TEEN READS >> BIOGRAPHIES FOR TEENS

Akers, Michelle.
The Game and the Glory.
240 p., illus.

Akers retraces her gut-and-glory road to the Rose Bowl and the 1999 U.S. Women World Cup Soccer victory. Her love for the game, her skills , and her indomitable drive to compete and win propelled her past multiple injuries and the ravages of Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome to sustain a fifteen-year career with the national team.

Angelou, Maya
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
289 p.

This African-American writer, poet and actress traces her coming of age. It is a series of memories of her childhood and youth, some of which is fairly ugly. It paints a raw picture of racism, sexism, and sexual abuse without being preachy, graphic or crude.

Aronson, Marc.
Sir Walter Raleigh and the quest for El Dorado.
222 p.

Ambitious, brave, calculating, romantic, all these adjectives and many more describe Sir Walter Raleigh, the English explorer who forged a place for his country in the New World. This is much more than just a traditional biography. It's a portrait of the Elizabethan age, when the metaphor of exploration made its way into politics, literature, and even religion.

Barra, Allen.
Inventing Wyatt Earp: His life and many legends.
426 p.

A fascinating biography explores the life and legend of Wyatt Earp--a man who was launched into Western lore in a thirty-second gunfight at the O.K. Corral and who later shaped the way we perceive Western history as a film advisor in Hollywood.

Bitton-Jackson, Livia.
I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust.
224p.

Thirteen when she and her family were sent to Auschwitz, Bitton-Jackson vividly describes the horrors they faced. (ALA Best Books for Young Adults 1998).

Bober, Natalie.
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution.
248 p, illus.

Abigail Adams was the wife of one president and the mother of another, but she was also a person in her own right. Her letters to her husband as he served on the Continental Congress bore witness to the happenings in Boston, and gave firsthand accounts of the events that caused the birth of a new nation. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1996)

Bragg, Rick.
All Over But the Shoutin'.
329 p.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for The New York Times recounts growing up in the Alabama hills, the son of a violent veteran and a mother who tried to insulate her children from poverty and ignorance.

Brindell Fradin, Dennis.
My Family Shall be Free! The Life of Peter Still.
190 p.

The compelling story of a man and his family torn apart by slavery. Fradin begins the account in 1806 when Peter Still and his brother Levin were taken from a plantation in Maryland and sold as house slaves to a Mr. Fisher in Lexington, KY. He follows Peter Still's story for the next half of a century as he sought to earn his freedom and reunite his family.

Hirsch, James S.
Hurricane: The miraculous journey of Rubin Carter.

Recounts the harrowing, inspiring odyssey of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a black boxer wrongly convicted of three murders, from fierce despair to freedom and enlightenment.

Chen, Da.
Colors of the Mountain.
307 p.

Memoir of a Chinese boy born to a poor family in Southern China during the Cultural Revolution who seemed destined to a life of poverty, humiliation and hunger as a consequence of his family's "capitalist" past. Describes a boyhood full of "spunk, mischief and love." Learning English opens the door to a new life. A "Horatio Alger" type story: the author is a graduate of Columbia University Law School.

Cleary, Beverly.
My Own Two Feet: A memoir.
261 p., ill.

Continuing the memoirs that began with A Girl from Yamhill, the story of Beverly Cleary's early adulthood describes her college education in the mid-1930s, work as a librarian, and first book.

Colapinto, John.
As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a girl.
279 p., ill.

In 1967, after a baby boy, David Reimer, suffered a botched circumcision, his family agreed to a radical treatment. On the advice of a renowned expert in gender identity and sexual reassignment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the boy was surgically altered to live as a girl. This book details the life of the subject of the experiment.

Dash, Joan.
The World at Her Fingertips: The Story of Helen Keller.
224 p.

Helen Keller has always been a shining example of courage in the face of unbelievable adversity. This lively biography goes beyond Helen¹s youth and learning process and includes many fascinating details of her later life, including her college years and involvement with politics.

Dawson, George.
Life is so good.
260 p.

Memoir of a 101-year-old African-American man born in Marshall, Texas, who learned to read at the age of 98. "Every morning I get up and I wonder what I might learn that day." Describes a boyhood spent working to support his family rather than going to school and how he learned to "read" the world and survive in it. Gives his eyewitness impressions of segregation, wars, presidents and inventions in the 20th century.

Dyer, Daniel.
Jack London: A Biography.
228 p.

This exciting portrait of the author of The Call of the Wild focuses on London's true-life adventures riding the rails, dog sledding during the Yukon gold rush, and sailing the South Seas. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1998).

Echols, Alice.
Scars of Sweet Paradise: The life and times of Janis Joplin.
408 p., ill.

Mature audience. A deeply affecting biography of Janis Joplin, one of America's most brilliant and tormented personalities--and a vivid and incisive cultural history of an era that changed the world for us all.

Filipovic, Zlata.
Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo.
197 p.

Eleven year-old Zlata began keeping her diary before the shelling began in Sarajevo that changed her life.

Freedman, Russell.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion.
192 p., ill.

A biography of Babe Didrikson, who broke records in golf, track and field, and other sports, at a time when there were few opportunities for female athletes. (ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2000)

Garner, Eleanor Ramrath.
Eleanor's Story: An American girl in Hitler's Germany.
268 p.

This is the dramatic autobiography of Eleanor Ramrath Garner's youth, growing up as an American in Berlin during World War II. This story of everyday life under the Hitler regime begins when Eleanor is nine years old. She and her family must move, in the depths of the Great Depression, from New Jersey to Germany, the only place where her father, a German immigrant, can find work.

Gause, Damon.
The War Journal of Major Damon "Rocky" Gause.
183 p., ill.

The true, firsthand account of a World War II soldier's escape from the Bataan Death March in the Philippines, across the enemy-held Pacific in a leaky boat, to freedom in Australia.

Giblin, James Cross.
Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero.
212 p, illus.

"Lucky Lindy" became an American hero when he made the first nonstop transatlantic flight, but he fell into disgrace after being accused of sympathizing with the Nazis. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1998)

Glenn, John.
John Glenn: A memoir.
362 p., ill.

He was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. Nearly four decades later, as the world's oldest astronaut, his courage riveted a nation. But these two historic events only bracket a life that covers the sweep of an extraordinary century. In this engrossing book, John Glenn tells the story of his unique life--one lived at the center of a momentous time in history by a man who helped shape that history.

Goodall, Jane.
Africa in My Blood: An autobiography in letters, the early years.
386 p., ill.

Letters of the author to her family tell the story of how an English girl who loved animals became one of the great scientists of the 20th century. The letters reveal her life from the age of 7 through her early years in Africa studying chimpanzees. An editor's background narrative introduces and links the letters.

Gottlieb, Lori.
Stick Figure: A diary of my former self.
222 p.

"Earnest and funny, hopeful and tragic" autobiography of an 11-year-old anorexic girl trying to reconcile the conflicting messages society sends women.

Grealy, Lucy.
Autobiography of a Face.
223 p.

Childhood surgery for cancer leaves Lucy Grealy with a severely disfigured face. Ms. Grealy tells of the loneliness of peer rejection and the fear of never being loved as she endures more than 30 reconstructive procedures. A courageous and honest story of a young woman who learns to define herself from the inside out and a reminder that beauty is to be found within.

Hawk, Tony.
Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder.
289 p.

For Tony Hawk, it wasn't enough to skate for two decades, to invent more than eighty tricks, and to win more than twice as many professional contests, as any other skater. It wasn't enough to knock himself unconscious more than ten times, fracture several ribs, break his elbow, knock out his teeth twice, compress the vertebrae in his back, pop his bursa sack, get more than fifty stitches laced into his shins, rip apart the cartilage in his knee, bruise his tailbone, and sprain his ankles and tear his ligaments too many times to count. No. He had to land the 900. And after thirteen years of failed attempts, he nailed it. It had never been done before.

Hickam, Homer H.
The Coalwood Way: A memoir.
318 p.

In this follow-up to his bestselling autobiography Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam chronicles the eventful autumn of 1959 in his hometown, the West Virginia mining town of Coalwood.

Hickam, Homer H.
Rocket Boys: A memoir.
368 p.

In a town where the only things that mattered were coal-mining and high-school football, where the future was regarded with more fear than hope, a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik race across the West Virginia sky--and soon found his future in the stars. In 1957, Homer H. "Sonny" Hickam, Jr., and a handful of his friends were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives and their town forever. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 2000)

Holley, Tara Elgin.
My Mother's Keeper: A daughter's memoir of growing up in the shadow of schizophrenia.
369 p.

Tara's mother Dawn was destined to be a 1940s big-band jazz singer until diagnosed with acute paranoid schizophrenia and thus began a lifetime in and out of institutions. Tara grows up in the care of her great-great-aunt in Houston. Her inspiring memoir recounts her yearning for her mother during her childhood and her struggle as a young woman to rescue her mother from the streets and to protect her from the abuses and neglect of the mental health system.

Horbacher, Marya.
Wasted: A memoir of anorexia and bulimia.
298 p.

Marya writes a very frank and honest account of her lifelong struggle with anorexia and bulimia. Very powerful.

Jiang, Ji-Li.
Red Scarf Girl: A memoir of the cultural revolution.
285 p.

Jiang shares with us her life as a little girl growing up under Chairman Mao's regime in China. While she embraces the Communist Party's philosophy and dutifully follows the rules of how she should live and behave, the reader begins to see how Jiang begins to have her doubts, particularly when party-imposed punishments begin to affect her family and close friends. Jiang now lives in the United States. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1998)

Karr, Mary.
Cherry: A memoir.
276 p.

Mary Karr continues the story she began in The Liar's Club as she picks up the trail and dashes off into her teen years with customary sass, only to run up against the paralyzing self-doubt of a girl in bloom. In this long-awaited sequel, we see Karr ultimately trying to run from the thrills and terrors of her sexual awakening by butting up against authority in all its forms. She lands all too often in the principal's office and--in one instance--a jail cell.

Karr, Mary.
The Liar's Club: A memoir.
320 p.

In this powerfully funny, razor's edge tale of a fractured girlhood, prize-winning poet and critic Mary Karr conjures up the terrors and joys of growing up in a swampy East Texas refinery town, at the epicenter of a family full of passionate, volatile attachments. In a voice stripped of self-pity, in language reinvented with a raw authenticity and brilliant energy, Karr shows readers a "terrific family of liars and drunks . . . redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth."

Kassindja, Fauziya.
Do They Hear You When You Cry.
518 p.

Just hours before her impending and much feared circumcision and days before her marriage to a polygamist, 17-year-old Fauziya Kassindja flees an oppressive life in Togo, seeking political asylum in the United States. But her troubles are far from over once Kassindja arrives in the place where she hopes to find her freedom. The harrowing tale of Do They Hear You When You Cry? depicts the agonizing months spent behind bars waiting for her release.

Kuusisto, Stephen.
Planet of the Blind.
194 p.
Brought up to disavow his blindness, Kuusisto spent much of his life trying to pass as a sighted man, traveling everywhere at dizzying speeds without a cane. A near-tragic accident forces him to accept his disability and learn to cope with it.

Landau, Elaine.
John F. Kennedy Jr.
128 p.

The opening chapter of this poignant tribute to "America's prince" recounts his last day of life and his tragic death in a plane crash at sea. The ensuing chapters offer a comprehensive look back at the 38 years during which JFK Jr. captured the public's interest and grew into the dashing young man who so resembled his father and seemed destined for public office himself.

Lindbergh, Reeve.
Under a Wing: A memoir.
223 p.

The world knew Charles Lindbergh as a daring aviator, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and controversial isolationist in World War II; his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was also famous, the author of the bestselling Gift from the Sea and other books. But Reeve Lindbergh knew them as Father and Mother. Their celebrity status and the tragedy of their first child shadowed the family in ways that were often mysterious to the five surviving children. In this moving, deeply affecting memoir, the youngest of the children describes what it was like to grow up as a Lindbergh.

Linnea, Sharon.
Princess Ka'iulani: Hope of a nation, heart of a people.
234 p.

Tells the story of Hawaii's last heir to the throne who was denied her right to rule when the monarchy was abolished.

Lobel, Anita.
No Pretty Pictures: A child of war.
193 p.

This highly regarded children's book illustrator recounts her childhood experiences as a Jew living in Nazi-occupied Poland, her imprisonment in a succession of concentration camps, and her life following the war as a displaced person in Sweden. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1999)

Marrin, Albert.
George Washington and the Founding of a Nation.        
256 p.

This engaging biography presents a thorough look at the life of the first president as well as clear presentations of the people and events that shaped his world. A good portion of the text focuses on Washington's military career, including details of individual campaigns and battles. The general's courage, bravado, and intangible leadership qualities emerge through descriptions of his wartime actions and through the words of those who fought with and against him.

Marrin, Albert.
Sitting Bull and His World.
246 p., ill.

Discusses the life of the Hunkpapa chief who is remembered for his defeat of General Custer at Little Big Horn.

McBride, James & Ruth McBride-Jordan.
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother.
228 p.

McBride blends his story with that of his mother, who battled poverty and racism to raise twelve children.

McCain, John.
Faith of My Fathers.
349 p., ill.

The life story of Arizona senator and almost presidential candidate John McCain: his early life, naval career and years spent in a POW camp in Vietnam.

McCourt, Frank.
Angela's Ashes.
364 p.

Frank McCourt, who was born in Brooklyn but grew up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland, touchingly conveys the constant pains and occasional soaring joys of an impoverished childhood.

Michener, Anna J.
Becoming Anna: The autobiography of a sixteen-year-old.
256 p.

In a poignant and painful memoir of her first sixteen years, Anna Michener offers an immediate account of the unhealed wounds of her youth, chronicling the neglect, abuse by her family, as well as her unjust incarceration in mental hospitals.

Opdyke, Irene Gut.
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust rescuer.
276 p., ill.

Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust.(ALA Best Book for Young Adults 2000)

Paulsen, Gary.
My Life in Dog Years.
137 p.

Each chapter of this book relates the story of one of the author's special dogs, such as Snowball, a puppy he owned in the Philippines.

Pelzer, David J.
A Child Called "It".
184 p.

David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturing to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as "an It." This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures David's mother inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom.

Pelzer, David J.
The Lost Boy: A foster child's search for the love of a family.
340 p.

The Lost Boy is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting true story of a boy's journey through the foster-care system in search of a family to love. This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". The Lost Boy is Pelzer's story--a moving sequel and inspirational read for all.

Pelzer, David J.
A Man Named Dave: A story of triumph and forgiveness.
284 p.

The third volume in a trilogy that includes A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy, this inspirational memoir completes the journey of Dave Pelzer as he finally confronts his abusive parents and seeks to create an adulthood filled with love and acceptance.

Pernoud, Regine.
Joan of Arc: Her story.
304 p., ill.

In this biography of the young, French peasant girl who led an army against the English to put Charles VII on the throne, the authors clear away the myths so modern readers can see Joan as she was.

Pfetzer, Mark.
Within Reach: My Everest story.
224 p., ill.

The author describes how he spent his teenage years climbing mountains in the United States, South America, Africa, and Asia with an emphasis on his two expeditions up Mount Everest.

Rapoport, Ron.
See How She Runs: Marion Jones and the Making of a Champion.
224 p.

In 1985, sixth-grader Marion Jones wrote a brief essay about herself: My plans for the future are to be in the 1992 Olympics. I've been training a lot, and the boys at my school are good practice. I know if I don't get in the Olympics I have to have a backup so I plan to be an electrical engineer like my uncle. The picture that emerges through this biography is of a superstar in the making--a gifted, driven, charismatic athlete who runs like the wind.

Shirley, Donna.
Managing Martians.
276 p., ill.

The leader of the team that created the revolutionary Mars Sojourner rover chronicles her trailblazing career in space exploration and tells the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the celebrated Mars Pathfinder mission.

Spinelli, Jerry.
Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid.
148 p.

In Fargo, North Dakota, in September 1992, Newberry medallist Spinelli was asked, "Do you think being a kid helped you become a writer?" In this warm, deeply personal memoir of the kid he was, Spinelli takes us to Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the 1950s. Very gently, he reveals the critical importance of bikes and baseballs, empty lots and early television, your own street, and where your friends lived.

Thomas, Jane Resh.
Behind the Mask: The life of Queen Elizabeth I.
196 p., ill.
        
Despite a wretched childhood and at times fearing for her life, Elizabeth became one of the most influential women in history. (ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1999)

Ung, Loung.
First they killed my father: A daughter of Cambodia remembers.
240 p., ill.

A precocious and privileged five-year-old is robbed of her childhood during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror and genocide in the 1970s. Despite experiences of mass murder, starvation and disease, which claimed the lives of half her family, Loung struggles for life and beats the odds. Her memoir describes the atrocities that engulfed Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge years and reveals the courageous struggle of her remaining family to survive and create a new life.
Weisenburger, Steven.

Modern Medea: A family story of slavery and child-murder from the Old South.
352 p.

This is the biography of 22-year-old Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who took the life of her infant girl when she perceived that recapture was imminent, rather than return her to a life of slavery. It describes the incidents that provided the historical basis for Toni Morrison's novel Beloved.


Yen Mah, Adeline.
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter.
205 p.

After her mother dies giving birth to her, Adeline's siblings, who consider her bad luck, scapegoat her, and her wealthy father and vain stepmother deprive her of friends and send her away to school. This riveting memoir of a turbulent childhood is enriched by Chinese-language lessons, a generous historical backdrop, and a half-dozen family photos.