*Albom, Mitch.
Tuesdays with Morrie. (378.1
ALB)
The author, an alumnus of Brandeis University, tells of his meetings with a former professor suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease and of the lessons he learned about life and death from his college mentor.
*Angelou, Maya.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. (921
ANG)
An autobiography covering the childhood of a
woman who has been a professional dancer, actress, poet, journalist, and
television producer.
*Apple, Max.
Roomates. (305.26 APP)
Tells of the life of a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania who takes over running a family at the age of 103.
*Chaiton,
Sam. Lazarus and the Hurricane.
(364.15 CHA)
A remarkable true story begins in a Brooklyn
ghetto. An illiterate black teenager, Lesra (Lazarus), wins the hearts of a
group of Canadians, bringing him to Toronto to help him with his education.
While learning to read, Lesra finds a copy of Rubin "Hurricane"
Carter's The Sixteenth Round. It
was a book destined to change Lesra's life forever, and the lives of his adopted
family.
*Copote, Truman.
In Cold Blood. (364.15 CAP)
A true account of a multiple murder and its
consequences.
*Donofrio, Beverly. Riding in Cars with
Boys. (813.54 DON)
Bev, the girl who got pregnant in high school, gets married, then divorced, and finally ends up at a university--books in one arm, child on the other.
*Hickman, Hormer.
Rocket Boy. (921 HIC)
(Movie titled October Sky)
An entertaining and extraordinary memoir of
Homer Hickam's life in Coalwood, West Virginia-a town where the only things that
mattered were coal mining and high-school football. After watching the Soviets
launch Sputnik in 1957, Homer and his friends took the future into their own
hands, changing their lives and their town forever by turning scraps into
rockets and launching their futures as NASA scientists.
*Johnson, Louanne.
Dangerous Minds. (371.102
JOH)
Ex-Marine LouAnne Johnson's account of her
first year teaching at Parkmount High School in California.
*Junger, Sebastian.
The Perfect Storm. (974.4
JUN)
An entertaining and extraordinary memoir of
Homer Hickam's life in Coalwood, West Virginia-a town where the only things that
mattered were coal mining and high-school football. After watching the Soviets
launch Sputnik in 1957, Homer and his friends took the future into their own
hands, changing their lives and their town forever by turning scraps into
rockets and launching their futures as NASA scientists.
*Kovic, Ron.
Born on the Fourth of July. (921
KOV)
A veteran of Vietnam describes his
experiences in the war and his re-entry into American society after he was
paralyzed.
*McCourt, Frank.
Angela’s Ashes. (921 McC)
Memoir of the author's miserable childhood
growing up in the perpetually damp country of Ireland, with the stereotypically
long-suffering mother and drunken father whose nurtures in his son an appetite
for stories.
*Morris, Jim.
The Rookie. (796.35 MOR)
(Book also titled The Oldest Rookie)
Jim Morris escaped the desolation of his
youth by dreaming of pitching in the major leagues.
But it was just a fantasy; made more impossible because of the injuries
he suffered in his early twenties. He
becomes a teacher and high school baseball coach instead, and is encouraged to
try out for the big leagues in his mid-thirties by members of the team he
coaches.
*Read, Piers Paul.
Alive. (613.6 REA)
Discusses the ordeal of the survivors of an airplane crash in 1972 in the Andes wilderness.
*X, Malcolm.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X. (921
X)
Chronicles the life of controversial militant leader Malcolm X.