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