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Memoir

Our extensive memoir collection spans decades and features the personal stories of award-winning authors from around the world. Read on to learn about Sarah M. Broom’s childhood in New Orleans in The Yellow House; activist Ishmael Beah’s experiences as a boy in war-torn Sierra Leone in A Long Way Gone; and clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison and her experiences living with bipolar disorder.

Publication year 1999Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & RealityTags Mental Illness, Science / Nature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Biography

John Nash is born and raised in Bluefield, West Virginia. As a child, he is introverted and quiet, preferring reading and performing experiments to playing with other children. He is obsessed with codes and patterns and enjoys playing pranks on his sister and schoolmates. Intending to become an engineer like his father, Nash secures a scholarship to study at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. After a year, he abandons engineering to major in mathematics. He... Read A Beautiful Mind Summary


Publication year 2012Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: FamilyTags Race / Racism, Parenting, Inspirational, Biography

A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home is a 2012 memoir by author Steve Pemberton. In three parts, it tells the story of his quest to learn the truth about his past. The book examines themes of identity, abuse, family, racism, and how peoples’ pasts can influence their futures. Part 1 begins with Steve’s recurring memory of the day that his mother abandoned... Read A CHANCE IN THE WORLD: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Religion / Spirituality, Education, Education, Biography, Politics / Government

Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation is a book by Eboo Patel. Part memoir, part treatise on the vulnerability of youth who are preyed upon and radicalized by religious zealots, the book examines Patel’s search for his identity, following him from childhood to his time as the founder of the Interfaith Youth Core group. Themes of faith, family, religious doubt, pluralism, and the... Read Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Society: Immigration, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Immigration / Refugee, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Parenting, Arts / Culture, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: U.S., Biography

A Dream Called Home is a memoir published in 2018 by the award-winning Mexican American author Reyna Grande. The book is the sequel to her bestselling 2012 memoir, The Distance Between Us, which addresses Reyna’s experiences crossing the US-Mexico border as a child. The title alludes to the American dream while also gesturing to varied concepts of home. This summary refers to the 2018 English-language edition published by Atria Books.Plot SummaryReyna divides her memoir into... Read A Dream Called Home Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Society: Immigration, Society: CommunityTags Immigration / Refugee, History: U.S., Politics / Government, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Sociology, History: World, Biography

Publication year 2015Genre Book, NonfictionTags Religion / Spirituality, Christian literature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Biography, Classic Fiction

Clive Staples Lewis (1888-1963) C.S. Lewis was a British writer and academic, renowned for his works on Christianity, and best remembered today as the author of the children’s book series The Chronicles of Narnia. He graduated from Oxford University and taught there until 1954 when he became Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. A Grief Observed was originally publishedunder the pseudonym N.W. Clerk and attributed to Lewis only after his death. A Grief... Read A Grief Observed Summary


Publication year 2017Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Immigration / Refugee, History: Middle Eastern, Military / War, History: World, Biography, Social Justice, Action / Adventure

A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea is a 2017 book by Melissa Fleming, telling the true story of a young girl named Doaa who fled the Syrian civil war. Made a refugee by the conflict, she travels to Egypt and then attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The book has won numerous awards.Plot SummaryThe story opens with Doaa Al Zamel floating in the sea amid the wreckage of a ship. Her husband is... Read A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival Summary


Publication year 2003Genre Book, NonfictionTags Historical Fiction, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction, Health / Medicine

Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year was first published in 1722. The novel is written in the first-person and chronicles the spread of the bubonic plague in London in 1665. While the first-person narration and abundant historical detail result in a text that feels like—and masquerades as—nonfiction, Defoe was only 5 years old at the time of the events, while the narrator is an adult man living on his own in London. Despite... Read A Journal of the Plague Year Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Poem, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: NationTags Arts / Culture, History: U.S., African American Literature, Creative Nonfiction, Gender / Feminism, Music, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World

Publication year 1975Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: TeamsTags Action / Adventure, History: World, Travel Literature, Biography

Alive is a nonfiction book published in 1974 by the British author Piers Paul Read. It is based on the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The stranded men resorted to cannibalism to survive. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1993. Plot SummaryRugby first came to Uruguay via a group of Irish priests hired to educate the children of... Read Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Summary


Publication year 1998Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Sociology, Poverty, Southern Literature, History: World, Biography

This book is a memoir written by a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Rick Bragg, who works for the New York Times. It describes the author’s childhood in rural Alabama,   the middle child of three brothers raised by an almost-always single mother in conditions of extreme poverty. His father was a veteran of the Korean War and an alcoholic, who abandoned his family for long periods of time.The book is dedicated “To my Momma and my brothers.” The author grows... Read All Over But the Shoutin' Summary


Publication year 2000Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & BetrayalTags Poverty, Race / Racism, Education, Education, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World, Irish Literature, Biography

All Souls: A Family Story From Southie is a 1999 memoir by Michael MacDonald. It examines his experiences growing up in the Old Colony neighborhood of South Boston, also known as Southie. The memoir examines themes of family, racism, xenophobia, police corruption, and justice, all set against the backdrop of one family’s tragedy.When the book begins, an adult Michael is returning to Southie in order to give a tour of the neighborhood to a reporter... Read All Souls: A Family Story from Southie Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Identity: Race, Self Discovery, Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Mothers, Identity: LanguageTags Parenting, Race / Racism, Biography

Publication year 1999Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Daughters & SonsTags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Gender / Feminism, Immigration / Refugee, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Biography

Esmeralda’s family relocates from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn in 1961, when Esmeralda is 13 years old. On the cusp of womanhood, Esmeralda receives warnings from her family members, and especially her mother, Mami, to watch out for the many algos or dangers lurking in the city. Struggling to adjust to city life in Brooklyn, Esmeralda misses Puerto Rico, and she dreams of the day when she will return. Initially put into remedial classes because she... Read Almost a Woman Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Society: WarTags History: African

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider is a memoir published in 2007 by the Sierra Leonean author and activist Ishmael Beah. The book recounts the author’s experiences as a 12-year-old boy in war-torn Sierra Leone. Forced to serve as a child soldier for three years in the 1990s during the Sierra Leone Civil War, Beah wrote the book to highlight the horrific impact of war on children. Nominated for a 2007 Quill... Read A Long Way Gone Summary


Publication year 2013Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Fate, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: HopeTags Poverty, Parenting, Indian Literature, Biography

A Long Way Home is a 2013 memoir by Saroo Brierley, an Indian-born author who was accidentally separated from his biological family at the age of five and adopted by an Australian couple. The memoir traces Saroo’s remarkable journey from India to Australia and back again 25 years later. The book inspired the 2016 film Lion and became a New York Times Best Seller after the film’s release. This guide refers to the 2015 edition published... Read A Long Way Home Summary


Publication year 2009Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, History: World, WWII / World War II, Holocaust, Military / War, Biography

A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy, first published in Germany 2007, is author Thomas Buergenthal's account of his childhood during the Nazi Occupation. Buergenthal was 6 years old when forced to abandon his home and spend the rest of his childhood running from Nazis and struggling to survive the Holocaust. Buergenthal’s horrific journey took him through bombings, labor camps, concentration camps, and “death marches.” He lost most of his... Read A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy Summary


Publication year 2005Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags History: U.S., Sociology, Immigration / Refugee, Education, Education, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Biography

Always Running is the autobiography of Luis J. Rodriguez, a Mexican-American former gang member who grew up in dangerous East Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s. Luis’ family moved to Los Angeles from Mexico after Luis’ father was accused of theft, and Luis spends his early years in Watts, a particularly crime-ridden LA neighborhood. Luis’ father struggles to find work, and the family struggles to find adequate shelter and food. After they are evicted... Read Always Running Summary


Publication year 1992Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Aging, Values/Ideas: Science & TechnologyTags Arts / Culture, Business / Economics, Philosophy, Military / War, Class, Depression / Suicide, Education, Science / Nature, Sports, Technology, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Biography

Publication year 1973Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: NationTags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

America is in the Heart is a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1946 by the Filipino American author Carlos Bulosan. A coming of age narrative told in four parts, the story begins in the Philippines, ends in America, and spans decades. Scholars compare it to other social activism classics like John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, but America is in the Heart is unique in that it portrays the plight of Filipino immigrants in America during... Read America Is in the Heart: A Personal History Summary


Publication year 2003Genre Short Story, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Identity: GenderTags Historical Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

Zitkála-Šá’s 1921 book American Indian Stories gathers autobiographical chapters, historical fiction stories, and essays focused on the experiences of the Dakota Sioux and interactions between American Indians and White citizens of the United States. Zitkála-Šá’s works convey a strong sense of independence, pride in Sioux culture, and indignation at injustices committed against American Indians. This study guide references the 2019 Modern Library (Penguin Random House) edition of American Indian Stories.SummaryThe collection begins with an autobiographical... Read American Indian Stories Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Anthology/Varied Collection, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Society: Immigration, Society: CommunityTags Immigration / Refugee, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Biography

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures (2018) is an essay collection edited by actress and activist America Ferrera with E. Cayce Dumont. The collection contains essays from notable individuals in movie and TV entertainment, food, publishing, public service, comedy, music, and self-help content creation. These first-person accounts all address the often troublesome question of what it means to be American, especially when growing up between different cultures. American Like Me is a New... Read American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Justice & InjusticeTags Incarceration, Social Justice, Journalism, Race / Racism, American Literature, Post-War Era, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Sociology, History: World, Politics / Government

Publication year 2012Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Society: War, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Relationships: Family, Relationships: SiblingsTags History: U.S., War On Terrorism / Iraq War, Military / War, History: World, Biography

American Sniper is the autobiography of Chris Kyle, the single deadliest sniper in the history of the United States military. The narrative, co-written by Chris Kyle, Jim deFelice, Scott McEwen, and Chris’s wife Taya, opens with events that took place in 2003 in Iraq. At the time, Chris was providing protective fire for a group of Marines; a female insurgent attempted to attack the Marines with a grenade, but Chris shot her, registering his first... Read American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Summary


Publication year 2009Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Identity: LanguageTags Education, Education, Biography, Classic Fiction

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard wrote the autobiographical memoir An American Childhood (1987). In this memoir, Dillard (born in 1945) describes her intellectual development, from her first true intellectual awakening, at 5 years old, through her busy and happy pre-teen years and her turbulent adolescence, to her acceptance at a prestigious private college at age 18. An exploration of her childhood during the 1950s, this memoir operates as a coming-of-age story in which the author... Read An American Childhood Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: ArtTags Food, Arts / Culture, Science / Nature, Creative Nonfiction

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007) is, on its surface, a memoir detailing a year in the life of one family, told through an account of their food. However, it is also at times a manifesto and frequently veers into academic exploration of themes like sustainability and the current state of farming in the US. Author Barbara Kingsolver sets out to chronicle a year in her family’s food life when they undertake an experiment: to “attempt to... Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Summary


Publication year 2019Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Fate, Society: CommunityTags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Poverty, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Children's Literature, Biography

Author Laura Schroff’s 2012 New York Times bestseller An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny recounts a fateful meeting between two vastly different individuals: Maurice, a young boy living in poverty and a broken home, and Schroff, a successful ad executive enjoying a fast-paced career. In the memoir, the author posits that an invisible thread joins their lives. It is beyond her... Read An Invisible Thread: Adapted for Young Readers Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Immigration / Refugee, History: African , Military / War, History: World, Biography

An Ordinary Man is 2006 the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of a Belgian-owned Rwandan hotel. Rusesabagina’s story, written with the aid of journalist Tom Zoellner, centers on the struggles Rusesabagina and his family overcame to survive the inhumane, racially motivated genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994—a story later turned into the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda. The narrative uses a conversation tone, unembellished language, and an unostentatious style. After describing Paul's past and... Read An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography Summary


Publication year 1996Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: FamilyTags Psychology, Mental Illness, Science / Nature, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Biography

An Unquiet Mind, written by Kay Redfield Jamison and first published in 1995, is a memoir about a clinical psychologist’s experience living with manic-depressive illness. The book details her life, from her early experiences as a child, through the beginning of her mood swings, her diagnosis of manic-depressive illness, her struggles with the disease, and her eventual management of and control over it, following years of therapy and medication. Aside from having experienced it, Jamison... Read An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness Summary


Publication year 2002Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: FamilyTags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Incarceration, Education, Race / Racism, Education, Social Justice, Biography

Jimmy Santiago Baca, born in 1952, is an American poet and author of A Place to Stand. This memoir begins with Baca’s early years at home with his drunken, abusive father and his unhappy mother. Baca loves his father, who is continually in and out of jail, but Baca’s mother abandons her three children to marry a man who can provide her a more stable life.Baca, his brother, and his sister live with their grandparents... Read A Place to Stand Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Identity: IndigenousTags Race / Racism, Social Justice, LGBTQ, Biography

Publication year 2012Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Psychology, Psychology, LGBTQ, Biography

Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama is a graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel and the winner of the 2013 Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction. It is the follow-up to Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which focuses on Bechdel’s sexual awakening and her relationship with her closeted bisexual father. Are You My Mother? interweaves memoir, dream interpretation, psychoanalysis, and literature to examine Bechdel’s complicated relationship with her mother.Plot SummaryThe non-linear narrative of Are You... Read Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama Summary


Publication year 2004Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: FamilyTags Crime / Legal, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, American Literature, Biography

A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath (2004) is a true-crime story and memoir by Jeanine Cummins. The book recounts the violent rape and murder of two young women, Julie and Robin Kerry, the author’s cousins, and focuses on the aftermath for their families. Tom Cummins, their cousin who is present during the crimes, is thrown off a bridge into the Mississippi River with the two women but survives. Innocent, he... Read A Rip in Heaven Summary


Publication year 2017Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Society: WarTags Military / War, Vietnam War, History: U.S., History: World, Biography

Philip Caputo’s 1977 memoir, A Rumor of War, depicts Caputo’s true experiences serving as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Caputo arrived in Vietnam in March 1965, with the first fighting troops assigned to combat there, and soon learned that his romantic notions of war bore no resemblance to the bloody brutality he and his men confront in fighting the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. As well as acknowledging the dehumanizing brutality... Read A Rumor of War: The Classic Vietnam Memoir Summary


Publication year 2000Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Society: Politics & Government, Society: Colonialism, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Society: Class, Society: Education, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Creative Nonfiction, Afro-Caribbean Literature, History: World, Politics / Government, Black Lives Matter, Education, Education, Travel Literature, Classic Fiction

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid is a work of creative nonfiction originally published in 1988. Kincaid shares memories of her home country, Antigua, both while it was under colonial rule and self-governance. She illustrates how life has and hasn’t changed for Antiguan citizens because of government corruption, the legacies of slavery, and the preoccupation with tourism over public welfare. Though the book won no awards, Kincaid has won a plethora of awards for her... Read A Small Place Summary


Publication year 2001Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Values/Ideas: Trust & DoubtTags Health / Medicine, Gender / Feminism, Science / Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, LGBTQ, Biography

John Colapinto’s 1999 book As Nature Made Him is an expansion of his award-winning 1997 Rolling Stone article on the medical scandal surrounding David Reimer. David, raised as Brenda under the auspices of famous sexologist and child psychiatrist Dr. John Money, transitions back to a male gender identity during his teenage years. After Dr. Milton Diamond reveals the failure of Money’s theory of gender neutrality at birth, David’s story raises serious questions in the medical... Read As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl Summary


Publication year 2001Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Biography

Shakur: An Autobiography traces events from Shakur Shakur’s early childhood to her time as a political refugee in Cuba. While the book was first published in 1988, this guide references the 2014 edition of the autobiography, which features a foreword written by Angela Davis and Lennox Hill.Content Warning: The source text and this study guide contain descriptions of racism, racist violence, and sexual abuse in a carceral context.SummaryShakur Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron) grew... Read Assata: An Autobiography Summary


Publication year 2003Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: BeautyTags Disability, Psychology, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Biography

Published in 1994, Autobiography of a Face is award-winning poet Lucy Grealy’s prose debut, a widely-celebrated memoir concerning the author’s struggles with cancer and disfigurement.At the age of 9, Lucy collides with a classmate during a game of dodgeball. The subsequent toothache leads her to seek medical assistance and doctors discover that she has Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of cancer with a 5% survival rate. She undergoes an operation to remove half of her jaw... Read Autobiography of a Face Summary


Publication year 2002Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: FamilyTags History: U.S., Great Depression, Creative Nonfiction, Southern Literature, History: World, Biography

Rick Bragg’s Ava’s Man, published in 2001, is a work of creative nonfiction that centers around Charlie Bundrum, the author’s maternal grandfather. Although Bragg’s grandfather died before Bragg was born, the book is inspired by the innumerous stories, anecdotes, and memories of Charlie that the author heard from the people that knew and loved him. Bragg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is known for his nonfiction works that center on family in the Alabama region. Ava’s... Read Ava's Man Summary


Publication year 2006Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags History: European, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World, Biography

A Woman in Berlin is a memoir first published in 1954. The memoir documents the experiences of a German woman as the Russian Army invades Berlin at the end of the Second World War. The book remained unpublished in German until 1959; until 2003, the identity of the author remained a mystery. Originally, the book was published as the work of an anonymous woman, but the author was eventually revealed to be journalist Marta Hillers... Read A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Children's Literature, Education, Education, Biography

Bad Boy is a 2001 memoir spanning roughly the first seventeen years of YA writer Walter Dean Myers’s life. In it, Myers explores how the time he spent growing up in a mixed-race, working-class family in 1940s-and-50s Harlem impacted his eventual career as a writer.To do so, Myers first explains his complicated family history: Myers’s biological parents were both black, but he was adopted at a very young age by his father’s first wife, Florence—a... Read Bad Boy: A Memoir Summary


Publication year 2013Genre Poem, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Identity: Indigenous, Society: Colonialism, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Self Discovery, Society: Nation, Society: CommunityTags History: U.S., Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Depression / Suicide, Education, History: The Americas, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, History: World, Biography

Publication year 2015Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Self Discovery, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: LiteratureTags Sports, Travel Literature, Action / Adventure, Bullying, Arts / Culture, Class, Race / Racism, Relationships, Poverty, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, Social Justice, History: World, Biography

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a 2015 memoir by William Finnegan, a writer for The New Yorker and the author of several social journalism books such as A Complicated War: The Harrowing of Mozambique and Dateline Soweto: Travels with Black South African Reporters. In Barbarian Days, Finnegan reflects on his upbringing in California and Hawaii, as well as his coming of age in the late 1960s. He relays his experience of the surfing counterculture... Read Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life Summary


Publication year 2017Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Good & EvilTags Sociology, Social Justice, Religion / Spirituality

Friar Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization known for being the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in the world. Boyle is also a Jesuit priest and the author of the bestselling Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, a memoir and religious text presenting his work with Homeboy Industries as a set of parables. Boyle received much acclaim for this first work and followed it... Read Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Society: CommunityTags Historical Fiction, Harlem Renaissance, History: U.S., Race / Racism, African American Literature, Anthropology, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Grief / Death, History: African , Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World, Biography

Originally written in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” (2018) is the transcribed posthumous autobiography of the life of Oluale “Cudjo Lewis” Kossola (1841-1935), written by Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960). Known for her involvement in the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was a writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and filmmaker. In all her work, she held a special appreciation for Black life and Black culture of the US South. Her works... Read Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" Summary


Publication year 1991Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Immigration, Society: ClassTags Immigration / Refugee, Race / Racism, Education, Education, History: World, Biography

Barrio Boy is a memoir by Ernesto Galarza that narrates the author’s journey from a small village in Mexico to a barrio in the United States. Considered a founding text in ethnic studies, the book was originally published in 1971 and was reissued as a 40th anniversary edition in 2011. Barrio Boy follows the author from his birth in the small town of Jalcocotán in 1905 up until high school. Galarza, who went on to... Read Barrio Boy Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: FamilyTags Addiction / Substance Abuse, Parenting, Psychology, Psychology, Biography, Mental Illness

Published in 2008, David Sheff’s memoir, Beautiful Boy, explores his experiences of coming to terms with his son’s addiction to methamphetamine. Sheff and his wife Vicki are overjoyed when they have their son, Nic. For the first three years, they live a happy, contented life, providing Nic with everything he needs. However, when Sheff and Vicki's marriage collapses, Nic, now aged three, is deeply affected by the change. This worsens when Sheff and Vicki move... Read Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Immigration, Identity: Language, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Identity: Race, Natural World: Food, Society: Education, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Chinese Literature, Immigration / Refugee, Poverty, American Literature, Education, Biography

Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Gender / Feminism, Politics / Government, History: U.S., Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: World, Biography

Becoming is a memoir by Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States from 2008-2016, originally published in 2018. In addition to describing her time in the White House, Obama details her upbringing, her education, her work in community outreach, and her relationship with former president Barack Obama, all of which contribute to the process of becoming the woman she is today. Becoming was the bestselling book of the year in 2018 and... Read Becoming Summary


Publication year 2015Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & DoubtTags LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Psychology, Psychology, Biography

Becoming Nicole, a nonfiction book by Washington Post journalist Amy Ellis Nutt, tells the story of Nicole Maines, a transgender girl who fights for acceptance in her family, at her school, and beyond. Published in 2015, the book chronicles Nicole’s early years as a boy named Wyatt, her adoption of a female name, a lawsuit involving her right to use the girls’ restroom at school, and her relationships with family and friends. Nutt also shows how... Read Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family Summary