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Biographies

The following are some suggestions of biographies that may have special appeal to teenagers who are looking for life stories, either as part of school assignments or for personal reading.

The cage Tom Abraham
The story of Tom "Bud" Abraham, one of the very few Englishmen to serve in the Vietnam War. After he was captured the Vietcong the suffering he endured during his interrogation and torture tested him to the limits.
Almost lost: the true story of an anonymous teenager's life on the streets
The real-life story of the road to recovery of a boy driven to leave home and make a gang his 'family'.
Go ask Alice, AnonymousGo ask Alice Anonymous
Based on the diary of a 15-year-old drug user struggling to escape the pull of the drug world
Education of Little Tree Forrest Carter
Recounts the childhood remembrances of an orphaned American Indian boy living with his Cherokee grandparents in a mountain log cabin in eastern Tennessee during the 1930s.
A girl from Yamhill Beverly Cleary
Follows the popular children's author from her childhood years in Oregon through high school and into young adulthood, highlighting her family life and her growing interest in writing.
CoverBoy Roald Dahl
From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books.
Going solo Roald Dahl
The fascinating story of Roald Dahl's life continues. As a pilot in World War II, he had some wonderfully exciting- and frighteningly near-death- experiences including encounters with the enemy, battles with deadly snakes, and incredible dogfights.
Riding in cars with boys: confessions of a bad girl who makes good Beverly Donofrio
Unable to attend college, Beverly Ann Donofrio l.ost interest in everything but riding around in cars, drinking, smoking, and rebelling against authority. After her teenage marriage failed, Donofrio found herself at an elite New England university, books in one arm, child on the other. Then, furnished with ambition, dreams, and five hundred dollars, she took herself and her son to New York City to begin a career and a life.
Miramar dog Denis Edwards
Illegal gambling, slygrogging and random violence are a part of Denis Edwards' childhood in the Wellington suburb of Miramar in the 1950s.
Inside the dream: the personal story of Walt Disney by Katherine Greene
With contributions from friends, family, and co-workers, offers a portrait of the animator who became the creator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland, and the founder of Disney Studios.
coverThe diary of a young girl Anne Frank
Anne Frank received a blank diary on her 13th birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. For 25 months she wrote about what it was like to live in an attic in claustrophobic closeness with her own and another family as well as to face all the normal challenges of being a teenager. This has been a beloved classic since its initial publication in 1947.
Hole in my life Jack Gantos
The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.
Black like me John Howard Griffin
In the Deep South of the 1950s journalist John Howard Griffin used medication to darken his skin to deep brown. This is the eyewitness history of how he exchanged his privileged life as a Southern white man for the disenfranchised world of an unemployed black man.
Give me my father's body: the life of Minik, the New York Eskimo by Kenn Harper
A compelling biography of little Minik, an Eskimo boy who was brought back to the U.S. explorer Robert Peary. Minik spent twelve agonizing years living as an alien in New York City, an experience that culminates with the discovery that his father's body is on display at the Museum of Natural History.
The dairy of Latoya Hunter: my first year in Junior High by Latoya Hunter
Presents the dairy of 12-year-old Latoya Hunter, as she goes through her first year of high school in the Bronx in New York.
coverChewing the cud Dick King-Smith
These memoirs deal mainly with the 14 years King-Smith spent on Woodlands Farm. The eccentric cast of animals and humans he met provided a wealth of material for his writing, his third, and best-known career, thanks to the film Babe.
 
The autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was a drug user and criminal before he was converted to Islam while in prison. This book tells the story of his life before and after his conversion.
Malcolm X: a fire burning brightly Walter Dean Myers
Another version of the life of Malcolm X.
Angela's ashes Frank McCourt
The story of an incredibly hard childhood in New York and Ireland, and of a boy who could easily have gone wrong.
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen MahChinese Cinderella Adeline Yen Mah
The story of a Chinese woman and how she suffered appalling emotional deprivation and rejection her family as a child growing up in China and Hong Kong. She tells of the consequences in her adult life, above which she rose to make a happy marriage and become a successful doctor in the USA.
 
 
The beet fields Gary Paulsen
Tells of the author's experiences as a migrant labourer and carnival worker after he ran away from home at sixteen.
Caught by the sea: a life in boats Gary Paulsen
Describes the author's passion for sailing on the wide open seas and recalls his many adventures.
 
Learning joy from dogs without collars: a memoir Lauralee Summer
This is what the author said about her book: "Learning Joy from Dogs Without Collars is about my memories of growing up, being raised an eccentric and uniquely idealistic single mother. It is about how I was sometimes homeless and lived in shelters and in one apartment after another. The book is also about how I later went to Harvard, a world completely unlike the ones I grew up in; how I adapted to life there. It is about how I met my father when I was nineteen, and how my father finally became my dad."