Collection: Biography & Memoir

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Riveting, elegant, humorous--this "picaresque voyage through Patti Smith's dreams and life, blending fiction and reality, conjured characters and actual ones" (The New York Times) is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times. Illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids.

Following a run of new year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland, in which she debates intellectual grifters and spars with the likes of a postmodern Cheshire Cat. Then, in February 2016, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. For Smith--inveterately curious, always exploring, always writing--this becomes a year of reckoning with the changes in life's gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America.

Taking us from California to the Arizona desert, from a Kentucky farm to the hospital room of a valued mentor, Smith melds the western landscape with her own dreamscape in a haunting, poetic blend of fact and fiction. As a stranger tells her, "Anything is possible. After all, it's the Year of the Monkey." But as Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope for a better world.

Including a new chapter, "Epilogue of an Epilogue," and ten new photos, Year of the Monkey "reminds us that despair and possibility often spring from the same source" (Los Angeles Times).

Named a Best Book of 2021 by NPR

This inspirational memoir serves as a call to action from prison reform activist Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, that will inspire us all to turn our stories into tools for change in the pursuit of racial justice.

They didn't know who they had.

So begins Yusef Salaam, telling his whole story for the first time: of resilience in the face of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice. Despite having confronted the racist heart of America, Yusef channeled his energy and pain into self-determination and positivity. During his seven years of wrongful incarceration as one of the Central Park Five, Yusef gained a spiritual perspective on life, realizing that we are all "born on purpose, with a purpose."

Better, Not Bitter is the inspirational story of a young man growing up in central Harlem in the '80s, the failure of America's criminal justice system, of being vilified by a nation. But during his years of incarceration, Yusef discovered the power of art and faith, and of holding on to the person you know you are, which gave him the strength to survive, and helped him through reentry and exoneration.

Yusef's journey inspires us to accept our own path, to discover our own sense of purpose. His intimate insights help unpack the racist design of systems built for profit and oppression of Black and Brown people. This motivational memoir urges us to channel fury into action, and to turn anger and trauma into a constructive force to enact change in one's own life and for a better future.

Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about William Shatner, the actor who explored new worlds on Star Trek. Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers--as well as fans of all ages!

This Little Golden Book about William Shatner--best known as Captain Kirk from Star Trek and the oldest person to travel to space in real life--is an inspiring read-aloud for young children, as well as their Trekkie parents and grandparents.

Look for more Little Golden Book biographies:
- Betty White
- Carol Burnett
- Lucille Ball
- Harry Belafonte
- Julie Andrews
- Dwayne Johnson

Something wicked was brewing in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It started when two girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began having hysterical fits. Soon after, other local girls claimed they were being pricked with pins. With no scientific explanation available, the residents of Salem came to one conclusion: it was witchcraft! Over the next year and a half, nineteen people were convicted of witchcraft and hanged while more languished in prison as hysteria swept the colony. Author Joan Holub gives readers and inside look at this sinister chapter in history.

CANADA READS 2020 WINNER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2020 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER
ONE OF BOOK RIOT'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL QUEER BOOKS OF ALL TIME

How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist?

Samra Habib has spent most of their life searching for the safety to be themself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From their parents, they internalized the lesson that revealing their identity could put them in grave danger.

When their family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, their need for a safe space--in which to grow and nurture their creative, feminist spirit--became dire. The men in Samra's life wanted to police them, the women in their life had only shown them the example of pious obedience, and their body was a problem to be solved.

So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self.

From Bustle columnist and Twitter sensation Sophia Benoit, this "charming and often laugh-out-loud funny" (Vogue) memoir-in-essays explores the ins and outs of modern womanhood--from finding feminism, the power of pop culture, and how to navigate life's constant double standards--perfect for fans of Shrill and PEN15.Like so many women, Sophia spent her formative years struggling to do the "right" thing--to make others comfortable, to take minimal and calculated risks, to live up to society's expectations--only to realize that there was so little payoff to this tiresome balancing act. Tired of trying so hard, Sophia finally let go of the crushing pressure to be perfect. She navigates the highs and lows of the dating world (high: being a beta tester for Bumble; low: hastily shaving her legs before a hotel hookup and getting blood all over the sheets), and walks the line between being a "chill" girl and making sure her boyfriend's nonchalance about altitude sickness doesn't get him killed. She learns what it means to be a feminist, how to embrace her own voice, and when to listen to women who have been through more and have been doing the work longer. With topics ranging from how to be the life of the party (even when you have crippling anxiety), to an ill-fated consultation with a dietician who deemed Sophia's overindulgence in ketchup a serious health risk, to a masterful argument for why no one should judge you for having an encyclopedic knowledge of reality TV, Well, This Is Exhausting is not only "one of the funniest books you'll read this year, but it's also one of the most important" (Shondaland).

An oversized, lavishly illustrated storybook featuring original watercolor art by legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki!

This is the original Princess Mononoke story, created by Hayao Miyazaki in 1980 while he was first conceptualizing the landmark animated film that would be released to universal acclaim seventeen years later. As an initial version of the tale, it offers a new and different perspective from the final version presented in the film. After a long, exhausting war, a samurai lost in a forest encounters a giant wildcat--a mononoke. The beast saves his life, but at the price of his daughter's hand in marriage...

Punching Bag is the compelling true story of a high school career defined by poverty and punctuated by outbreaks of domestic abuse. Rex Ogle, who brilliantly mapped his experience of hunger in Free Lunch, here describes his struggle to survive; reflects on his complex, often paradoxical relationship with his passionate, fierce mother; and charts the trajectory of his stepdad's anger. Hovering over Rex's story is the talismanic presence of his unborn baby sister.

Through it all, Rex threads moments of grace and humor that act as beacons of light in the darkness. Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told, Punching Bag is a remarkable memoir about one teenager's cycle of violence, blame, and attempts to forgive his parents--and himself.

Take an intimate tour through the life and works of Stephen King, made vivid with rare photos and ephemera from King's personal collection.

Even if you are a die-hard fan, you will find something new in this beautifully packaged Stephen King reference that you will return to again and again. Timed to celebrate Stephen King's 75th birthday on September 21, 2022, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences reveals the inspiration behind the prolific author's brilliant works of horror through a combination of photos and documents from King's archives and an engaging account of the stories behind how his novels, novellas, short stories, and adaptations came to be.

It might sound like a tall tale that Stephen King once met a bartender named Grady in an empty hotel in Colorado, or that the celebrated author helped his young daughter bury her cat in a nearby "pets sematary" after it was killed on a busy roadway. In this book, discover how King drew on these and more real personal experiences and mundane life events, then employed his extraordinary imagination to twist them into something horrific.

From impoverished university student to struggling schoolteacher to one of the best-selling--and most recognizable--authors of all time, this engrossing book reveals the evolution and influences of Stephen King's body of work over his nearly 50-year career, and how the themes of his writing reflect the changing times and events within his life.

An expansion of Stephen King expert Bev Vincent's The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, this fully revised, redesigned, and updated book includes:

• A review of King's complete body of work, including Fairy Tale, published in September 2022.
• A wealth of rare memorabilia from King's own collection, including personal and professional correspondences, handwritten manuscript pages, book covers, movie stills, and a never-before-seen excerpts from one of his poems.
• Interludes on specific topics such as real-life settings that inspired King's writing, the editor who discovered him, his life as a Boston Red Sox fan, and the many awards and honors he has received.
• Insightful quotes from King from interviews over the decades.

Celebrate the beloved King of Horror with this informational and entertaining look inside King's most iconic titles and the culture they have created.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Searing. Powerful. Needed." --Oprah

"Sometimes a single story can change the world. Unbound is one of those stories. Tarana's words are a testimony to liberation and love." --Brené Brown

From the founder and activist behind one of the largest movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the "me too" movement, Tarana Burke debuts a powerful memoir about her own journey to saying those two simple yet infinitely powerful words--me too--and how she brought empathy back to an entire generation in one of the largest cultural events in American history.

Tarana didn't always have the courage to say "me too." As a child, she reeled from her sexual assault, believing she was responsible. Unable to confess what she thought of as her own sins for fear of shattering her family, her soul split in two. One side was the bright, intellectually curious third generation Bronxite steeped in Black literature and power, and the other was the bad, shame ridden girl who thought of herself as a vile rule breaker, not as a victim. She tucked one away, hidden behind a wall of pain and anger, which seemed to work...until it didn't.

Tarana fought to reunite her fractured self, through organizing, pursuing justice, and finding community. In her debut memoir she shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and brown girls, and the devastating realization that to truly help these girls she needed to help that scared, ashamed child still in her soul. She needed to stop running and confront what had happened to her, for Heaven and Diamond and the countless other young Black women for whom she cared. They gave her the courage to embrace her power. A power which in turn she shared with the entire world. Through these young Black and brown women, Tarana found that we can only offer empathy to others if we first offer it to ourselves.

Unbound is the story of an inimitable woman's inner strength and perseverance, all in pursuit of bringing healing to her community and the world around her, but it is also a story of possibility, of empathy, of power, and of the leader we all have inside ourselves. In sharing her path toward healing and saying "me too," Tarana reaches out a hand to help us all on our own journeys.

Teen life is hard enough, but for teens who are LGBTQ, it can be even harder.

When do you decide to come out? Will your friends accept you? And how do you meet people to date? Queer is a humorous, engaging, and honest guide that helps LGBTQ teens come out to friends and family, navigate their social life, figure out if a crush is also queer, and challenge bigotry and homophobia. Personal stories from the authors and sidebars on queer history provide relatable context. This completely revised and updated edition is a must-read for any teen who thinks they might be queer or knows someone who is.

"A delightful collection of trustworthy and accurate information that tweens and teens need today, all told in a sort of quirky, sometimes goofy, and always approachable tone...a fun, easy to read, and occasionally hilarious guide that should be available on a shelf in every high school library."
--Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director, The Advocate magazine

"Not every queer kid has easy access to a family member, teacher, counselor, or friend who can help them through the coming-out process. Even when they do, NEWSFLASH, most of us don't have all the answers! Queer is a great way for a teen, or someone who is trying to mentor or understand a queer teen, to gain some knowledge from a thoughtful, cute perspective."--Honey Mahogany, Activist, RuPaul's Drag Race Alumnus, Cofounder of the Compton's Transgender Cultural District

"I learned more than a few things about our fabulously diverse queer culture, and especially the younger generation, that everyone should know."--Terry Beswick, Executive Director of the GLBT Historical Society Archives and Museum

In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children's literature's top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg's quest to correct history.

Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.

Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

From the James Beard Award-winning blogger behind The Everywhereist come hilarious, searing essays on how food and cooking stoke the flames of her feminism.

"With charm and humor, Geraldine DeRuiter welcomes us into her personal history and thus reconnects us with ourselves."--Mikki Kendall, New York Times bestselling author of Hood Feminism

When celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an apology letter for the sexual harassment allegations made against him, he had the gall to include a recipe--for cinnamon rolls, of all things. Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe, and she happened to make food journalism history along with it. Her subsequent essay, with its scathing commentary about the pervasiveness of misogyny in the food world, would be read millions of times, lauded by industry luminaries from Martha Stewart to New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells, and would land DeRuiter in the middle of a media firestorm. She found herself on the receiving end of dozens of threats when all she wanted to do was make something to eat (and, okay fine, maybe take down the patriarchy).

In If You Can't Take the Heat, DeRuiter shares stories about her shockingly true, painfully funny (and sometimes just painful) adventures in gastronomy. We'll learn how she finally got a grip on her debilitating anxiety by emergency meal-planning for the apocalypse. ("You are probably deeply worried that in times of desperation I would eat your pets. And yes, I absolutely would.") Or how she learned to embrace her hanger. ("Because women can be a lot of things, but we can't be angry. Or president, apparently.") And how she inadvertently caused another international incident with a negative restaurant review. (She made it on to the homepage of The New York Times's website! And she got more death threats!)

Deliciously insightful and bitingly clever, If You Can't Take the Heat is a fresh look at food and feminism from one of the culinary world's sharpest voices.

Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. Now, a two-and-a-half-year-long museum exhibit of Tut's treasures is touring major cities in the U.S., drawing record crowds. This Who Was . . . ? is complete with 100 black-andwhite illustrations and explains the life and times of this ancient Egyptian ruler, covering the story of the tomb's discovery, as well as myths and so-called mummy curses.

Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about Iris Apfel, the style icon and beloved tastemaker known for her eclectic eyewear! Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers!

This Little Golden Book about Iris Apfel--businessperson, interior designer, and fashion icon who has captivated the world with her colorful and unique style--is an inspiring read-aloud for young children.

Look for more Little Golden Book biographies:
- Misty Copeland
- Frida Kahlo
- Bob Ross
- Queen Elizabeth II
- Harriet Tubman

In 1978, Sally Ride, a PhD candidate at Standford University, responded to a newspaper ad to join the US astronaut program. She was accepted and became the first American woman astronaut to fly in space! Among her other accomplishments, she played tennis like a professional, was an astrophysicist who helped develop a robotic arm for space shuttles, and later, through Sally Ride Science, worked to make science cool and accessible for girls. Sally Ride, who died on July 23, 2012, will continue to inspire young children.