Category Archives: Biography/Memoir

Adult Books for Teens: Biography: “The Los Angeles Diaries”

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

The Los Angeles Diaries: A Memoir by James Brown James Brown begins with that phenomenon of nature that all of us here in the Inland Empire know: the Santa Ana winds. We’ve seen the uprooted trees and downed powerlines … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Non-fiction | Tagged alcoholism, arson, autobiography, children of alcoholics, drug addiction, Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Bernardino County, writers, writing | 1 Comment

Adult Books for Teens: Biography: “No Easy Day”

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

No Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden As you read the sub-sub title above, you know why this book has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, autobiography, book reviews, military, Navy SEALs, Osama Bin Laden, Special Forces, terrorism | Leave a comment

Adult books for teens: Biography: “Until Tuesday”

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan Montalvan returned from two extended tours in Iraq a wounded warrior. Two Iraqis attempted to assassinate him because he was working hard to stop bribery and a thriving black market of US … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Controversial Issue/Debate, Family Problems, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, autobiography, biography, book review, golden retrievers, Iraq, Iraq War, memoir, military service, PTSD, Puppies Behind Bars, service dogs, soldiers, war, Wounded Warriors | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: Memoir: “Wild”

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Wild by Cheryl Strayed In her prologue, Strayed describes losing her hiking boots—yes, really losing them , knocked over the side of a mountain—in the middle of her quest to hike 1,100 of the 2,663 miles of the Pacific … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Environmental Issues, Family Problems, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, backpacking, book reviews, hiking, memoir, Oprah Book Club, Pacific Crest Trail | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: “Lean In”

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Sandberg is an enormously successful businesswoman who is now the COO (chief operating officer) of Facebook. She decided to write Lean In to argue that in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, equality in the workplace, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, women and careers, women's issues | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: Memoir: “My Beloved World”

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Sotomayor is one of the first women (the third) and the first Hispanic to become a Supreme Court justice. Her memoir, My Beloved World, is not quite an autobiography because she stops the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, book reviews, children of alcoholics, Hispanic Americans, Hispanics, Puerto Ricans, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court justices | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens: Inspiring Biographies: Unbroken

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand Unbroken is the incredible, nearly mythic, story of Louis Zamperini, an army air forces bomber whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. Before the … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure Stories, Biography/Memoir, Faith-Based/Religious Element, Family Problems, Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Human Rights Issues, Non-fiction, Over 375 pages | Tagged Adult books for teens, Allen Phillips, book reviews, guy books, Louis Zamperini, POWs, soldiers, survival, war, World War II | 1 Comment

Adult Books for Adults and Teens: “Team of Rivals”

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin I know this is a long shot, but I’m hoping there’s a student who will take me up on this. Summer reading for the truly motivated! While the focus of Team of Rivals … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Family Problems, Historical Fiction/Historical Element, Human Rights Issues, Movie Tie-In, Non-fiction, Over 375 pages | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, book reviews, Civil War, Dred Scott case, Edwin Stanton, Emancipation Proclamation, Frances Seward, Kansas Nebraska Act, Kate Chase, Mary Todd Lincoln, Missouri Compromise, movie tie-in, Salmon Chase, slavery, Thirteenth Amendment, US History, William Seward | Leave a comment

A good nonfiction follow-up to FiOS: “Regine’s Book”

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Victoria Waddle

Regine’s Book: A Teen Girl’s Last Words by Regine Stokke Regine Stokke, a seventeen year old living in Norway, was diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of leukemia (a blood cancer)—acute myelogenous leukemia or AML—in 2008. She decided that … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Non-fiction, Young Adult Literature | Tagged AML, cancer, leukemia, Norway, photography, Quart Festival, Regine Stokke, YA literature | Leave a comment

Adult Books for Teens; “It Calls You Back”

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Victoria Waddle

It Calls You Back by Luis J. Rodriguez Many students know about Luis J. Rodriguez’s memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in LA. We have multiple copies in the library as it has remained popular. From my … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography/Memoir, Controversial Issue/Debate, Family Problems, Mature Readers, Non-fiction | Tagged Adult books for teens, Chicago, community organizers, gangs, Los Angeles, Luis J. Rodriguez | Leave a comment