A list of memoirs for my seniors to choose from for an independent reading project.

1. LC IV Independent Memoir Reading Project
You may choose a memoir from this list to read independently for class. If there is
another memoir you’d like to read that is not listed, you must have it approved by me
first. Take some time to research these memoirs as you decide which one you would
like to read.
● Tuesdays with Morrie​ by Mitch Albom
● I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced​ by Nujood Ali
● I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives​ by Caitlin Alifirenka
● I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings​ by Maya Angelou
● Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen​ by Arin
Andrews
● A Long Way Gone​ by Ishmael Beah
● Friday Night Lights​ by H.G. Bissinger
● Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman’s Inspirational Story​ by Jodee Blanco
● Ball Four​ by Jim Bouton
● All Over But the Shoutin’​ by Rick Bragg
● The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir​ by Cylin Busby
● Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness​ by Susannah Cahalan
● Between the World and Me​ by Ta-Nehisi Coates
● The Losing Season​ by Pat Conroy
● Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina​ by Misty Copeland
● The King of the Mild Frontier​ by Chris Crutcher
● Life is So Good​ by George Dawson
● Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina​ by Michaela DePrince
● Model: A Memoir​ by Cheryl Diamond
● The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice​ by Zak Ebrahim
● My Mad Fat Diary: A Memoir​ by Rae Earl
● Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir​ by Margarita Engle
● Relentless Spirit: The Unconventional Raising of a Champion​ by Missy Franklin
● Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism​ by Temple Grondin
● The Motorcycle Diaries​ by Che Guevera
● Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave​ by Shyima Hall
● Rapture Practice​ by Aaron Hartzler
● Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras​ by Jeff Henderson
● Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition​ by Katie Rain Hill
● Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia​ by Marya Hornbacher
● Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen​ by Jazz Jennings
● The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind​ by William Kamkwamba
● The White House Boys: An American Tragedy​ by Roger Dean Kiser

2. ● Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldier: A Memoir​ by Dean Ellis Kohler
● Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea​ by
Sungju Lee
● Becoming Maria by Sonia Manzano
● The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates​ by Wes Moore
● Breaking Night by Liz Murray
● Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League
by Dan-el Padilla Peralta
● The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
● Beneath the Surface: My Story​ by Michael Phelps
● Positive by Paige Rawl
● Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
● Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s​ by John Elder Robison
● No Summit Out of Sight: The True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the Seven
Summits by Jordan Romero
● Die Young With Me: A Memoir by Rob Rufus
● A List of Things That Didn’t Kill Me​ by Jason Schmidt
● Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
● Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction​ by David Sheff
● All Better Now by Emily Wing Smith
● Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI​ by Ryan Smithson
● Solo: A Memoir of Hope by Hope Solo
● Half a Life by Darin Strauss
● We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story​ by Josh Sundquist
● The Boy Who Loved Batman by Michael E. Uslan
● Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek​ by Maya Van Wagenen
● The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
● Forward: A Memoir by Abby Wambach
● I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior: Memoirs of an American Soldier​ by Howard E. Wasdin
and Stephen Templin
● The Kids are Alright by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, and Dan Welch
● Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
● I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Graphic Novel Memoirs:
● El Deafo by Cece Bell
● March: Book One by John Lewis
● Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March​ by
Lynda Blackmon Lowery
● Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince
● Stitches by David Small
● Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman

3. ● Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash