Biography & Memoir
Biography & memoir
Read one of these if you are interested in the stories of real people who have experienced both the horrors and the joys that life throws our way.
by Michael Anthony
After twelve months of military service in Iraq, Michael Anthony stepped off a plane, seemingly happy to be home--or at least back on US soil. He was twenty-one years old, a bit of a nerd, and carrying a pack of cigarettes that he thought would be his last. Two weeks later, Michael was stoned on Vicodin, drinking way too much, and picking a fight with a very large Hell's Angel. At his wit's end, he came to an agreement with himself: If things didn't improve in three months, he was going to kill himself. Civilianized is a memoir chronicling Michael's search for meaning in a suddenly destabilized world.
by Stephanie Wittels Wachs
One phone call was all it took to change Stephanie Wittels Wachs's life forever... Her younger brother, Harris, a comedy star known for his work on Parks and Recreation and for introducing the world to the art of the humblebrag, died of a heroin overdose. How do you make sense of such a tragic end to a life full of so much hilarious brilliance?
In beautiful, unsentimental, and surprisingly funny prose, Stephanie Wittels Wachs alternates between her brother's struggle with addiction, which she learned about three days before her wedding, and the first year after his death, in all its emotional devastation. This compelling portrait of a comedic genius and a profound exploration of the love between siblings is A Year of Magical Thinking for a new generation of readers.
by Nicole Georges
When Nicole Georges was sixteen she adopted Beija, a dysfunctional shar-pei/corgi mix—a troublesome combination of tiny and attack, just like teenaged Nicole herself. For the next fifteen years, Beija would be the one constant in her life. Through depression, relationships gone awry, and an unmoored young adulthood played out against the backdrop of the Portland punk scene, Beija was there, wearing her “Don’t Pet Me” bandana.
by Marc Aronson
Seventeen-year-old Cullen's summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin's death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother's sudden disappearance.
by Phillip Hoose
In a world in which society has stratified, fossil fuels have been consumed, and the seas have risen and drowned coastal cities, Nailer, 17, scavenges beached tankers for scrap metals on the Gulf Coast. Every day, he tries to "make quota" and avoid his violent, drug-addicted father. After he discovers a modern clipper ship washed up on the beach, Nailer thinks his fortune is made, but then he discovers a survivor trapped in the wreckage-the "swank" daughter of a shipping-company owner. Should he slit the girl's throat and sell her for parts or take a chance and help her?
by Alexander Roy
A career biography of Alexander Roy, an international outlaw rally driver who competed in outlaw racing such as the Gumball 3000 and the Bullrun in his modified BMW M5, evading police officers and attempting to draw the attention of The Driver, the organizer of a secret race.
by Phillip Hoose
When the Germans threatened to invade Denmark, the Danes capitulated with only token resistance on April 9, 1940, becoming an occupied country. This infuriated 15- and 16-year-old brothers Knud and Jens Pedersen, who formed a group of saboteurs and began cutting German telephone wires and defacing and reorienting directional signs. Just as they were making their presence felt, their family was relocated from Odense to Aalborg, where the two teens started a new group, called The Churchill Club in honor of the legendary British prime minister. Their story is one of bravery in the face of constant danger and of increasingly meaningful acts of sabotage, including stealing weapons and destroying important German assets.
by Tina Fey
Actress Tina Fey recounts her life, sharing how she managed to fulfill her dream of one day becoming a comedian on television and discussing her childhood, marriage, career, and views on beauty, politics, motherhood, and relationships.
by Martha Brockenbrough
This biography follows Hamilton's eventful life from his illegitimate birth in the West Indies to his appointment by George Washington as America's first Secretary of the Treasury. Brockenbrough gives particular attention to Hamilton's service in the Revolutionary War and to his role as Washington's protégé, which gave him influence far beyond his rank.
by Katie Rain Hill
In a warm, conversational and sometimes-irreverent memoir, a young transgender woman discusses friendship, family and romance, as well as gender, transition and coming out.
by Steve Hofstetter
In Ginger Kid, popular comedian Steve Hofstetter grapples with life after middle school . . . when his world fell apart. Formatted as a series of personal essays, Steve walks his readers through awkward early dating, family turbulence, and the revenge of the bullied nerds.
by Ashlee Vance
Cut from the same mold as such famous technology pioneers as Steve Jobs and Richard Branson, billionaire engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk is easily one of the most visionary inventors now pushing the envelope of scientific innovation. His Tesla electric cars have already shaken up the auto industry, and his recent start-up company, SpaceX, is already cornering the market on cheap reusable rockets. In this thoughtful and compelling biography of the Silicon Valley tycoon, Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Vance takes on the twin assignments of trying to understand Musk's unique contributions to society and exploring whether it's really possible for one inventive genius to significantly change the world
by Leslie Johansen Nack
Obsessed with sailing, Leslie Nack's larger-than-life Norwegian father has a dream to live on a sailboat and show his three daughters the world. And although it takes years, in 1975 he finally completes his preparation and sets his sights on French Polynesia. But when they begin their journey, Leslie, who has just turned fourteen, faces a disturbing reality: her father, who's crossed boundaries in the past, is not to be trusted ... and she's trapped with him on a 45-foot sailboat
by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. .... Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother-his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life
by Rob Rufus
Rufus was a bored teenager in his small West Virginia town until a new music shop opened and he found a "sanctuary" where he and his twin brother and their gang of friends could belong. When his "cool" uncle introduced him to punk, starting with the Ramones, his life changed yet again. Before long, his twin informs him that they are starting a band and that Rob will play drums. It doesn't matter if they're any good, he's told; it's punk. Just when things are picking up for the band and Rufus starts dating, life throws him a curveball. Coughing fits and other frightening symptoms become so severe that even he admits he needs to see a doctor. The diagnosis is dire; he has germ-cell cancer, a very rare form of the disease, and Rufus fully describes his harrowing and unrelenting treatment.
by Reinhard Kleist
Poland, 1941. Sixteen-year-old Harry Haft is sent to Auschwitz. When he is forced to fight against other inmates for the amusement of the SS officers, Haft shows extraordinary strength and courage, and a determination to survive. After the war, having escaped the Nazis, Haft again puts his strength to good use, establishing a career as a prize fighter in the USA
by Tara Westover
Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. As a way out, Tara began to educate herself, learning enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University. Her quest for knowledge would transform her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge.
by Arnaud Delalande
A biography in graphic novel format of Alan Turing, the British mathematician who helped decipher messages sent by Germany's Enigma machines during World War II and was responsible for creating what is known as one of the first computers. But despite his genius and his heroics, Turing lived a tortured life as a homosexual man during an intolerant time and he died, ostracized and alone, of a possible suicide at the age of forty-two. Includes an essay on cryptography and war.
by Toru Saiwai
Offers the story of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the religious and political leader of Tibet, in graphic novel format.