Childhood Memoir

Of Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Ngugi wa Thiongo was born in 1938 in the backlands of his country (Kiambu district) to a father whose four wives bore him two dozen or so children. Ngugi was the fifth child of the third wife. His father was a peasant farmer forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Before going off to school, he had what was then considered a bizarre and inexplicable thirst for learning....

A lyrical and groundbreaking exploration of the misun­derstood ways women survive and forever carry trauma from the award-winning New York Times Magazine writer Jen Percy. “A groundbreaking exploration of women’s often shamed and silenced responses to sexual assault...Extensive, empathetic...

Eleven-year-old Cupcake Brown woke up on the bicentennial and found her mother still in bed. She struggled to wake her up, pushing and pulling until she managed to tug her mother's lifeless corpse onto her own small body, crushing her beneath its dead weight. After squeezing out from under her...

Named one of Esquire's "Best Nonfiction Books of 2018" "Sharp and searching...a potent look at the fraught, painful, and complicated relationship between parents and children, and the mysteries — revelatory, difficult — that can and cannot be solved." — Boston Globe Anya Yurchyshyn grew...

"Dan Bittner flawlessly narrates this matchless memoir, which captures writer Gary Paulsen's bittersweet life...The sublime narration and satisfying conclusion contribute to a rewarding listening experience." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner A middle grade memoir from a living...

ONE REMARKABLE WOMAN OVER 30 YEARS OF FOSTERING CARER TO MORE THAN 150 CHILDREN Tayo arrives at Cathy’s with only the clothes he stands up in. He has been brought to her by the police, but he is calm, polite, and very well-spoken, and not at all like the children she normally fosters. The...

A New York Times bestseller, this extraordinary memoir from Huma Abedin—Hillary Clinton’s famously private top aide and longtime advisor—offers “a gripping testament to the power of a woman finding her voice, owning her ambition, and sharing her truth” (Glennon Doyle). Abedin’s...

“One of the Finest Memoirs Ever Written” –The New Yorker “A Childhood has been widely recognized as a masterpiece, a Dickensian document of survival and blight in Depression-era Georgia.” –Harper’s The highly acclaimed memoir of one of the most original American storytellers of the...

Originally published in 1950, The Little Princesses was the first account of British Royal life inside Buckingham Palace as revealed by Marion Crawford, who served as governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

With poignant prose and a deeply authentic personal story, this harrowing account exposes the stark and painful realities of childhood abuse, painting a heart-breaking picture of the lasting pain and fear that it inflicts on its victims. Spanning 30 years, in this coming-of-age memoir, author Christina Vitagliano recounts in vivid detail the frightening nights spent when her father loomed in the doorway of her bedroom, along with the psychological toll that the relentless familial abuse took on her psyche.

A powerful and redemptive story of how the dazzling world of roller derby helped one young woman transform her fear and self-doubt into gutsy, big-hearted, adventurous living “A universal story of healing and triumph, made all the more beautiful, wild, and free by Gabe’s fierce love for...

“I was riveted by this searing ode to the resiliency of the human psyche, rich in beauty and devastation.”—Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood An unflinching and stunning debut memoir of an Iranian girl’s coming-of-age experiencing abuse, war, and superstition—and her survival through...

Written by journalist and professor at the University of Texas-Austin Mallary Tenore Tarpley, Slip offers a groundbreaking framework for understanding eating disorder recovery and interweaves poignant personal stories, immersive reporting, and cutting-edge science. When Mallary Tenore Tarpley...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It’s a hell of a story.” —The New York Times “A stunning and revelatory memoir.” —Oprah Daily From MSNBC anchor and instant New York Times bestselling author Katy Tur, a gripping memoir about journalism, family legacy, and personal struggles...

The straight-faced, funny man of Duck Dyanasty has a real story to tell. Not a repeat of the previous Duck Dynasty books, Jase opens up about his personal family life, his childhood days with a drunken father, and how he came to faith. This open book from Jase may surprise some fans who love him...

When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one. She was whisked away to Narnia and Kirrin Island and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy and played by the tracks with the Railway Children.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR 2025 - AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS A shocking true story of heartbreak and survival by Sarah Corbett Lynch, daughter of Jason Corbett - an Irish Times Number 1 bestseller and the subject of NETFLIX documentary A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE. 'Honest and compelling' Sunday...

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal...

Sometimes there is an entire year that sparkles in the memory as a time brimming over with the fullness of life. By the age of 10, Annie’s intervals of awakening began to occur more frequently; the hours and minutes of the years that followed were spent reveling in the delights and the anguishes that accompany being fully alive.

In a memoir where heroism meets humor, NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen tells the story of her family’s daring escape from communist Vietnam and her unlikely journey from refugee to reporter with laughter and fierce love. Starting in 1975, Vietnam’s “boat...