Biography Girls

David Kherdian re-creates his mother's voice in telling the true story of a childhood interrupted by one of the most devastating holocausts of our century. Vernon Dumehjian Kherdian was born into a loving and prosperous family. Then, in the year 1915, the Turkish government began the systematic...

The under-told legacy of indentured servitude runs through the blood of countless descendants in the diaspora. In this deeply felt collection of essays, Andrea Gunraj explores the impact of her family’s history on her sense of self. Uncover a deeply moving exploration of identity, legacy, and...

The messianic beliefs of radical LDS fundamentalists Dan Lafferty and his brother Ron drove them to commit an unspeakable crime.This is a riveting, raw, and unfiltered look at the Lafferty family saga from a daughter who lived it, and of her journey to self-love and forgiveness. Rebecca...

What would you do if your mom put you in a mental institution because you believed in Care Bears? Where would you hide if the US government was after your family because you knew their darkest secrets? Would you sell everything you owned for a pancake? This is my story of surviving a not-so-normal childhood. A book that will make you laugh, cry, and be totally mental... you have been warned.

Skater Girl Asha tells the TRUE story of how Asha, an Untouchable, broke courageously with the traditional conventions in her village and shaped her life ever since. She escaped her arranged marriage and found her passion and purpose through skateboarding. Today, Asha is a strong voice for all the girls in her village of Janwaar – and far beyond. “Before the skatepark started, I was very different. I didn’t know my own voice. I couldn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t even make eye contact with anyone.

Despite being rejected by the Marines in 1972, Effin G kept his ambition and discipline. He was ultimately recruited by a private army in 1975 and participated in his first mission in 1976. This is a riveting story of how a young man uses the power of music, especially the music of The Grateful Dead, to help him through an amazing military adventure. The real characters show how a diverse group of Vietnam Era soldiers come together for an important cause: The War on Drugs.

For more than 50 years, Wendy McCarthy has been on the leading edge of Australian feminism, and her trailblazing advocacy and leadership have made her a widely respected and revered figure: a woman who shaped her times as much as she was shaped by them. Now, at 80 years of age, she shares her remarkable life and achievements. From sheltered country schoolgirl to relentless campaigner for abortion and contraception, from passionate teacher to lifelong advocate for education, Wendy smashed the glass ceiling again and again.

An insightful memoir from a figure skating champion about her life as a bisexual professional athlete, perfect for readers of Fierce by Aly Raisman and Forward by Abby Wambach. Karina Manta has had a busy few years: Not only did she capture the hearts of many with her...

Wer war Kelly Bishop, bevor sie als Emily Gilmore zur Kultfigur wurde? Wie kam sie ihrer Rolle als Mutter von Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing"? Und welche persönlichen Kämpfe stecken hinter ihrem Broadway-Durchbruch mit "A Chorus Line"? In ihrem tief bewegenden Memoir öffnet die preisgekrönte Schauspielerin ihr Herz und erzählt von einem Leben, das weit mehr ist als Glanz und Glamour.

Amazing women with a story to tell. Join Mae West as she shakes up the entertainment industry with her wit and wisdom or create colorful art pieces with Yayoi Kusama that are larger than life itself. These women in history defied the expectations of conventional society to live the lives they chose, regardless of what others thought.

Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home.

You can sparkle, shimmer, shine – just like Marsha did. This vibrant and joyful audiobook celebrates the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman and activist who played an instrumental role during the Stonewall Riots that lead to PRIDE month, written by award-winning filmmaker and...

Nigel Delphian was a poor misfit without direction when he surprised everyone around him and joined the navy. As he embarked on his new adventure, Nigel had no idea that his decision would place him on a path he never expected.

All I ever wanted was to be normal. But when I was diagnosed with a horrible disease, my life became filled with insurmountable challenges far from normal. Terrified I wouldn’t have a life worth living, I went to an academy where everything changed for me. I was exhilarated to discover my life was just beginning. Living without my parents and dealing with my disease alone scared me. But after making friends, my temporary home was better than I could have imagined

So much is surprising and captivating about this coming-of-age story of a culture-rich, pre-and-proto-’60s upper class girl with rebellion and independence wired in. Lale’s early decades were a complex mixture of innocence, sophistication, doubt, passion, adventure, and brutal self-criticism. They live in a small East Side walk-up, but her mother orders custom-made clothes from Christian Dior in Paris. Finally finding focus for her passion, she powers her way into her chosen profession: architecture.

In sixteen essays published over the past decade, acclaimed novelist Elisa Albert considers everything from the creative process to reproductive justice, ambition to Ani DiFranco, Judaism to the ethos of punk, all in the midst of making a home in the strange city of Albany, New York.

Alyssa Azar is unstoppable. When she was just eight years old, she walked the gruelling Kokoda Track, the youngest person in the world to do so. At 12 she climbed the 10 highest peaks in Australia. Two years later she touched the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, at the age of 19, she has reached the roof of the world: the summit of Mount Everest. The Girl Who Climbed Everest is the inspiring story of how an ordinary girl from country Queensland worked towards ascending the world's highest peak.

She was beautiful, talented, irascible, ruthless, vulnerable, and a true Hollywood legend. From abused child to dance-hall entertainer to silent-film actress, she went on to become one of Hollywood's screen goddesses with films such as Possessed opposite Clark Gable, with whom she began a torrid off-screen affair, Grand Hotel, and Mildred Pierce, her Academy Award-winning film.

Kathleen Rooney draws on her own experiences working as an artist's model, as well as the famous, notorious, and mysterious artists and models through the ages. Through a combination of personal perspective, historical anecdote, and witty prose, Live Nude Girl reveals that both the appeal of posing nude for artists and the appeal of drawing the naked figure lie in our deeply human responses to beauty, sex, love, and death.

At 24 Amy was a typical type-A law student: smart, driven, and highly competitive. With a full course load and a budding romance, it seemed nothing could slow her down...until her heart began to fail. Amy chronicles her harrowing medical journey from the first misdiagnosis to her astonishing recovery, which is made all the more dramatic by the romantic bedside courtship with her future husband and her uncompromising desire to become a mother.