My Amazing Life: Biographies for Teens
Dominick, Andie
Needles: A Memoir of Growing Up with Diabetes
362.196462 D713n
Dominic describes her childhood in gritty detail - discovering her diabetes,
her subsequent denial, and, finally, her acceptance of the disease after
the death of her older sister.
Kaysen, Susanna
Girl, Interrupted
362.21 K185g
The author describes her two year stay at a psychiatric hospital renowned
for its famous clientele and its progressive method of treatments.
Runyon, Brent
The Burn Journals
362.28092 RUN
At 14, Brent set himself on fire. In this book he describes his suicide
attempt and his recovery over the following year.
Anonymous
Go Ask Alice
362.29 GO
A modern classic, this teen diary explores the world of drug addiction
and life spinning out of control.
Pelzer, Dave
A Child Called It
362.76 P369c
David Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in the history
of California, tells the story of how he survived his mother’s brutality.
Sparks, Beatrice (editor)
Annie’s
Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, A Pregnant Teenager
362.8392 An77
Fourteen-year-old Annie chronicles her obsession for a manipulative boyfriend,
her pregnancy, and her growing understanding of what it means to be a parent.
Rodriguez, Luis J.
Always Running: A Memoir of La Vida Loca Gang Days in L.A.
364.1092 R618
Rodriquez recalls his own years in an L.A. gang and shares his anguish
as he watches his own son’s involvement in a Chicago Latino gang.
Tarbox, Katherine
Katie.com: My Story
364.153 T172
Tarbox explains how and why she became involved with an Internet stalker.
Crutcher, Chris
King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-advised Autobiography
813.54 C889k
Chris Crutcher, a well-know writer of teen fiction, shares his experiences
growing up in Idaho and becoming a writer.
Hillman, Laura
I
Will Plant You a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of a Schindler’s List Survivor
YA 940.5318 HIL
Hillman describes her life from April 1942, as a student at a private
school in Berlin, until the German surrender in April 1945 that freed her
from a detention camp.
Bradley, James
Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima
940.5426 B728fl
In 1945, six marines raised an American flag on Iwo Jima. Bradley, son
of one of those marines, investigates their lives and deaths.
Lekuton, Joseph
Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna
967.62 L538f
Luketon describes his life as part of the Maasai tribe and their dependence
on the cattle herd, and his desire to learn, which leads him on a new path.
Myers, Walter Dean
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
YA Bio AL395my
A riveting account of the life of one of boxing’s most well-known
and loved athletes.
Barrymore, Drew
Little Girl Lost
YA Bio B87271
Actress Drew Barrymore shares her life, from her early career success
in “E.T.,” her drug and alcohol addictions as a pre-teen, to
her recovery at age fourteen.
Fleming, Candace
Ben
Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s
Life
YA Bio F854be-fl
The story of Benjamin Franklin’s life told in a scrapbook format.
Gantos, Jack
Hole
in My Life
YA Bio G158h
The author tells of his teen years as a drug user and smuggler, his experience
in prison, and what finally turns him on to the path of writing.
Garner, Eleanor Ramrath
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s
Germany
YA Bio G1864eL
Garner tells the story of her family’s survival of bombing, lack of
food, the Gestapo and more in Berlin during Hitler’s Third Reich.
This book takes a look at what the average citizen experienced during WWII.
Krakauer, Jon
Into the Wild
YA Bio M126k
The story of Christopher McCandless, who, after graduating from college,
gave away all his possessions and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wildnerness.
Four months later he was dead. His diaries and letters give clues into his
life in Alaska, his injury, and slow death of starvation.
Satrapi, Marjane
Persepolis 2
YA Graphic Novel Sa835ma-pe
Satrapi leaves Iran and flees to Vienna, Austria, where she lives for
a few years. Eventually returning to Iran, chauvinistic attitudes and repression
lead her to question whether she can really live there.
Youth Services Division September 2005