Up Home

One Girl's Journey

By: Ruth J. Simmons

Narrated by: Ruth J. Simmons

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Simmons’s evocative account of her remarkable trajectory from Jim Crow Texas, where she was the youngest of twelve children in a sharecropping family, to the presidencies of Smith College and Brown University shines with tenderness and dignity.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“A riveting work of literature, destined to take its place in the canon of great African American autobiographies.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Bloomberg, BET

I was born at a crossroads: a crossroads in history, a crossroads in culture, and a geographical crossroad in North Houston County in East Texas.

Born in 1945, Ruth J. Simmons grew up the twelfth child of sharecroppers. Her first home had no running water, no electricity, no books to read. Yet despite this—or, in her words, because of it—Simmons would become the first Black president of an Ivy League university. The former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M, Texas’s oldest HBCU, Simmons has inspired generations of students as she herself made history.

In Up Home, Simmons takes us back to Grapeland to show how the people who love us when we are young shape who we become. We meet her caring, tireless mother who managed to feed her large family with an often empty pantry; her father, who refused to let racial and economic injustice crush his youngest daughter’s dreams; the doting brothers and sisters; and the attentive teachers who welcomed Ruth into the classroom, guiding her to a future she could hardly imagine as a child.

From the farmland of East Texas to Houston’s Fifth Ward to New Orleans at the dawn of the civil rights movement, Simmons depicts an era long gone but whose legacies of inequality we still live with today. Written in clear and timeless prose, Up Home is both an origin story set in the segregated South and the uplifting chronicle of a girl whose intellect, grace, and curiosity guide her as she creates a place for herself in the world.

©2023 Ruth Simmons (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Honest, intimate and deeply affecting, [Up Home] recalls Anne Moody’s classic memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, not just in the obvious biographical parallels but also in terms of its potential impact. This is a book you’ll want to pass on to all the young people in your life, no matter their background, just so they can have a little of Simmons’s wise voice in their heads. I’d urge every educator to assign Up Home to high school students or incoming college freshmen. It’s that good.”—Pamela Paul, The New York Times

“[An] inspiring story . . . a love letter to every person who helped Simmons out of poverty.”—The Washington Post

“The tale of an individual making her way over nearly insurmountable obstacles with the help of determined teachers and mentors. . . Extraordinary.”—The New York Times Book Review

Positive and negative experiences travel together.

Volumes of thoughtful knowledge is condense in this timely, relatively small book. I recommend this book to all who seek direction in their own lives,
and who influence the direction and the lives of others. J. Ncutt.

A must read

A remarkable story about succeeding despite the odds. Nice that it was read by the author.

Eloquently truthful

Such a beautiful account of Dr. Ruth’s childhood experiences and how they helped shape and propel her into the brilliant trailblazer she is today. Such an honor!

Must read

The best of what our country can become. An inspiring story of human potential and achievement.

Beautiful Voice and Soul

Dr Simmons reads her own prose with elegance and verve.
Her history is full of love and striving. As a college administrator, I am hoping for part two!!

authenticity, amazing life story, appreciated Ruth sharing her story!

appreciated Ruth's reading of her life story. many thanks!!! With an education and love she was able to achieve her dreams.

Challenging

A very door open / close vision life a person who forced reading and learning to protect themself from negative surroundings

Wisdom imparted

This is a beautiful book that tells an amazing story with care. I both enjoyed and learned from it.

Up home history!!!

This is a book evy1 in school right now should read. The obstacles that she overcame to get to where she is now, is such a remarkable achievement. A page-Turner from start to finish.

Inspiring

An inspiring and interesting story. I rarely say this but the author was definitely the right person to narrate her own story. I just wish the details of her adult life hadn’t been skimmed over. She may need to write a sequel !