Poverty Memoir

A story that must be told and read. The first book of a trilogy set for a childhood memoir series--written by two sisters that survived being starved, beaten and frozen with their brother and half-sister. The Ozark Mountains is where the story gets wild when their "parents" own a cult called CSA; Christ's Sword and Arm of The Lord. It's a tale of abuse and survival that will leave the reader inspired and informed.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New...

Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in 14 different foster homes. As her mother spirals out of control, Ashley is left clinging to an unpredictable, dissolving relationship, all the while getting pulled deeper and deeper into the foster-care system. In this inspiring, unforgettable memoir, Ashley finds the courage to succeed - and in doing so, discovers the power of her own voice.

“They’re gone,” I hear someone say. “Your mother, they all left. Did you know?” The door opens without resistance. They didn’t even bother to lock; they never did. Doors are never locked here, not in this apartment nor any other. Who would steal anything here? There is nothing to take. Born in a rural desert town to a family of Persian immigrants, Miriam was twelve years old the first time she had three meals in one day. The tenth daughter of twelve siblings, she was raised so far away from anyone who might care that there was no one around to see her endure the debilitating ...

Few books are actually written by the survivor, but this is one. This is a true story written by me. My name is Mary and I was born to London poverty. See https://maryhayward.co.uk/index.php/gallery for pictures from the time. Inspiring and uplifting. An emotional roller-coaster with an unexpected twist of romance that comes but once in a lifetime. Begging for food at the age of 8, with my 4 year old sister I starve. It is a battle of wits, and a struggle to survive the horror of hunger. Betrayed, my life falls apart. The legacy of my childhood I am abandoned alone and cast out onto the ...

9-year-old Nichole and her parents are evicted from their home because both of her parents are addicted to heroin. With nowhere left to turn, they are now homeless. In order to survive they must dig through dumpsters, beg, and steal. While living on the streets, Nichole struggles to understand why people treat them differently.

AMAZON #1 BESTSELLER! "I wasn’t born a criminal—I was born into chaos." From the gritty streets of the South Bronx during the 1970s and '80s, Ghetto Bastard is a raw, unflinching urban memoir about survival, trauma, and the search for self-worth. Russell Vann tells his true story with brutal honesty, taking readers deep into a world shaped by poverty, abandonment, and the struggles of growing up in a system that offered no safety net—but also by fierce hope. Raised without guidance and surrounded by violence, Vann navigates a reality where love is scarce and trust is dangerous. From ...

When journalist Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles' skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than 30 years ago, Ayers was a promising classical bass student at Juilliard - ambitious, charming, and also one of the few African-Americans there - until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia.

Over time, the two men form a bond and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayers' life. The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges.

Poverty is big business in America. The federal government spends about $900 billion a year on programs that directly or disproportionately impact poor Americans, including antipoverty programs. States and local governments spend tens of billions more. Ironically, these enormous sums fuel the "corporate poverty complex," a vast web of hidden industries and entrenched private-sector interests that profit from the bureaucracies regulating the lives of the poor.

Jamie Mustard was born into one of the most influential fringe movements in the 1970s: Scientology. Raised on a mythos of spaceships and made to believe that it was his life’s purpose to help save the world, he was determined to survive—not only unsurvivable neglect but also the impossible physical and psychological gauntlet of extreme poverty and illiteracy. Child X is a dark existential journey into a deepest hole of human existence and the road back.

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER! An unflinching memoir about navigating social mobility as a first gen Latina, offering both a riveting personal story and an examination of the unacknowledged emotional tolls of being a trailblazer. "This is literary love medicine, a book you will not soon forget.”...

The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more. Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the...

Bobi Conn was raised in a remote Kentucky holler in 1980s Appalachia. She remembers her tin-roofed house tucked away in a vast forest paradise; the sparkling creeks, with their frogs and crawdads; the sweet blackberries growing along the road to her granny’s; and her abusive father. An elegiac account of survival despite being born poor, female, and cloistered, Bobi’s testament is one of hope for all vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls caught in the cycle of poverty and abuse.

One part Educated, one part rebuttal to Hillbilly Elegy, On Fire for God explores the ways evangelical Christianity has preyed upon its followers while galvanizing them into the political force known today as the Christian right. “Of all the books I've read about young people devastated by the...

A darkly comic memoir-in-essays about the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State—from the award-winning author of High-Risk Homosexual “Relatable, funny and deeply heartfelt, this memoir is one not to miss.”—Today “Edgar Gomez is a young...

'Soars with compassion, intelligence and hard-won wisdom ... a standout book' LOUISE KENNEDY From the Number One bestselling author of Poor 'Utterly compelling' EDEL COFFEY 'Raw and profound' LIZ NUGENT 'I couldn't put it down' ELAINE FEENEY Katriona O'Sullivan has come a long way from the...

“If you want a lifechanging book, this is the one to read.” —The View “A truly revealing” (Hillary Clinton) memoir of an unlikely journey to parenthood through America’s broken foster care system. What does it take to keep a child safe? As a long-time strategist and activist fighting...

From Jon King, legendary front man of iconic post-punk band Gang of Four, comes a memoir to remember. To Hell with Poverty! documents King’s story from a south London slum and working-class background to international success as core musician, lyricist, writer, and producer in the legendary post-punk/funk band Gang of Four.

Weldon Long knows firsthand that Maui is nicer than prison. After 13 years of federal and state incarceration, he emerged a transformed man: a powerful speaker, driven motivator, and successful trainer/entrepreneur. Long holds a BS in law and an MBA in management, despite dropping out of high school in the ninth grade.

The New York Times bestselling true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever. It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. Martin was lucky to even receive a...