What do you think?
Rate this book
Up Home: One Girl's Journey
An inspiring, indelible memoir from the daughter of sharecroppers in East Texas who became the first Black president of an Ivy League university—an uplifting story of girlhood and the power of family, community, and the classroom to transform one young person’s life
I was born at a 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 one of America’s preeminent educators. 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.
I was born at a 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 one of America’s preeminent educators. 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.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2023
315 people are currently reading
5832 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 288 reviews
May 10, 2023
Up Home: One Girl's Journey, a memoir by Ruth J. Simmons, is powerful, memorable, and inspirational. Simmons was the youngest of twelve children whose entire family were poor sharecroppers. Her memoir shares how she was able to become the president of three universities: Prairie View A & M University, Smith College, and Brown University. As president of Brown University, she was the first African American president of an Ivy League institution.
Simmons' first grade teacher was the first of several critical mentors who shaped her into the person she is today. Her first grade teacher welcomed her and made her feel special. She discovered that learning was enjoyable, important and expandable. Simmons attributes her career in education to the influence and compassion of her first grade teacher. Teachers showed her that women weren't second rate and could have careers. While growing up, Simmons had been reared to believe that women play a secondary role and serving their husband's and families' needs came first.
Simmons shares how she handled failures, disappointments and rejection. She stayed focused on her goals, remained flexible and always looked for alternative ways to achieve her goals.
Up Home: One Girl's Journey is a great testimony to the power of teachers and key influencers as well as the grit, determination, and ambition that helps people achieve their goals.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Simmons' first grade teacher was the first of several critical mentors who shaped her into the person she is today. Her first grade teacher welcomed her and made her feel special. She discovered that learning was enjoyable, important and expandable. Simmons attributes her career in education to the influence and compassion of her first grade teacher. Teachers showed her that women weren't second rate and could have careers. While growing up, Simmons had been reared to believe that women play a secondary role and serving their husband's and families' needs came first.
Simmons shares how she handled failures, disappointments and rejection. She stayed focused on her goals, remained flexible and always looked for alternative ways to achieve her goals.
Up Home: One Girl's Journey is a great testimony to the power of teachers and key influencers as well as the grit, determination, and ambition that helps people achieve their goals.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
September 18, 2023
Twenty-plus years ago, Brown University announced that Ruth J. Simmons—then president of Smith College—would become the University’s 18th president. While she was very similar to her predecessors in that she was well-educated, with ample experience in administration and academics, her background differed greatly in that she came from very humble circumstances. As the first Black president of an Ivy League or Seven Sisters institution, her pedigree isn’t of the Black elite. Instead, she grew up the granddaughter of slaves and the daughter of sharecroppers. Her ascent can be attributed to many things—but an overarching theme in her rise is the power of allies and supporters. Despite reaching the heights she has, Simmons never forgets where she came from. Her love of family and her roots is palpable.
Teachers are underappreciated now, but during Jim Crow, black schoolteachers were highly respected members of their communities. Simmons goes into great detail about how her teachers in segregated grade schools and HBCUs lifted her up and took an interest in her. These incredible educators went above and beyond what was expected! The role her teachers played—and there were many—allowed her to succeed despite having a tough home life with few models of how to go to college, let alone lead some of the top schools in the country. She celebrates her older siblings, who swooped in to raise and support her after their mother’s death. While my own upbringing couldn’t be further from hers despite growing up Black in the South, I chuckled with familiarity at her accounts of relatives and teachers. Ruth, as she was affectionately known, has a dry wit which makes itself apparent in these pages. She’s a clear, plain spoken writer, which made this book not only easy to read, but hard to put down.
This is one of the best books I’ve read in 2023. That said, I might be biased—I’ve been a Ruth Simmons fan since that June day that Brown announced her presidency. As a rising junior, I was comforted during that first week of classes as she gathered the student body in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Her presence at graduations even after her retirement thrilled students and alumni alike. Other fans of Ruth Simmons may be disappointed that this book doesn’t go into her career as an administrator at such powerhouses as USC, Spelman, or Princeton—let alone her presidencies—as it concludes as she graduates from Dillard. Perhaps that will be a later book—but her detailed descriptions of siblings, parents, and teachers—makes for an excellent memoir of a girlhood.
Teachers are underappreciated now, but during Jim Crow, black schoolteachers were highly respected members of their communities. Simmons goes into great detail about how her teachers in segregated grade schools and HBCUs lifted her up and took an interest in her. These incredible educators went above and beyond what was expected! The role her teachers played—and there were many—allowed her to succeed despite having a tough home life with few models of how to go to college, let alone lead some of the top schools in the country. She celebrates her older siblings, who swooped in to raise and support her after their mother’s death. While my own upbringing couldn’t be further from hers despite growing up Black in the South, I chuckled with familiarity at her accounts of relatives and teachers. Ruth, as she was affectionately known, has a dry wit which makes itself apparent in these pages. She’s a clear, plain spoken writer, which made this book not only easy to read, but hard to put down.
This is one of the best books I’ve read in 2023. That said, I might be biased—I’ve been a Ruth Simmons fan since that June day that Brown announced her presidency. As a rising junior, I was comforted during that first week of classes as she gathered the student body in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Her presence at graduations even after her retirement thrilled students and alumni alike. Other fans of Ruth Simmons may be disappointed that this book doesn’t go into her career as an administrator at such powerhouses as USC, Spelman, or Princeton—let alone her presidencies—as it concludes as she graduates from Dillard. Perhaps that will be a later book—but her detailed descriptions of siblings, parents, and teachers—makes for an excellent memoir of a girlhood.
September 19, 2024
Ruth Simmons grew up the youngest of 12 children, in the midst of poverty and racial discrimination in rural Texas during the Jim Crow period of the 1940's-50's. Her story is one of hope, personal growth and big aspirations, which is ultimately very inspirational. Ruth's accomplishments include being the first Black woman president of an Ivy League college, Brown University. She is an extraordinary person in many respects, and her memoir was a fascinating and uplifting read.
January 9, 2024
Her story is amazing, but the storytelling was just so-so. There were a lot of times when she stopped the narrative to explain what the lesson she learned was, or to say that that event is what made everything else possible. But it just felt shortcuts, like we were reading the cliff-notes version of her memoir.
August 21, 2023
This was an engrossing read about a woman I've never heard of, but that didn't make this any less interesting to read. Ruth Simmons is the president of Prairie View A&M University, Texas' oldest HBCU, but she has also been the presidents of Brown University and Smith College as well as vice provost of Princeton. That the youngest of twelve children in a poor family of sharecroppers barely able to make ends meet was able to achieve all this is both a sign of her inner drive to make something of herself and escape her limitations as well as the amazing mentors she met along the way. And yet, despite achieving these lofty accomplishments, she has never forgotten her roots. While she has experienced things most of us will never understand, what got her through was her flexibility and her willingness to learn as much as possible from every experience, good and bad, and to not hold onto anger or resentment towards the bad (for example, her father).
Overall, I found this to be an inspiring and interesting read and would recommend it to those who enjoy reading biographies or who enjoy historical books.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Overall, I found this to be an inspiring and interesting read and would recommend it to those who enjoy reading biographies or who enjoy historical books.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want to read
June 30, 2023Super excited about winning a copy of this one!!!
September 6, 2023
This is a wonderful memoir. It is probably the best that I have read in recent years. Ruth Jean Simmons grew up in and around Houston in the forties, fifties and sixties. She was born into poverty, segregation and racism but with the support of a large family and public school mentors went on to achieve great things academically and professionally, including serving as president of several universities. This is so well written and my hope is that it gets the attention and wide readership that it deserves. I received a digital arc from the publisher through NetGalley.
September 10, 2023
As a Smith College alumna I knew some of President Simmons” story but her journey from sharecropper’s daughter to THREE presidencies is quite remarkable! As an educator, it was a strong reminder the impact of love and encouragement can have on a student.
May 4, 2023
Up Home is an inspiring memoir by Ruth J. Simmons, who was born the twelfth child of extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas and became the first Black president of an Ivy League university. Ms. Simmons does not soften the conditions in which she grew up. Her family lived in owner-provided housing that "had there been any government housing codes, would have missed the required safety standards by a wide margin." She describes the hollow feeling in her family's stomachs when they ran out of the numerous things their mother had canned, especially after "phantom meals," which consisted of her mother's biscuits with either homemade sugar syrup or gravy. Ms. Simmons' mother made the family's clothes from old burlap or cotton flour sacks. Beginning at age six, every family member worked in the cotton fields. Children attended school only when there was no farm work to be done. Ms. Simmons started school when she was six, and she had a dedicated teacher whose "enthusiasm convinced me that learning was supremely important, thoroughly enjoyable, and immensely expansive." The family moved to Houston that same year. Up Home references interracial segregation, and Ms. Simmons did not have a white friend until she attended college, apart from a short friendship with the daughter of a neighboring sharecropper. Despite the difficult conditions she endured, Ms. Simmons repeatedly states how happy her childhood was.
Up Home is an uplifting book, and Ms. Simmons is undoubtedly a person who should be a role model for people of any race. She overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself, which she did in an outstanding fashion. She is an extraordinary woman, passionate about education.
Up Home is an easy read which I enjoyed immensely. While touching on some difficult contextual issues, Ms. Simmons' narration never goes into enough detail to be disturbing to younger readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.
Up Home is an uplifting book, and Ms. Simmons is undoubtedly a person who should be a role model for people of any race. She overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself, which she did in an outstanding fashion. She is an extraordinary woman, passionate about education.
Up Home is an easy read which I enjoyed immensely. While touching on some difficult contextual issues, Ms. Simmons' narration never goes into enough detail to be disturbing to younger readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC.
September 5, 2023
Up Home by Ruth J Simmons
I was really interested to find out how a young girl from a sharecropper family in Texas made it all the way to be president of two Ivy League colleges. What a great story that must be, but this autobiography barely covers the how of this great accomplishment. My thanks to Random House and Net Galley for this title.
Most of the book, however, does cover details about the sad childhood homes she lived in, as she admits they were all the same, but just in a different place. Why so much time on this? A story covering her later years would have been more interesting to me.
There are names after names of teachers who influenced her, and then they are mostly overshadowed by the love for her subservient mother, who was not not a great role model for women’s progress. Ruth had many breaks and scholarships others didn’t get, and deservedly so. She was smart and worked hard. She comes to realize that being the only Black person in a discussion could be an asset to the group.
Hooray for Ruth Simmons and her career successes. Just please tell me more about this.
I was really interested to find out how a young girl from a sharecropper family in Texas made it all the way to be president of two Ivy League colleges. What a great story that must be, but this autobiography barely covers the how of this great accomplishment. My thanks to Random House and Net Galley for this title.
Most of the book, however, does cover details about the sad childhood homes she lived in, as she admits they were all the same, but just in a different place. Why so much time on this? A story covering her later years would have been more interesting to me.
There are names after names of teachers who influenced her, and then they are mostly overshadowed by the love for her subservient mother, who was not not a great role model for women’s progress. Ruth had many breaks and scholarships others didn’t get, and deservedly so. She was smart and worked hard. She comes to realize that being the only Black person in a discussion could be an asset to the group.
Hooray for Ruth Simmons and her career successes. Just please tell me more about this.
Currently reading
June 11, 2023This was an amazing memoir. A wonderful way with words. The most profound thing for me, was how books transformed her life from small country girl to scholar. It was so wonderful to read.
This was such a beautiful and easy read! Ruth J Simmons, the youngest of twelve children born to extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas, writes about how despite her circumstances she became the first African American president of an Ivy League university.
This piece of work is truly inspirational. It shows how hard she worked to become educated and successful. Simmons overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself. She did so magnificently. She is an extraordinary, passionate, & goal oriented woman.
Simmons shares how she handles failures, disappointments, and rejection. She stayed focused on her goals; remained flexible and always looked for alternative ways to achieve her goals. This book deals with some difficult issues and I wouldn’t recommend to younger audiences.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC. #NetGalley #RuthSimmons #UpHome
This was such a beautiful and easy read! Ruth J Simmons, the youngest of twelve children born to extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas, writes about how despite her circumstances she became the first African American president of an Ivy League university.
This piece of work is truly inspirational. It shows how hard she worked to become educated and successful. Simmons overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself. She did so magnificently. She is an extraordinary, passionate, & goal oriented woman.
Simmons shares how she handles failures, disappointments, and rejection. She stayed focused on her goals; remained flexible and always looked for alternative ways to achieve her goals. This book deals with some difficult issues and I wouldn’t recommend to younger audiences.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC. #NetGalley #RuthSimmons #UpHome
August 17, 2023
I'm from Houston Texas and what originally drew me to this book was that Ms. Smith was President of Prarie View A&M, an HBCU about 75 miles from Houston. Also, I'm the 11th of 12 children and Ms. Smith is also from a family of 12 children. From growing up in a home of sharecroppers to becoming presidents of Prairie View A & M University, Smith College, and Brown University and as president of Brown University, she was the first African American president of an Ivy League institution! This is quite an inspirational story and I'm so glad that I was able to read an advanced copy. If you want to read one of the most inspirational stories, I encourage you to get this book. You won't be disappointed. #netgalley #uphome
January 11, 2024
Ruth didn't become the person she was meant to be, but the person she dreamed of becoming. I loved those final lines in the book. I really enjoyed this book. To see a perspective different than mine and how she fought to achieve her dreams with the odds stacked against her:-) on a side note, I'm thankful for my time at a very diverse inner city high school where the white kids were the minority. That time allowed me to better understand the struggle of so many. I went on to become a nurse but sometimes wish I'd stretched and challenged myself more as Ruth did. What an amazing woman:-) thanks to Goodreads for the free copy of this book
January 3, 2024
A completely satisfying read--but, it didn't knock my socks off.
December 8, 2023
On a profound level mentors are important and deeply empowering, especially in the face of bigotry and poverty; read this memoir to discover how Dr. Simmons rose from the youngest daughter of sharecroppers, became the first Black American president of an Ivy-league university, and is a real life heroine! She led Brown University from 2001 to 2012 and now president at Smith College.
Such a gift to listen to Ruth J. Simmons read her memoir on audiobk!
Such a gift to listen to Ruth J. Simmons read her memoir on audiobk!
March 3, 2024
Love a good memoir.
September 4, 2023
Up Home is an inspiring coming-of-age, which covers Ruth Simmons' life from her early childhood through early adulthood. I found it thoughtful and moving, as Ruth explores the places and people who shaped her. It's also a reminder that slavery and the Jim Crow era are not ancient history. Ruth's great-grandparents were born into slavery, and she lived on share-cropping plantations and worked alongside her siblings and parents in the fields in the '50s in Texas. Through a combination of persistence, hard work, diligence and luck, she was able to go to college and travel abroad to Mexico and France during her college years. She benefited from colleges being integrated during 1963. Had she been born 5-10 years earlier to the same family, she would not have had the same opportunities. She talks about the teachers and experiences she had which widened her lens and made her spread her wings and set her ambitions high. She would later become a college president. I won a free copy from Goodreads.
May 26, 2023
What a beautiful yet easy read to welcome in the last summer days! Grab a copy of Up Home: One Girl’s Journey by Ruth J. Simmons from your local bookstore and get ready for an inspiring memoir.
Simmons was the youngest of 12 children. Her parents were extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas. Nevertheless, Simmons became the first Black president of an Ivy League university. I don’t want to say too much, because I want you to read the dang book, but this was definitely an uplifting read.
I was inspired reading about Simmons and how she overcame adversities. I am always inspired by how hard our ancestors of colour worked to become educated, especially those who pushed to have education become what it was when I experienced academia. Truly a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Simmons was the youngest of 12 children. Her parents were extremely impoverished sharecroppers in Texas. Nevertheless, Simmons became the first Black president of an Ivy League university. I don’t want to say too much, because I want you to read the dang book, but this was definitely an uplifting read.
I was inspired reading about Simmons and how she overcame adversities. I am always inspired by how hard our ancestors of colour worked to become educated, especially those who pushed to have education become what it was when I experienced academia. Truly a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
March 21, 2024
A powerful memoir that illustrates the power that dreams, diligence, and caring mentors have on success, especially against all odds.
December 22, 2023
A very inspiring memoir by a black woman during the tumult time of civil rights. I can't even imagine how she was able to stay strong and focused on her achievements in such an environment of prejudice. A solid 4 stars
May 11, 2025
I enjoyed this inspiring memoir and am glad for the opportunity to learn about such an influential woman
January 6, 2024
I rarely rate books so low, but this one was such a disappointment. The author has an impressive biography and, I believe, a stunning personality. However, this read barely tells us anything about her.
My constant feeling was one of anticipation: each chapter holds so much potential, offering ample space for reflection, but presents simply facts. Moreover, many of these facts are absolutely unnecessary. While I understand the author's desire to preserve childhood memories in detail, there is certainly no need for me to know the names of the parents of one of her old friends who are inconsequential to the story.
The narrative lacks reflection. By saying that, I mean that although she acknowledges her role models and some turning points in her professional growth, she doesn't delve further. Being a person of color and achieving unprecedented academic success for her time, she acknowledges experiencing a gap with her family and a lack of understanding from their side, but she doesn't expand on how she overcame it or anything else that made her life path truly unique.
Perhaps one reason for this is her attempt to mimic white people, which, as a reader, sometimes feels inappropriate. For instance, when she mentions learning to pronounce words 'correctly,' referring to the white standard of pronunciation as 'right' and considering any deviations 'wrong.' Personally, I feel that such an approach neglects the complexity of her identity and the clash of cultural differences she might have experienced as an African American student and professor.
One of the most impressive achievements in her life is obtaining a presidential chair at an Ivy League University. While this sounds exciting, the last chapters, where we anticipate stories about political struggles or challenges, barely cover these aspects; instead, they present mere facts. The most emotional and personal comment on it was the author expressing her wish that her mother could see her success, a sentiment already conveyed in previous chapters.
I believe Ruth Simmons's story has inspired many women of color to believe in their dreams and make them happen. However, the inspiration might have been drawn solely from the facts themselves rather than from Ruth Simmons's writing style or presentation.
My constant feeling was one of anticipation: each chapter holds so much potential, offering ample space for reflection, but presents simply facts. Moreover, many of these facts are absolutely unnecessary. While I understand the author's desire to preserve childhood memories in detail, there is certainly no need for me to know the names of the parents of one of her old friends who are inconsequential to the story.
The narrative lacks reflection. By saying that, I mean that although she acknowledges her role models and some turning points in her professional growth, she doesn't delve further. Being a person of color and achieving unprecedented academic success for her time, she acknowledges experiencing a gap with her family and a lack of understanding from their side, but she doesn't expand on how she overcame it or anything else that made her life path truly unique.
Perhaps one reason for this is her attempt to mimic white people, which, as a reader, sometimes feels inappropriate. For instance, when she mentions learning to pronounce words 'correctly,' referring to the white standard of pronunciation as 'right' and considering any deviations 'wrong.' Personally, I feel that such an approach neglects the complexity of her identity and the clash of cultural differences she might have experienced as an African American student and professor.
One of the most impressive achievements in her life is obtaining a presidential chair at an Ivy League University. While this sounds exciting, the last chapters, where we anticipate stories about political struggles or challenges, barely cover these aspects; instead, they present mere facts. The most emotional and personal comment on it was the author expressing her wish that her mother could see her success, a sentiment already conveyed in previous chapters.
I believe Ruth Simmons's story has inspired many women of color to believe in their dreams and make them happen. However, the inspiration might have been drawn solely from the facts themselves rather than from Ruth Simmons's writing style or presentation.
May 13, 2023
I received a copy of "Up Home" by Ruth J. Simmons from NetGalley. I was quite impressed my Ruth Simmons memoir. She was born the youngest of 12 children. She spent her childhood moving around different towns in Texas ending up in Houston. Her family was poor, her father could be very tough and demanding. Her mother was already in poor health. by the time Ruth was born but still working hard to raise her family and contribute to earning money. Ruth was a smart girl who made good grades in school and writes fondly of one teacher who was encouraging to her. Growing up in the 40, 50, and early 60s she experienced racism. Her mother died when she was shy of 16. Yet she continued in school and was one of her first siblings to attend college. she went to several colleges. and succeeded. years later she ended up being president of several colleges. This book is a very good memoir I enjoyed reading.
June 5, 2023
Dr. Simmons brings us into her childhood and home to Texas. This book was really interesting, as I have never read a memoir about one's childhood written in this way. As an adult, I found the approach to be very interesting, but wonder if this book is better suited for young adults. I hope that Dr. Simmons writes another memoir about her career. Pairing these two books together would be perfect for a class discussion. I enjoyed this book. Once I started, it was hard for me to put it down. I highly recommend.
December 10, 2023
Maybe an unpopular opinion but I found this memoir to be quite surface and boring- it was difficult to get through.
I also saw in it the roots of the idea on campus that all voices deserve equal platforming (see: the anecdote about how good it was to have a white South African student defending apartheid feel comfortable speaking up in class) which I find really unfortunate. College campuses will be better places when we decide that the pursuit of pure academia does not need to involve giving legitimacy to fascist goons.
I also saw in it the roots of the idea on campus that all voices deserve equal platforming (see: the anecdote about how good it was to have a white South African student defending apartheid feel comfortable speaking up in class) which I find really unfortunate. College campuses will be better places when we decide that the pursuit of pure academia does not need to involve giving legitimacy to fascist goons.
March 12, 2025
4.5 - It’s difficult to wrap my mind around a child, deprived of knowledge and experience, fighting for their right to education. How does a child know the importance of learning when nobody is there to push them towards it? Up Home is a really special memoir highlighting not the struggles but the stories of Ruth J. Simmons’ life growing up desperately poor in rural east Texas. An incredibly descriptive and reflective writer, Dr. Simmons reveals the values that were instilled in her via the teachings and actions of her family and how those beliefs were challenged and uprooted by the new perspectives she encountered at school. Tackling topics such as religion and racism, she has given me a lot to think about. I really appreciated this composition.
February 19, 2024
What a delightful memoir this was! Ruth J. Simmons was the 12th child in a family of poor share-croppers. She was raised by her loving mother and mostly ignored by her father and earned a doctorate from Harvard in literature and Romance languages. She had a truly remarkable life and became a president of Smith college and Brown university, respectively. What I liked most about this book is her calm and cheerful demeanor. She has every right to be bitter about many aspects of her life and yet she just keeps rising above it and succeeds in every aspect of her life. She is so down to earth that she strikes you as the kind of person you would like to be friends with.
May 29, 2024
This book had a beautiful slow pace which felt similar to life in mid century rural Texas. The chapters were rich with details and description, offering a story with a sense of sight, taste, and smell. At times, I felt like I was in the house alongside her mother cooking or with her father as he meticulously shopped on a budget and with rigid intention. Though, not named explicitly, the author’s optimism married well with an incredible thirst for education and fulfillment. I only wish the book continued into her incredible career and motherhood.
October 26, 2023
This is an Inspiring memoir of overcoming poverty, expectations, and racism. Ruth Simmons’ thirst for education and her own purpose in life, in spite of her circumstances, is truly inspirational. Even though her home life was one of poverty, Ruth credits the love of family essential to her success. I admire how her choices and vision guided her to be the person she became.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 288 reviews