MEMOIRSOvercoming Challenges

ELENA VANISHING: A MEMOIR BY ELENA AND CLARE DUNKLE

Elena recounts her struggle with anorexia as

a teen and twenty-something – from denial, to treatment centers, to

recovery.288 pages

HOPE AND OTHER LUXURIES: A MOTHER’S LIFE WITH A DAUGHTER’S ANOREXIA BY CLARE DUNKLE

This is the story of one family’s fight against a deadly disease, from an

often ignored but important perspective: the

mother of an anorexic.557 pages

WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME BY JOSH SUNDQUIST

Why was Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had

tried to date and asked them straight up: What went wrong?

The results of Josh's semi-scientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here. From a disastrous

Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), this

story is about looking for love -- or at least a girlfriend -- in all the

wrong places.336 pages

POSITIVE BY PAIGE RAWL

“A teenager’s memoir of the experiences of bullying, being HIV

positive and surviving the experiences to become a force for positive change in

this world.”272 pages

GIRLS LIKE US BY RACHEL LLOYD

During her teens, Rachel Lloyd ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. With time,

through incredible resilience, and with the help of a local church

community, she finally broke free of her pimp and her past and

devoted herself to helping other young girls escape “the

life”….Lloyd reveals the dark world of commercial sex trafficking in

cinematic detail and tells the story of her groundbreaking nonprofit

organization: GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring

Services.277 pages

BRAIN ON FIRE: MY MONTH OF MADNESS BY SUSANNAH CAHALANOne day, 24-year-old Susannah woke up alone in a strange hospital room, strapped

to her bed, under guard, & unable to move or speak. A wristband marked her as a "flight risk," & her medical records--chronicling a month long hospital stay of which she had no memory at all--showed

hallucinations, violence, & dangerous instability. Who was the stranger who had taken over her body? What was happening to her mind? In this swift & breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her inexplicable descent into

madness & the brilliant, lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn't happen. 264

pages

CRAZY LOVE: A MEMOIR BY LESLIE MORGAN STEINER

At 22, Leslie seemed to have it all: good looks, a Harvard diploma, a

glamorous job in NYC. Plus a handsome, funny boyfriend who

adored her. But behind her façade of success, this golden girl hid a dark

secret. She’d made a mistake shared by millions: She fell in love with the

wrong person. At first, Leslie & Connor seemed perfect together. Then came the fights she tried to ignore: he pushed her down the

stairs, choked her during an argument, and threatened her with a gun. Several times, he came close to making good on his threat to kill her. With each attack, Leslie lost another

piece of herself. Why didn’t she leave? 325 pages

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: A MEMOIR BY PIPER KERMAN

With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely

resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to 15 months at the infamous federal

correctional facility in Danbury, CT, the well-heeled Smith College

alumna is now inmate #11187-424 – one of the millions of people who

disappear ‘down the rabbit hole’ of the American penal system.

327 pages

A STOLEN LIFE BY JAYCEE DUGARDThe memoir of Jaycee

Dugard, who was kidnapped on June 10, 1991 from a school bus stop within sight of her

home in Tahoe, California, when she was 11 years

old. She was held prisoner by convicted sex offender

Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy Garrido…for over eighteen years, all the while living in a tent on the Garrido property.

279 pages

STICK FIGURE: A DIARY OF MY FORMER SELF BY LORI GOTTLIEB

After happening upon the diary she kept when she was 11

years old, Gottlieb was moved to publish this chronicle of her struggle with anorexia nearly 20 years after she wrote it. In the late1970s, she lived with her parents and brother in

Beverly Hills, where Gottlieb's loneliness and concern about

looking attractive to boys swiftly transformed into an

obsession with dieting, although she had never been

overweight.222 pages

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS: A STORY OF LOSS AND GAIN BY PORTIA DE ROSSI

“I didn't decide to become anorexic. It

snuck up on me disguised as a healthy

diet, a professional attitude. Being as

thin as possible was a way to make the job of being an actress

easier….”Portia de Rossi weighed only 82

pounds when she collapsed on the set

of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading

role....On the outside she was thin and

blond, glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying. In

this searing, unflinchingly honest book,

Portia de Rossi captures the complex

emotional truth of what it is like when

food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human

impulse or action. 308 pages

Available at the Voorheesville Public Library

921 DEROSSI

DEVIL IN THE DETAILS: SCENES FROM AN OBSESSIVE GIRLHOOD BY JENNIFER TRAIG

“Gives a rare inside look at obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is a funny,

touching tale of a not-so-normal girl and her brave

battle with a not-so-normal disease.”

256 pages

DEVOTED: THE STORY OF A FATHER’S LOVE FOR HIS SON BY DICK HOYT

Born a spastic quadriplegic, Rick Hoyt was written off by numerous doctors, but his parents, Dick & Judy, were

determined to give their son all the opportunities of a

‘normal’ kid. In 1977, 15-year-old Rick asked his dad to enter a charity race. The

twist? Rick wanted to run it too.

203 pages

A THREE DOG LIFE BY ABIGAIL THOMAS

When Abigail Thomas'shusband, Rich, was hit by a

car, his brain shattered.Subject to rages, terrors,

andhallucinations, he must live

the rest of his life in aninstitution. He has no

memory of what he did thehour, the day, the year

before.This tragedy is the ground

onwhich Abigail had to build a

new life.182 pages

Interlibrary Loan at Voorheesville Public Library

THREE LITTLE WORDS BY ASHLEY RHODES-COURTER

Taken from her mother when she was scarcely four years old, Rhodes Courter spent the next

nine years in foster care with “more than a dozen

so-called mothers.” “Some were kind,” she acknowledges, “a few

were quirky and one . . .was as wicked as

a fairy-tale witch.” 301 pages

THREE MORE WORDS BY ASHLEY RHODES-COURTER

Ashley spent most of her childhood living in 14

different foster homes. Ashley was finally

adopted at the age of 12 and went on to become a success story. But what does it really mean to come out on the other side of the foster care

system?290 pages

THE GLASS CASTLE BY JEANNETTE WALLS

A memoir of resilienceamid a deeply

dysfunctional childhood. 288 pages

TWEAK: GROWING UP ON METHAMPHETAMINES BY NIC SHEFF

Book 1: The author details his immersion in a world of

hardcore drugs, revealing the mental and physical depths of

addiction, and the violent relapse one summer in

California that forever changed his life, leading him down the

road to recovery. Mature content.

337 pages

WE ALL FALL DOWN: LIVING WITH ADDICTION BY NIC SHEFF

Book 2: About Sheff’s continued efforts to stay clean, Nic writes candidly about eye-opening stays

at rehab centers, devastating relapses, and

hard-wonrealizations about what it

means to be a young person living with addiction. Mature

content.345 pages

THE LAST LECTURE BY RANDY PAUSCH

206 pages

TITANIC SURVIVOR: THE NEWLY DISCOVERED MEMOIRS OF VIOLET JESSOP WHO SURVIVED BOTH THE TITANIC AND BRITANNIC DISASTERS

She survived the sinking of the TITANIC. For most

people one sinking would be enough. But

Violet also survived the sinking of the hospital

ship BRITANNIC and her, this disaster was even

more horrifying.238 pages

Available at the Voorheesville Public Library

363.123 JES

THE YEAR WE DISAPPEARED: A FATHER-DAUGHTER MEMOIR BY CYLIN BUSBY

329 pages

IRON HEART: THE TRUE STORY OF HOW I CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD BY BRIAN BOYLE

248 pages

SOUL SURFER BY BETHANY HAMILTON

After a horrific shark attack during which she loses an arm, Bethany finds the

courage and faith to surf again.

222 pages

THE BURN JOURNALS BY BRENT RUNYONBrent was 14 years old when he set himself on fire. This is a true

story. In The Burn Journals, Runyon describes that

devastating suicide attempt and his recovery over the

following year. He takes us into the Burn Unit in a children's hospital and through painful burn care and skin-grafting

procedures. Then to a rehabilitation hospital, for

intensive physical, occupational,

and psychological therapy. Andthen finally back home.

374 pages

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE BY ARON RALSTON

352 pages

GRIEF GIRL: MY TRUE STORY BY ERIN VINCENT

At age 14, Vincent lostboth parents in a

traffic accident. This isa gripping memoir ofthe aftermath of their

deaths.306 pages

A CHILD CALLED IT BY DAVE PELZERBOOK 1

Dave Pelzer'sAutobiographical

account of his allegedabuse as a child by an

alcoholic mother.160 pages

THE LOST BOY BY DAVE PELZERBOOK 2

The book discusses Pelzer's

struggling with his ability to

fit in and adapt to the new environment around him

as he is put into foster care. It

also talks about the kindness

of his foster parents andother people around him

as well as his inability to

brush his mother aside.

294 pages

A MAN NAMED DAVE BY DAVE PELZERBOOK 3

In this follow-up to AChild Called "It" andThe Lost Boy, whichdetailed the abusePelzer endured as a

child, he explains howhe grew beyond it.

284 pages 

THE PRIVILEGE OF YOUTH BY DAVE PELZERBOOK 4

From high school to aworld beyond the four

walls that were hisprison for so many

years. A continuation of

Dave Pelzer’s story.230 pages

BREAKING NIGHT: A MEMOIR OF FORGIVENESS, SURVIVAL, & MY JOURNEY FROM HOMELESS TO HARVARD BY LIZ MURRAY

A memoir of a young woman living on the

streets at age 15 and who eventually

made it into Harvard.

334 pages

SHE’S NOT THERE: A LIFE IN TWO GENDERS BY JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN

The story of a person changing genders,

the story of a person bearing and finally

revealing a complex secret.

300 pages

LOOK ME IN THE EYE: MY LIFE WITH ASPERGER’S BY JOHN ELDER ROBISON

288 pages

Available at the Voorheesville Public Library

921 ROBISON

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS BY MAYA ANGELOU

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-

sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya

and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of

abandonment and the prejudice of the local "po

whitetrash." 289 pages