Biography BENJAMIN, D.
The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked by David Benjamin2002, 271 p.
David Benjamin shares a charming journey through his 1950s youth in Tomah, Wisconsin. He captures the nearly vanished heartland of America with swimming holes, vacant lots and Saturday movies in town. His world of friends and frogs and an occasional grown-up embodies the substance of mid-twentieth century boyhood.

Biography BLUNT, J.
Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt2002, 303 p.
Growing up on an isolated Montana ranch, tomboy Judy Blunt came to realize that she would never own the land she loved. Since convention held that the ranch would pass to her brother, she accepted her parents’ decision that she should marry a neighboring rancher at 18. Hard-won insights and a talent for writing helped her find a way to break clean.

Biography CARTER, J.
An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood by Jimmy Carter2001, 284 p.
In a writing style that resonates with honesty and humility, Jimmy Carter tells of his Depression-era boyhood. He reveals his connection to the land, his early influences and his impressions of 1930s segregation. His depiction of Georgia farm life and rural values reveals how a sense of place often confers a sense of self.

Biography FULLER, A.
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller2001, 301 p.
As a white family in the midst of the Rhodesian civil war, the Fullers inhabited an unimaginable world where 5-year-olds needed to learn how to shoot to kill. Alexandra, known to her family as Bobo, tells a survivor’s story of terrors faced inside and outside the home. Her multi-layered understanding of Africa and its people, coupled with her natural wit, makes this a memorable read.

Biography KEITH, M.C.
The Next Better Place: A Father and Son on the Road by Michael C. Keith 2003, 284 p.

This is an unlikely childhood story of a boy’s vagabond journeys with his ne’er-do-well father. Two years after his parents’ divorce, Keith and his father embarked on a road trip from Albany, New York to Los Angeles. Although dinner was often out of a can and his father suffered bouts with the bottle, the author has lyrical memories of these Greyhound adventures and the exhilarating feelings of freedom they evoke.

Biography KIMMEL, H.
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel2001, 275 p.
With a just-right balance of humor and honesty, Kimmel recalls small town life in the Midwest of the 1970s. Nicknamed Zippy for her talent at imitating a circus monkey, the child had a keen awareness of the quirky cast of characters around her. The chapters are presented as a series of vignettes that read like well-crafted fiction.

Biography LEWIS, S.
Hotel Kid: A Times Square Childhood by Stephen Lewis2002, 214 p.
Stephen Lewis’ boyhood home was the landmark Taft Hotel, where his father was the general manager and his daily companions were bellmen, chambermaids and house dicks. His commanding mother rarely left the building and had the world delivered to their suite of rooms. Contrasting with the glamour of room service meals and luxurious lobbies, the gritty carnival of 1930s Times Square was just outside his door. Lewis charmingly portrays both worlds in this witty, readable memoir.

Biography LINDBERGH, R.
Under a Wing: A Memoir by Reeve Lindbergh1998, 223 p.
The youngest child of aviator Charles Lindbergh and author Anne Morrow writes of her life with her strong, protective parents and her four surviving siblings. Each parent encouraged their children to love the things they loved, such as flying, writing, nature and family. This is an intimate reminiscence of loss, loyalty and love.

Biography MCLAIN, P.
Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses: A Memoir by Paula McLain2003, 260 p.
When she was four-years-old, the author and her two sisters were abandoned to California’s foster care system. Miraculously, the siblings were kept together as they were shuffled through a series of unacceptable, often cruel, situations. In search of a place called home, the girls endured a life of impermanence and tumult with remarkable resilience and a perpetual spark of hope.

Biography RYAN, E.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised Ten Kids on Twenty-Five Words or Less by Terry Ryan2001, 351 p.
Raising six sons and four daughters with spotty help from an alcoholic husband, Evelyn Ryan was a resourceful mother of the 1950s. In an era when advertisers encouraged consumers to submit jingles and slogans for prizes, the Ryans were kept afloat by Mom’s winning ways and irrepressible spirit. Bicycles, televisions, appliances, cash, trips and supermarket shopping sprees always seemed to materialize just when most needed.

Biography SAGE, L.
Bad Blood by Lorna Sage2002, 281 p.
The author spent her early childhood with her misogynistic grandmother and philandering grandfather who was a country vicar on the English-Welsh border. She later returned to the proper but stifling home of her father and his new wife, escaping at sixteen into a shotgun marriage. Winner of England’s Whitbread Award for biography, this is a well-crafted view of three unconventional generations.

Biography YOUNG, Y.
On Our Way to Beautiful: A Family Memoir by Yolanda Young2002, 213 p.
In a series of engaging anecdotes, syndicated columnist Yolanda Young reveals her girlhood experiences in the unpaved slums of Shreveport, Louisiana. Her religious upbringing and strong family ties fortified her against the harsher realities she faced. As chapters unfold, the charm of her storytelling helps us experience the levels of beauty she was able to unearth from the lessons of her life.

Biography SUBERMAN, S.
The Jew Store by Stella Suberman1998, 298 p.
In the 1920s, Stella Suberman’s father moved his family from New York to rural Tennessee to start a dry goods business. He established Bronson’s Low-Cost Store, but it was quickly christened “the Jew Store” by boorish locals. Despite her mother’s sense of cultural isolation, the family was befriended by local characters, such as the wealthy spinster Miss Brookie, and became an established part of the community. Stella recalls this portion of her life with fondness and rich detail.

Biography ZANICHKOWSKY, S.
Fourteen: Growing Up Alone in a Crowd by Stephen Zanichkowsky2002, 261 p.
The author grew up in a joyless home with 13 siblings and overwrought parents. It was only after the death of his mother that he struggled to understand his childhood and reconnect with his scattered siblings. This brutally honest and sometimes disturbing memoir is a thoughtful examination of family dynamics and the yearning to bond.

Prepared by Lori Sennebogen, April 2003