A
Child Called It
Always
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Child Called It |
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A Child Called It --David Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in the history of California, tells the story of how he survived his mother's brutality and triumphed over his past. 921 Pelzer Deerfield Beach, FL: Health communications, Inc., 1995.
True Tales
921 Burch They Cage the Animals at
Night by Jennings Burch.
Biography of a young man who, at the age of eight, began an odyssey through
a series of asylums and foster homes intrrupted only by episdoes of life in
the streets.
921 Fisher Finding Fish: a memoir
by Antwone Fisher.
Antwone Fisher tells the story of his life, from his birth to a prison inmate
to his success as a screenwriter in Hollywood, discussing his childhood and
teen years in foster homes, his stint in the Navy, his attempts to find his
mother and father, and the determination that led him to create the life of
his dreams.
921 Mah Chinese Cinderella : the true
story of an unwanted daughter by Adeline Yen Mah.
The author tells the story of her painful childhood in China where she lived
until the age of fourteen with her father, stepmother, and siblings, all of
whom considered her bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth
to her.
921 Tarbox Katie.com : my story
by Katherine Tarbox.
Katie Tarbox explains how and why she became involved, at the age of thirteen,
with an Internet stalker, a middle-aged man who had told her he was a wealthy
twenty-three-year-old; and shares the story of her ordeal after she realized,
almost too late, that he was a sexual predator.
921 MCCOURT Angela's Ashes. by Frank McCourt.
New York, NY : Scribner, c1996.
Memoir of the author's miserable childhood growing up in the perpetually damp
country of Ireland, with the sterotypically long-suffering mother and drunken
father whose nurtures in his son an appetite for stories.
Fiction
F ANO Go ask Alice
by Anonymous.
A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull
of the drug world.
F ATK When Jeff comes home
by Catherine Atkins.
Sixteen-year-old Jeff, returning home after having been kidnapped and held prisoner
for three years, must face his family, friends, and school and the widespread
assumption that he engaged in sexual activity with his kidnapper.
F HAD Don't you dare read this, Mrs.
Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles
the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year
absence.
F KLA You don't know me : a novel
by David Klass.
Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries
to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow
classmate and other problems at school.
F FIT White oleander : a novel
by Janet Fitch.
Astrid, the only child of a single mother, struggles to find a place for herself
in a world full of foster homes and impossible circumstances, after her mother
is jailed for murder.
F MAZ When she was good by
Norma Fox Mazer.
The death of her abusive, manipulative older sister prompts seventeen-year-old
Em to remember their unpleasant life together, with their parents and then later
on their own.
F NOL Born blue by
Han Nolan.
Through years of feeling that she is unwanted, Janie keeps alive her dream of
being a famous singer.
F KON Silent to the bone
by E.L. Konigsburg.
When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old
Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach
him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
F TRU Stuck in neutral
by Terry Trueman.
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and
cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition,
especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.
F CRU Ironman : a novel
by Chris Crutcher.
While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management
group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.
Always Running --An involving autobiography about the author's evolution from an L.A. gang member to a community leader. 921 Rodriguez New York : Simon & Schuster, 1994, c1993.
True Tales
921 GANTOS Hole in my
LIfe by Jack Gantos
The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler,
was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college,
all the while hoping to become a writer.
921 WILLIAMS Life in
prison by Stanley "Tookie" Williams with Barbara Cottman
Becnel.
The author, imprisoned on Death Row since 1981, describes life in prison, warning
young readers not to make the mistakes he made.
364.1 VOI Voices from
the streets: young gang members tell their stories.
Photographs, poems, and interviews with former gang members from different regions
of the United States depict their experiences.
259 FRE Father Greg &
the homeboys : the extraordinary journey of Father Greg Boyle and his work with
the Latino gangs of East L.A. byCeleste Fremon.
Tells of the ministry of Catholic priest Greg Boyle among the Hispanic gangs
of Los Angeles and its positive impact on the life of the community.
Fiction
F EWI Party girl
by Lynne Ewing.
The death of her best friend Ana in a drive-by shooting causes fifteen-year-old
Kata to question her position in the Los Angeles gang life.
F MAR Parrot in the oven:
mi vida. by Victor Martinez.
Manny relates his coming of age experiences as a member of a poor Mexican family
in which the alcoholic father only adds to everone's struggle.
F SOT Buried onions
by Gary Soto.
When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place
for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood
of Fresno, California.
F COB Prep
by Jake Coburn.
One-time tag-artist, Nick tries to come to terms with the death of a friend,
to protect the brother of his would-be girlfriend, to escape the violence of
wealthy New York City prep school hoods, and to figure out who he really is.
F EWI Drive-by
by Lynne Ewing.
Twelve-year-old Tito, while helping to care for his little sister, struggles
to find his way during the aftermath of his brother's death in a gang-related
shooting.
F BUN Someone is hiding
on Alcatraz Island by Eve Bunting.
When he offends the toughest gang in his San Francisco school, Danny tries to
elude them by going to Alcatraz only to find himself and a Park Service employee
trapped by the gang in an old prison cell block.
Claws--Jed and Laura, two popular Minnesota high school students, find their seemingly perfect lives suddenly in chaos when they discover that each has a parent who is having an affair with the other. F WEA by Will Weaver. New York : HarperCollins, 2003.
Fiction
F GIL Playing in Traffic
by Gail Giles. Brookfield, Conn. : Roaring Brook Press, 2004.
Shy and unremarkable, seventeen-year-old Matt Lathrop is surprised and flattered
to find himself singled out for the sexual attentions of the alluring Skye Colby,
until he discovers the evil purpose behind her actions.
F GIL Shattering Glass
by Gail Giles.
When Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, turns the school nerd
into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence.
F PLU The body of Christopher
Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci.
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with
doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
F FLI Breaking point
by Alex Flinn.
Fifteen-year-old Paul enters an exclusive private school and falls under the
spell of a charismatic boy who may be using him.
F FLE Whirligig
by Paul Fleischman.
While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory
of the girl whose death he causes, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness
and atonement.
F BRO Martyn Pig : a
novel by Kevin Brooks.
Martyn Pig's life goes from bad to worse when he accidentally kills his father,
and he must choose whether to tell the police the truth about what happened
and be suspected of murder, or he can get rid of the body and pretend nothing
ever happened.
updated 9/27/05