Category Archives: Biography/Memoir

Girlz ’n the Hood

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Victoria Waddle

Girlz ‘n the Hood: A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles by Mary Hill-Wagner Hill-Wagner is one of eleven children who grew up with an often single mother in South Central LA. Though her mother worked as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural, Non-fiction | Tagged #AdultBooksForTeens, Adult books for teens, book reviews, family problems, Girlz ‘n the Hood, Mary Hill-Wagner, memoir, poverty, South Central Los Angeles | Leave a comment

Sidelined: Sports Culture and Women

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Victoria Waddle

Working in sports talk radio is “like working in a frat house” Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Human Rights Issues, Sports | Tagged sports, sports culture, sports media, sports talk media, women in sports | 1 Comment

Time to Support the Local Literary Scene

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Victoria Waddle

Note: I have this up on my VictoriaWaddle.com blog, but am adding here because several of the books recommended below would be great for teen reads and in high school libraries. As shut down orders were put in place to … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Fiction, Hi-Low/Quick Read, Human Rights Issues, Mature Readers, Multicultural, Non-fiction, Short Stories | Tagged book reviews, Inlandia Institute, Los Nietos Press, Meg Pokrass, pelekinesis Press, Selena Chambers | 2 Comments

Communist Rule in South Vietnam: Behind the Red Curtain

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Victoria Waddle

The Fall of Saigon Behind the Red Curtain by Hong-My Basrai details the life of a Vietnamese family during and after the 1975 fall of Saigon. As the book opens, Hong-My is a thirteen-year-old girl with typical concerns about puberty. … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Fiction, Grief, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural | Tagged Behind the Red Curtain, Communist Vietnam, Fall of Saigon, Hong-My Basrai, immigrants, refugees, Saigon, South Vietnam | 2 Comments

Memoir: Educated

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Victoria Waddle

Tara Westover, the author of Educated, grew up in the country, in view of Buck’s Peak, in Idaho. Previous books I’ve read about the ‘heartland’ and its ‘real American’ inhabitants—whatever that is supposed to mean to those that use the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems | Tagged child abuse, Educated, family problems, fundamentalism (religion), Idaho, inspiration, memoir, Tara Westover | 2 Comments

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Victoria Waddle

I was excited to learn that Isabel Quintero wrote a new YA book because my students had enjoyed Gabi: A Girl in Pieces so much. (I only use the past tense because I retired; they are most likely still enjoying it.) … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Young Adult Literature | Tagged creativity, Graciela Iturbide, graphic nonfiction, hi-low reading, Isabel Quintero, nonfiction, photography, YA literature, Zeke Pena | 2 Comments

Nonfiction: “Code Talker”

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Victoria Waddle

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WW II by Chester Nez with Judith S. Avila Chester Nez was one of the original 32 (some say 29, but Nez informs the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Historical Fiction/Historical Element | Tagged Adult books for teens, American Indians, book reviews, Code Talkers, Common Core standards, friendship, memoir, Navajo Indians, nonfiction, prejudice, school problems, World War II | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: “Between the World and Me”

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Victoria Waddle

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” Often books have an opening sentence–or … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Grief, Human Rights Issues, Multicultural, Non-fiction | Tagged #AdultBooksForTeens, #AfricanAmericanWriters, #BetweenTheWorldAndMe, #bookReviews, #Ta-NehisiCoates, #YALiteraure, Adult books for teens, African Americans, American History, book reviews, death, United States, US History | 1 Comment

Adult Books: Memoir: “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Victoria Waddle

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson Jenny Lawson grew up in Wall, Texas, a small rural town that it was her goal to escape. Just as in many such tales, we find that in adulthood, the author … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Mature Readers, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, autobiography, biography, humor, Jenny Lawson, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, memoir, rural life, Texas, Wall Texas | Leave a comment

Common Core: Nonfiction: “A Curious Mind”

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Victoria Waddle

A Curious Mind: the Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman Brian Grazer is the producer of many well-known films (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Grinch, Splash) and some TV series (24 is the best known). … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Non-fiction | Tagged 21st century learners, A Curious Mind, Adult books for teens, autobiography, biography, book reviews, Brian Grazer, Common Core, Common Core standards, creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, nonfiction | Leave a comment