Teen Memoirs

Growing up impoverished and shuttled between different households, it seemed life was bound to take a certain path for Eddie Chuculate. Despite the challenges he faced, his upbringing was rich with love and bountiful lessons from his Creek and Cherokee heritage, deep-rooted traditions he embraced even as he learned to live within the culture of white, small-town America that dominated his migratory childhood.

As a retired high school English teacher and boys’ basketball coach of 38 years, Tom Lowery has helped thousands of students negotiate the ups and downs of high school life. During that time, he noticed many of the challenges they faced weren’t all that different from the ones he had to face growing up: things like relationships, the battle for good grades, and the wins and losses of the sports world. Tom began to ask himself why students nowadays are unable to handle life’s stressors.

This short biographical work describes the experiences of Chimezie Ihekuna, a Nigerian man born with a facial deformity. From one scenario to the next, Chimezie encounters ostracisation and indifference from peers and elders alike. He reflects candidly here on the impact this has had on his life. His story is an invitation to empathy for all those who listen.

Changers Book One: Drew opens on the eve of Ethan Miller's freshman year of high school in a brand-new town. He's finally sporting a haircut he doesn't hate, has grown two inches since middle school, and can't wait to try out for the soccer team. At last, everything is looking up in life. Until the next morning. When Ethan awakens as a girl. Ethan is a Changer, a little-known, ancient race of humans who live out each of their four years of high school as a different person.

In January of 1963, Sharon Robinson turned 13 the night before George Wallace declared on national television "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" in his inauguration for governor of Alabama. That was the start of a year that would become one of the most pivotal years in the history of America. As the daughter of Jackie Robinson, Sharon had incredible access to some of the most important events of the era.

In the early morning of October 18, 1986, Cherie Wier’s life collapses when her teenage son takes the life of her beloved husband. For years, Cherie grapples with events preceding and following the crime, struggling to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from her loss and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts only add to Cherie’s yearning to make sense of the crime. She is tormented, wanting to know why the tragedy happened, and if there was anything she could have done.

The Joy of Addiction is a laugh-a-minute, stranger-than-fiction, tragicomedy about a teenager who hurtles into the abyss of drug and alcohol dependency. It is a true story with an unblinking insight into the mindset of an addict and an invaluable message of recovery.

This audiobook reveals the main facts about the magical childhood and teenage years of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the youngest son of a humble farmer, born in a remote Tibetan village, who became the political and spiritual leader of his homeland when he was only a kid. Its surprising content sheds light on the main facts and events that shaped his amazing early life, including: the Tibetan prophecy that announced his reincarnation; the magic lake that described the place where he was born; how the high lamas found him in a small farming village when he was two; and more!

“Lots of people have dreams, but C. Vivian Stringer is the dream—a coalminer’s daughter who believed when her Poppa told her there was no obstacle she could not surmount. And she lives that dream, teaching others to rise up to meet challenges, turning underdogs into champions again and...

Spending the night in juvie wasn't the worst thing to happen to seven-year-old Teresa that summer. When her much-anticipated cross-country vacation turns to abduction, Teresa is forced to care for her mother, sister, and twin brothers. Homeless, abused, and afraid in the slums of San Francisco's Tenderloin District, Teresa finds joy in her adventures while fantasizing of a better life. Keeping this dream alive throughout her childhood is what drives her to end the cycle of abuse and poverty.

Most of us think of bowling as a "sport" in quotation marks, and bowling alleys are places with disco balls, matching shirts, and funny shoes. But in the 1960s, New York City was the center of "action bowling", a form of high-stakes gambling in which bowlers - often teenagers - faced off for thousands of dollars every night. When money like that is changing hands, you can bet the pressure is on (and the balls are rigged), and losses come with dire consequences.

As a teen mom turned doctor, Dr. A certainly had the odds stacked against her. Raised in the crime-ridden streets of Detroit, her family was turned upside down at age 13 when her parents divorced and her mother was shot by a hitman—and survived! Three years after, Dr. A became a teen mom, young and pregnant while still in high school. Despite it all, she went on to earn three degrees and six figures before the age of 30, all while raising her son and working full time! Using secrets that fostered career management for life, she didn’t just beat the odds, she crushed them!

Investigators and Central Florida residents were horrified when 16-year-old vampire cult leader Rod Ferrell was arrested and charged with bludgeoning a cult member's parents. When they realized the slain couple's 15-year-old daughter was missing, they feared she was a victim, too. Detectives and journalists swarming over three states soon uncovered a web of blood-drinking occult rituals, illicit sex, wildly dysfunctional families, and spiritual warfare.

Farrah Rauch died by cop at the culmination of a long and difficult adolescence. Her family sought help for her, but multiple institutions and treatment facilities failed to reach her. Her friends and siblings tried to help her feel accepted but failed to reach her. Her father, Steve, tried to guide her to better life choices but failed to reach her—until 14 bullets cast their connection for eternity.

Annie takes us to the legendary UFO club in Tottenham Court Road to hear Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and other legendary venues such as Les Cousins and Bunjies to hear the best of the British Folk and Blues performers. In the process of exploring the counterculture night life, Annie discovers her voice, and sings in several obscure bands, but she is also on a journey of discovery to find herself in this coming of age story that takes her to Israel and Scotland, and meeting many eccentric and interesting people

Il ne faut pas séparer les amoureux. Pour préserver son couple, Sylvain, 10 ans, prend une grande décision.

From the acclaimed Modern Library Chronicles comes an exploration of a promising theory that when put to practice wreaked havoc on the world. An expert on communism, Richard Pipes follows the history of the Soviet Union from the 1917 revolution to the Cold War, and finally, to its deterioration and collapse.

Over 1600 years ago, God raised up a man named Patrick to take the Gospel of Christ to the people of Ireland. Seldom in church history has any missionary been blessed with a more fruitful ministry. The preaching of Patrick was used by God to transform many of the Irish people from idol-worshiping pagans into servants of the one true God of Scripture.

On a cool Pensacola night in January 1991, just a few minutes before midnight, three teenagers pulled up to the Trout Auto Parts store. Patrick Bonifay, his body coursing with adrenaline, entered the store clad in a ski mask carrying a loaded gun, intent on carrying out a poorly laid plan. Little did he know that it was his life - as well as the lives of his companions - that was about to be forever changed. Bonifay, Clifford Barth, and Eddie Fordham were hired to kill Daniel Wells by Robin Archer, who blamed Wells for losing his job nine months prior.

In accessible language and with periodic references to Star Trek, motorcycle daredevils, and near-classic movies of the '80s, developmental molecular biologist John Medina explores the neurological and evolutionary factors that drive teenage behavior and can affect both achievement and engagement. Then he proposes a research-supported counterattack: a bold redesign of educational practices and learning environments to deliberately develop teens' cognitive capacity to manage their emotions, plan, prioritize, and focus.