Biography Girls

When the pain, shock and betrayal of a loved one left me reeling and unable to speak, I resorted to penning down my unfiltered thoughts in the moment. With conflicts running riot within me, I asked questions and searched desperately for answers but found none. I came face to face with how difficult it was to honour one's own boundaries. Time did its thing as I slowly journaled my way into finding my voice again.

Black women have never been more visible or more publicly celebrated. But for every milestone, every magazine cover, every new face elected to public office, the reality of everyday life for black women remains a complex, conflicted, contradiction-laden experience. An American journalist who has been living in London for a decade, Kenya Hunt has made a career of distilling moments, movements, and cultural moods into words. Her work takes the difficult and the indefinable and makes it accessible; it is razor sharp cultural observation threaded through evocative and relatable stories.

From helping others in times of need, to keeping and maintaining friendships, to having a positive attitude, Laura's words of wisdom in Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues are applicable even in today's world. As she shares stories and experiences from her own life, she encourages listeners to live lives of integrity and to realize their dreams.

Bryony Gordon has OCD. It's the snake in her brain that has told her ever since she was a teenager that her world is about to come crashing down: that her family might die if she doesn't repeat a phrase five times, or that she might have murdered someone and forgotten about it. It's caused alopecia, bulimia, and drug dependency. And Bryony is sick of it. Keeping silent about her illness has given it a cachet it simply does not deserve, so here she shares her story with trademark wit and dazzling honesty.

Emotionally battered and neglected by her personality disordered parents—and manipulated by Mormon beliefs—16-year-old Sarah was convinced her boyfriend Michael would save her. When her parents discovered that they’d committed the sin of premarital sex, the aftermath left the teenagers irrevocably bonded.

From New York Times best-selling author Andrew Maraniss comes the remarkable true story of Glenn Burke, a "hidden figure" in the history of sports: the inventor of the high five and the first openly gay MLB player. Singled Out is the fascinating story of a trailblazer in sports - and the history and culture that shaped the world around him.

Growing up in British Guiana in the 1950s, Sharon Maas has everything a shy child with a vivid imagination could wish for. She spends her days studying bugs in the backyard, eating fresh mangos straight from the tree, and tucked up on her granny’s lap losing herself in books. But with her father campaigning for Guiana’s independence and her mother away for work, there’s a void in Sharon’s heart, and she craves rules and structure. The books she devours give her a glimpse of life in a faraway country: England.

Moments of stress and pressure reveal a person's true potential. Most of us unlock talents we never knew lay dormant within us. Those nail-biting matches in the sports fields are more than a display of the athletes' physical prowess. They reflect how one overcomes adversity with unwavering dedication, confronting personal challenges. From Michael Jordan's pursuit of greatness to Mia Hamm's trajectory from rejection to international acclaim, each story tells us something about the invincible human spirit.

The amazing story of pilot Tammie Jo Shults, adapted for young listeners! Tammie Jo worked hard, had faith, stayed true to herself, and overcame every obstacle on her journey to becoming a navy pilot. Years later, those lessons served her well as she was put in the right place at the right time to safely land a crippled plane and save 148 lives.

By the time she was in her teens, Diamond had lived dozens of lives and lies, but as she grew older, love and trust turned to fear and violence, and her family—the only people she had in the world—began to unravel. She started to realize that her life itself might be a big con, and the people she loved, the most dangerous of all. With no way out and her identity burned so often that she had no proof she even existed, all that was left was a girl from nowhere.

Alison Blackmore had an unconventional childhood on a remote farm in Matabeleland during a turbulent transition from colonial rule to independence. In Africa Noon she recounts early adventures with her most loyal friend, her dog Shadow. This memoir covers Alison’s early years in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) around 1965, during the period of UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) from Britain.

Malala's memoir of a remarkable teenage girl who risked her life for the right to go to school is now abridged and adapted for chapter book listeners. Raised in a changing Pakistan by an enlightened father from a poor background and a beautiful, illiterate mother, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. Her story of bravery and determination in the face of extremism is more timely than ever.

“I am fat,” begins Judith Moore’s unflinching account of her life. As she describes her obsessions with food, struggles with self image and troubled relationships, she refuses to become an object of pity. Moore is the recipient of two NEA grants and a Guggenheim fellowship. Her previous book, also a memoir, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

When Sacagawea's son asks her about her life, she isn't sure where to begin. Does she start with her birth as a Shoshoni? Her kidnapping by an enemy tribe at age 11? Or her role as the famous guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition? She's seen and experienced more in her young life than most people ever will. Told from Sacagawea's point of view, this historical novel shares the ordeals of her youth along with the memory of her long, arduous journey west with Lewis and Clark.

What could a country girl possibly have in common with someone raised in a city? Actually, more than you think. When we take the time to look past our differences, finding things in common is easy. In this collection of stories, the author shares thoughts and insights gained through her observations of life. Kellie was raised in the country and still lives on a farm today. But the experiences she writes about are helpful no matter where one lives. Everyday encounters are turned into inspirational messages.

It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy, and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal and the women’s movement was a young lawyer named Jill Wine Volner (as she was then known), barely 30 years old and the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials. Called "the mini-skirted lawyer" by the press, she fought to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts - and prevailed.

Chelsea King was a popular high school senior, an outstanding achiever determined to make a difference. Fourteen-year-old Amber Dubois loved books and poured her heart into the animals for which she cared. Treasured by their families and friends, both girls disappeared in San Diego County, just eight miles and one year apart. The community's desperate search led authorities to John Albert Gardner, a brutal predator hiding in plain sight. Now Pulitzer-nominated author Caitlin Rother delivers an incisive, heartbreaking true-life thriller that touches our deepest fears.

Jeremy Ivester is a transgender man. Thirty years ago, his parents welcomed him into the world as what they thought was their daughter. As a child, he preferred the toys and games our society views as masculine. He kept his hair short and wore boys’ clothing. They called him a tomboy. That’s what he called himself. By high school, when he showed no interest in flirting, his parents thought he might be lesbian. At 20, he wondered if he was asexual. At 23, he surgically removed his breasts.

My name is Hazel Lamb…Lindsey, but my momma called me Fireball. I am 84 years old. I only got one year of schooling, but I am self-taught. I worked hard all my life.

As a young Latina and Native American lawyer and former wife of California’s attorney general and treasurer, Nadia Davis has long been subjected to public scrutiny. In this powerful homage to finding one’s worth in the face of mental health struggles, addiction, and public shaming, Davis shares her remarkable story. She reveals the depths of the darkness she went through, while gracefully offering transformational healing and an end to the choking grasp of shame.