.

Cupcake Brown shares the story of her life, beginning with her mother's death in 1976 when she was just eleven, discussing how she ended up in foster care, her introduction to drugs, alcohol and sex as a runaway, her gang affiliation, and her addiction to crack, and telling how she turned her life around and eventually became an attorney and motivational speaker.

Susan Burton is ready to come clean. Happily married with two children, working at her dream job, she has lived a secret life of compulsive eating and starving for twenty-five years. This is a relentlessly honest, fiercely intelligent narrative of living with binge-eating disorder. When Burton was thirteen, her stable life in suburban Michigan was turned upside down by her parents' abrupt, hostile divorce, and she moved to Colorado with her mother and sister. She seized on this move west as an adventure and an opportunity to reinvent herself from middle-school nerd to popular teenage girl. But she hadn't escaped unscathed, and in the fallout from her parents' breakup--including her mother's intensifying alcoholism--an inherited fixation on thinness went from "peculiarity to pathology." She entered into a painful cycle of anorexia, or "iron purity" and feral binge eating that formed the subterranean layer of her sunny life. This is the story not only of loosening the grip of her compulsion but of moving past her shame and learning to tell her secret.

Father and daughter, Cylin and John Busby, share their memories of the challenges they faced after their family was forced to go into hiding in order to protect themselves from a killer who had already shot John, a police officer, once and was determined to finish the job.

Traces the author's healing journey after a traumatizing sexual assault at infamous St. Paul's boarding school, describing how she helped police uncover proof of the school's institutionalized mandate of silence.

Andie Dominick discusses how her life changed after she was diagnosed with diabetes.

Jaycee Dugard chronicles the eighteen years she spent in captivity, describing what happened after she was kidnapped at age eleven in 1991, the abuse she endured, the birth of her two daughters, the events leading up to her release, and her struggle to adjust to life once she was reunited with her family.

The story of Elena Dunkle, a girl whose armor against anxiety becomes artillery against herself as she battles on both sides of a lose-lose war in a struggle with anorexia

A memoir told through the journals, letters, and stories of young cancer patient Esther Earl

Janice Erlbaum recounts her experiences working with the residents of a homeless shelter she lived at more than twenty years earlier, reflecting on her friendship with one troubled young woman who reminded Janice of the girl she used to be.

Cyndy Ehler recounts her sixteen months living in a drug rehabilitation facility, after having run away at the age of fourteen.

Steve Fiffer chronicles his long recovery from a spinal cord injury and discusses how his friends and family helped him heal, how he overcame the numerous obstacles he encountered, and how he created a normal life for himself despite his injury.

The author describes her life as the daughter of a woman afflicted with Munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse in which a parent, most often a mother, invents or induces illness in a child in order to gain attention from medical professionals, tells how she was able to save herself, and discusses her efforts to have another young girl removed from her mother's care.

Diane Guerrero, television actress from the hits "Orange is the New Black" and "Jane the Virgin," recalls the day her parents were detained and deported when she was 14, and how she was able to remain in the country, finish her education, and build a successful acting career.

A biography of the author's son, who died at seventeen after a fourteen-month illness caused by a brain tumor.

The author, determined to get sober, sets out to eat a slice of pizza in every pizzeria in New York City, documenting his quest along the way.

The autobiography of Shyima Hall, who at the age of eight, was sold by her Egyptian parents into domestic slavery.

Nathan Henry, serving time for an armed robbery he committed when he was sixteen, reflects on the crimes, drugs, sex, and violence in his past, while beginning to understand he can turn his life around.

Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong confronts the Asian American condition, blending memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose the truth of racialized consciousness in America.

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.

International authority on manic-depression tells the story of her own battle with the illness which revealed itself through episodes of violence, bouts of madness and attempts of suicide.

A memoir in which Maude Julien recounts her abusive childhood in France, enduring life without heat, hot water, adequate food, friendship, or any kind of affectionate treatment, and how an outsider helped her to escape her abusive parents.

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated

The memoir of a boy named Sungju who grew up in North Korea and, at the age of twelve, was forced to live on the streets and fend for himself after his parents disappeared. Finally, after years of being homeless and living with a gang, Sungju is reunited with his maternal grandparents and, eventually, his father.

Presents the author's first-hand account of his gambling addiction, from wagering away his beloved baseball card collection, to forfeiting everything he owned at a blackjack table.

Leon Leyson describes growing up in Poland, being forced from home to ghetto to concentration camps by the Nazis, and being saved by Oskar Schindler.

Autobiography of the South African hero who has dedicated his life to fight against social oppression and apartheid related in text with accompanying photographs.

Frank McCourt, author of the childhood memoir "Angela's Ashes," shares the story of his life as an American immigrant, discussing his experiences from the age of nineteen when he landed in New York, to his eventual success as a teacher and writer.

The author tells the story of her childhood of extreme physical and mental abuse at the hands of her parents and grandmother, discussing the years she was forced to live in the garage, her stays at mental institutions after being committed by her mother, and her eventual placement with loving, accepting guardians.

A memoir from a one-time supporter of the Maoist regime who experienced life in China as a member of the communist party, and then as a political prisoner on a labor farm.

The author discusses what it was like to grow up in postwar Bucharest, describing the unique characteristics of her family members and their efforts to protect her from the dangers of living in Communist Romania.

The author presents a memoir of her life in post-revolutionary Iran, focusing on her organization of a group of young women in 1997 who met secretly once a week to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature.

Jason Padgett discusses how a violent mugging forever altered the way his brain works, giving him unique gifts. His ability to understand math and physics skyrocketed, and he developed the astonishing ability to draw the complex geometric shapes he saw everywhere

The final entry in a trilogy of memoirs in which Dave Pelzer, brutally abused as a child, discusses the struggles he faced as an adult, and his determination to have a meaningful life.

Dave Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in California history, tells the story of his adolescent years after he was removed from his home and placed in foster care, and discusses the influence on his life of Dan Brazell, the man he came to regard as his father.

David Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in the history of California, tells the story of how he survived his mother's brutality and triumphed over his past.

The author tells of his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, after he was taken away from his abusive mother and alcoholic father, and discusses how he made it into the Air Force, and found love and contentment in his life.

A memoir of University of Nebraska football star and NFL first-round draft pick Jason Peter, who became addicted to painkillers, and eventually heroin, while battling injuries that ended his career.

Reymundo Sanchez, a former member of the Latin Kings street gang, recounts the experiences of Sonia Rodriguez, a young girl who became a powerful leader of the Latin Queens, and explores the devastating impact gangs can have on a young girl's life.

Presents the true story of Brent Runyon who at fourteen set himself on fire and sustained burns over eighty percent of his body, and describes the months of physical and mental rehabilitation that followed as he attempted to pull his life together.

The author describes his struggle to separate himself from the Latin Kings, detailing his initial break with the Chicago gang, and telling how he was drawn back into the criminal life, and how his time in prison allowed him the chance to prepare himself for life outside the gang.

The author tells about his early life in Puerto Rico, shares the story of how he became involved with the Latin Kings in Chicago, and discusses how the gang changed over the years from heroes representing the struggle for Latino equality to cold-blooded murderers.

In his memoir, the author tells the story of growing up with an abusive father, who contracted HIV and ultimately died of AIDS when Jason was a teenage

A poetry memoir in which the author tells of the pressures that led her to suffer debilitating anxiety attacks, and the path she took to coping and recovery.

L.A. Crip gang member Kody Scott recounts his life from the time he joined at eleven years old to being in solitary confinement at San Quentin.

The author describes his childhood in California, his addiction to crystal meth and heroin at a young age, his relapse after eighteen months of sobriety, and his path to recovery.

Journalist David Sheff tells the story of his son Nic's happy early childhood, the transformation wrought by Nic's addiction to methamphetamine, and his own obsession with Nic's well-being.

Colton Simpson offers an inside look at the Crips, a notorious street gang founded in Los Angeles, and describes how he was inducted into the gang, the rules and ethics he adhered to, the violence and betrayal that sent him to prison, and the lessons he learned from the experience.

Elizabeth Smart who was kidnapped and held captive for nine months describes her ordeal, escape, and becoming an advocate in preventing crimes against children.

The author recalls her harrowing experiences as a thirteen-year-old who struck an online relationship with twenty-three-year-old Mark and offers advice and insight on online sexual predators. 0-452-28661-1

Presents the story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

Vance, a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, provides an account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck

Author Erin Vincent describes her life after her parents were both killed in a car accident, leaving her parentless at the age of fourteen with a seventeen-year-old sister and a three-year-old brother; and gives a description of the stages of grief she experienced.

The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic 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.

Jewish Czech Felix Weinberg describes surviving five concentration camps, his liberation at Buchenwald, and his eventual reunion with his father in Britain.

The four Welch siblings--Amanda, Liz, Dan, and Diana--describe the hardships and struggles they faced during their childhoods, which culminated with the death of their actress mother, Ann, and resulted in their separation from one another.

A memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.

Amy Wilensky offers a personal account of her lifelong struggle with Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The author describes her battle with depression, including her breakdowns, suicide attempts, hospitalizations, and experiences with medications, and also discusses her feelings about depression in 1990s America.

Malala Yousafzai's describes her fight for education for girls under Taliban rule, the support she received from her parents to pursue an education, and how the Taliban retaliated against her by trying to kill her.

The author discusses her relationship with alcohol, telling how she began drinking at the age of fourteen and continued drinking for the express purpose of getting drunk, bolstering her courage, or medicating her moods, and sharing the reasons why she decided to give up alcohol nine years later.

Thomas Fisher was raised on the South Side of Chicago and even as a kid understood how close death could feel-he came from a family of pioneering doctors who believed in staying in the community, but on those streets he saw just how vulnerable Black bodies could be. Determined to follow his family's legacy, Fisher studied public health at Dartmouth and Harvard, then returned to the University of Chicago Medical School. As soon as he graduated, he began working in the ER that served his South Side community. Even as his career took him to stints at the White House, working on what would eventually become the Affordable Care Act and helping develop HMOs for underserved communities, he never gave up his ER rotations. He knew that to really understand healthcare disparities and medical needs, you had to stay close. The emergency room is designed for the most urgent cases, but it is often the first resort for South Side residents without any other choice. Fisher deals with those patients with necessary dispatch, but what he really wants to do is to spend his time helping them understand how it is they ended up in the ER-talk to them about the role economics plays in their health; the history of healthcare for the poor and marginalized; why Black people in particular distrust the medical profession; why they don't have a personal physician; the effect of food deserts and education gaps on their health; and, most of all, why they live in a society that has deemed their bodies and lives as less important than others. In this book he gets to have those lost conversations. This is the story of a dramatic year in the life of the Chicago ER-a year of an unprecedented pandemic and a ferocious epidemic of homicides-interwoven with the primer in healthcare one doctor wishes he could give his patients. Full of day-to-day drama, heartbreaking stories, compelling personal narrative, and penetrating analysis of our most fundamental failure as a society, this is a page-turning and mind-opening work that will offer readers a fresh vision of healthcare as a foundation of social justice.

A reflection on 'freedom' in a . . . memoir of the end of Communism in the Balkans. Lea Ypi grew up in the last Stalinist country in Europe: Albania, a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. While family members disappeared to what she was told were 'universities' from which few 'graduated', she swore loyalty to the Party. In her eyes, people were equal, neighbors helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. Then the statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote and worship freely and invest in hopes of striking it rich. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy, only to be sent back. Pyramid schemes bankrupted the country, leading to violence. One generation's dreams became another's disillusionment. As her own family's secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what 'freedom' really means. . . . traces the perils of ideology, and what people need to flourish.

When Silvia's mother called her home to Peru, she knew something finally had to give. A Latinx hero in the elite macho tech world of Silicon Valley, privately, she was hanging by a thread. She was deep in the throes of alcoholism, hiding her sexuality from her family, and repressing the abuse she'd suffered as a child. Her visit to Peru would become a turning point in her life. Silvia started climbing. Something about the brute force required for the ascent--the restricted oxygen at altitude, the vast expanse of emptiness around her, the risk and spirit and sheer size of the mountains, the nearness of death--woke her up. And then, she took her biggest pain to the biggest mountain: Everest.

An Emmy Award-winning writer and activist describes the harrowing years she spent in early adulthood fighting leukemia and how she learned to live again while forging connections with other survivors of profound illness and suffering.

In 1958, Riva is one of the first children born with spina bifida to survive. Her parents and doctors are determined to "fix" her, sending the message over and over again that she is broken. That she will never have a job, a romantic relationship, or an independent life. Enduring countless medical interventions, Riva tries her best to be a good girl and a good patient in the quest to be cured. Everything changes when, as an adult, Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark; it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening, or worthless. They insist that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Emboldened, Riva asks if she can paint their portraits--an intimate and collaborative process that will transform the way she sees herself, others, and the world.

A powerful memoir by 25-year-old Ly Tran about her immigrant experience and her recent family history in the aftermath of the war that spans from Vietnam to Brooklyn, and ultimately to the Ivy League.

'Leaving Breezy Street' is the account of a woman who had to make the best out of tough situations and limited options. A testimony on how the cycle of abuse can be perpetuated--but also broken. Proof of the transformation power of love between biological and chosen family. This is the raw truth of what American life can be like for so many people.

A memoir in essays about so many things--growing up in an abusive cult, coming of age as a lesbian in the military, forced out by homophobia, living on the margins as a working class woman and what it's like to grow into the person you are meant to be.

In this memoir that spans dozens of countries worldwide, a young girl and her family adopt one new identity after another and run from both the law and the secrets that will eventually catch up to all of them.

A teen mother's intimate, fearless account of America's damaging response to teen pregnancy, the systemic issues that exacerbate it, the insurmountable barriers to college for parenting students, and a blueprint for helping young families overcome the odds.

This memoir of the renowned astrophysicist tells the story of how he overcame his personal demons, including an impoverished childhood and life of crime as well as an addiction to crack cocaine and entrenched racism.

At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams--breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest, attending a university, and becoming a writer--were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, working days and taking college classes online. She also began to write relentlessly. She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps and WIC . . . coupons to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance while she didn't feel lucky at all. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor. Her memoir explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them.