Recommendations based on "How to Be a Sister: A Love Story with a Twist of Autism"

"It has been a long time since you have read a book with the sheer emotional impact of One Child." --New York TimesThe true story of a tormented six-year-old and the brilliant teacher who reached out.Six-year-old Sheila never spoke, she never cried, and her eyes were filled with hate. Abandoned on a highway by her mother, unwanted by her alcoholic father, Sheila was placed in a class for emotionally disturbed children after she committed an atrocious act of violence against another child.Everyone said Sheila was lost forever, everyone except her teacher, Torey Hayden.Torey fought to reach Sheila, to bring the abused child back from her secret nightmare, because beneath the rage, Torey saw in Sheila the spark of genius. And together they embarked on a wondrous journey--a journey gleaming with a child's joy at discovering a world filled with love and a journey sustained by a young teacher's inspiring bravery and devotion.

'A brave, beautiful book that could double as a handbook to accompany anyone on their journey through cancer' Jackie Kay, New StatesmanThe Cancer Journals is an intimate, poetic and invigorating account of the experience of breast cancer, from biopsy to mastectomy, told by the great feminist and activist Audre Lorde.Moving between journal entry, memoir, and essay, Lorde fuses the personal and political to reflect on the many questions breast cancer raises: questions of survival, sexuality, prosthesis and self-care. It is a journey of survival, friendship, and self-acceptance.'Grief, terror, courage, the passion for survival and for more than survival, are here in the searchings of a great poet' Adrienne Rich'This book teaches me that with one breast or none, I am still me' Alice Walker

The gripping first-person account of one woman's survival in Joshua Tree National Park against the odds."A vibrantly physical book"—The Guardian • "Uplifting and brave"—Stylist • "A riveting account of loneliness, anxiety and survival"—CosmopolitanIn 2018, writer Claire Nelson made international headlines when she fell over 25 feet after wandering off the trail in a deserted corner of Joshua Tree. The fall shattered her pelvis, rendering her completely immobile. There Claire lay for the next four days, surrounded by boulders that muffled her cries for help, but exposed her to the relentless California sun above. Her rescuers had not expected to find her alive.In THINGS I LEARNED FROM FALLING Claire tells not only her story of surviving, but also her story of falling. What led this successful thirty-something to a desert trail on the other side of the globe from her home where no one knew she would be that day? At once the unbelievable story of an impossible event, and the human journey of a young woman wrestling with the agitation of past and anxiety of future.

A memoir from singer-songwriter Madison Beer, chronicling the past decade of her life spent in the spotlight—the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens that you won’t see on social media. Discovered at twelve years old, Madison Beer was one of the first artists to have her entire life documented online. Over the past decade, she has navigated the spotlight as a child, through her teenage years, and now as a young woman in her twenties. In The Half of It, Madison pulls back the curtain to show the behind-the-scenes of her journey, from reckoning with mass hate online and the time her private pictures were leaked, to battling suicidal thoughts while making her highly acclaimed debut album, Life Support, and her recovery since then. This memoir is an honest and unflinching account of self-love, mental health, and advocacy from one of the fastest-rising musical voices and most influential social media presences of her generation. It hammers home the point, more striking and urgent than ever, that no matter how close the internet may make us feel to people, we truly don’t know the half of it.

An intimate, revealing memoir from one of the most important activists of our time.While working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq for the United States Army in 2010, Chelsea Manning disclosed more than seven hundred thousand classified military and diplomatic records that she had smuggled out of the country on the memory card of her digital camera. In 2011, she was charged with twenty-two counts related to the unauthorized possession and distribution of classified military records, and in 2013, she was sentenced to thirty-five years in military prison.The day after her conviction, Manning declared her gender identity as a woman and began to transition, seeking hormones through the federal court system. In 2017, President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and she was released from prison.In README.txt, Manning recounts how her pleas for increased institutional transparency and government accountability took place alongside a fight to defend her rights as a trans woman. Manning details the challenges of her childhood and adolescence as a naive, computer-savvy kid, what drew her to the military, and the fierce pride she has about the work she does. This powerful, observant memoir will stand as one of the definitive testaments of our digital, information-driven age.

How is it possible for a young, homeless woman to overcome abuse, endure the foster care system, and rise to prominence to help others? CinderGirl tells Christina Meredith's incredible story of how she overcame these hardships to earn the title of Miss California and become an advocate for the vulnerable. Born into a large, working-class family in upstate New York, Christina endured years of abuse before entering the foster care system as a teenager. With nowhere to turn after she graduated from high school, Christina lived in her car for almost a year, working three jobs to survive. As she prayed in her car every day, Christina had no idea that in just a few years, her suffering would help others find healing. But she did know that she was destined for more, and she refused to give up hope, no matter the circumstance. In CinderGirl, Christina tells her piercing and poignant story of leaving behind homelessness to become Miss California and the founder of a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy for foster care children. With stunning vulnerability, Christina invites us into her childhood home and the heart of a child longing to be loved, challenging us to dig deeper into our own personal courage, even in the most difficult conditions. And in return, you'll learn how to: Dream big, even when you're at rock bottom Embrace the inherent worth that is yours in Christ Jesus Deepen your faith and your relationship with God Praise for CinderGirl: "Christina Meredith's life experience and real-life Cinderella story are beyond inspirational to me, and I'm so proud of her. She is an overcomer like few I've ever read about. But what impresses me the most is her desire to transform the foster care system and use her challenges to better the next generation." --Kristen Dalton-Wolfe, bestselling author and former Miss USA "Christina Meredith's story, which she tells with unique courage, follows a young woman's rise out of vulnerability, homelessness, and abuse to become a soldier, leader, and pillar in her community. Christina's spirited and empathetic soul shines through every page." --Jason Jones, author, activist, film producer

Winner of the California Bookseller Association's Golden Poppy Award for NonfictionFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for AutobiographyA San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller“A portrait of a heroics, innovation, grit, and pot-baking . . . strikingly relevant . . . beautifully written.”—Entertainment Weekly"A raunchy and rollicking account of a vanished era told by someone who paid very close attention to her larger-than-life parents. I gobbled it up like an edible."—Armistead MaupinIn the 1970s, when cannabis was as illicit as heroin, Alia Volz’s mother ran Sticky Fingers Brownies, a pioneering underground bakery that delivered ten thousand marijuana edibles per month to a city in the throes of change—from the joyous upheavals of gay liberation to the tragedy of the Peoples Temple. Dressed in elaborate costumes, Alia’s parents hid in plain sight, parading through the city’s circus-like atmosphere with the goods tucked into her stroller. When HIV/AIDS swept San Francisco in the 1980s, Alia’s mom turned from dealer into healer, providing soothing edibles to those fighting for their lives at the dawn of medical marijuana.By turns heartbreaking, exhilarating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Home Baked celebrates an eccentric and remarkable extended family, taking us through love, loss, and finding home.Now with extra material, including a reading group guide, author Q&A, and additional photos!

A memoir in essays that expands on the viral sensation “The Crane Wife” with a frank and funny look at love, intimacy, and self in the twenty-first century. From friends and lovers to blood family and chosen family, this “elegant masterpiece” (Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger) asks what more expansive definitions of love might offer us all.A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE GUARDIAN, GARDEN & GUN"Hauser builds their life's inventory out of deconstructed personal narratives, resulting in a reading experience that's rich like a complicated dessert—not for wolfing down but for savoring in small bites." —The New York Times“Clever, heartfelt, and wrenching.”—Time“Brilliant.”—Oprah DailyTen days after calling off their wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, they realized they'd almost signed up to live someone else's life.What if you released yourself from traditional narratives of happiness? What if you looked for ways to leave room for the unexpected? In Hauser’s case, this meant dissecting pop culture touchstone, from The Philadelphia Story to The X Files, to learn how not to lose yourself in a relationship. They attended a robot convention, contemplated grief at John Belushi’s gravesite, and officiated a wedding. Most importantly, they mapped the difference between the stories we’re asked to hold versus those we choose to carry.Told with the late-night barstool directness of your wisest, most bighearted friend, The Crane Wife is a book for everyone whose path doesn't look the way they thought it would; for everyone learning to find joy in the not-knowing and to build a new sort of life story, a new sort of family, a new sort of home to live in.

I'm no Job - though I think we went to the same school....So says Jim Beaver in this memoir.In August 2003, Jim and his wife, Cecily, received what they thought was the worst news possible - their daughter, Maddie, was autistic. Then, six weeks later, the roof fell in - Cecily was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.Jim immediately began writing a nightly e-mail as a way to keep 125 family and friends up-to-date about Cecily's condition. Soon four thousand people around the world were reading it. Initially a cathartic exercise for Jim, the prose turned into an unforgettable journey for his readers. Life's That Way is a compilation of those e-mails; yet what started out as nightly missives makes for a unique and compelling, wholly original reading experience.Life's That Way is not an author looking back on his experience with the advantage of hindsight - there is an immediacy to this book that is singular. While highly personal, Beaver's experience is at the same time universal for anybody who has lost a loved one.But Life's That Way is not solely about loss. It is a day-by-day account of what it's like to discover the joy of a child, to be on the receiving end of unthinkable kindness, and to navigate life anew. As Beaver says, these are hard-won blessings. Then again, life's that way.

Millie Acevedo bore her first child before the age of 16 and dropped out of high school to care for her newborn. Now 27, she is the unmarried mother of three and is raising her kids in one of Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods. Would she and her children be better off if she had waited to have them and had married their father first? Why do so many poor American youth like Millie continue to have children before they can afford to take care of them?Over a span of five years, sociologists Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas talked in-depth with 162 low-income single moms like Millie to learn how they think about marriage and family. Promises I Can Keep offers an intimate look at what marriage and motherhood mean to these women and provides the most extensive on-the-ground study to date of why they put children before marriage despite the daunting challenges they know lie ahead.