by Liz Murray
First published 2010
Liz Murray grows up with parents who cannot care for her. Her father cycles through prison sentences while battling drug addiction. Her mother struggles with mental illness and the same dependencies that consume her husband. By fifteen, Liz sleeps on subway trains and searches dumpsters for meals. The streets of New York become her home. When her mother dies from AIDS complications, Liz faces a choice. She can follow her parents down the same destructive path, or she can fight for something different. Without formal education or stable housing, she decides to pursue an impossible goal. Liz commits to earning her high school diploma and applying to college. The odds stack against her at every turn. She studies in stairwells and library corners. She works multiple jobs while completing coursework. Her determination drives her through obstacles that would stop most people. This memoir captures her journey from the lowest point of homelessness to acceptance at Harvard University. Murray writes about forgiveness, survival, and the power of refusing to accept the circumstances that surround you.
Genres: family-life, addiction, abuse, coming-of-age, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: against-all-odds, overcoming-adversity, rags-to-riches
Setting: New York
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
334 pages · Hardcover · Hyperion
Content warnings: addiction, mental-illness