Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

I'm thinking of The Diary of Anne Frank. While not really a biography or memoir, per se, I always think of it as such.

I was thinking about biographies and was suprised there wasn't a task for the challenge regarding biographies. Maybe the next challenge we can incorporate something like read a biography about a YA author or something like that...

Yeah that's what I was thinking... I will try to remember it when we start discussing tasks for the next challenge.

Linda Grace wrote: "I was thinking about biographies and was suprised there wasn't a task for the challenge regarding biographies."

I noticed that, too. It was all fiction, although to be honest, that's fine with me. :)

Adding an autobiography: The Invisible Thread by Yoshiko Uchida. I read this when I was a kid, and was really struck by it. I was young enough that I hadn't even known that there were internment camps for the Japanese in America during WWII. My mom bought this for me and even now I remember that I couldn't put it down. It's a very personal account.

This looks good, Alexis. I've added it to my TBR list. Thank you for the recommendation.

Another good one, also about the World War II experience: Mischling, second degree My childhood in Nazi Germany.

Thanks Susanna! I just added this one too.

A few months ago I read The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin. It explores the questions: "What sort of man could plan and carry out such horrendous schemes? How was he able to win support for his deadly ventures? And why did no one try to stop him until it was almost too late?" It was very interesting and I learned a lot I hadn't known about Hitler's childhood and early life. I think it would pair well with Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti for older students who are researching the Holocaust or WWII.

Heather wrote: "Read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou recently. By turns harrowing and hilarious. She writes such poetic prose. Every word so carefully chosen. She had an ..."

I've never read it before, and didn't realize it was autobiographical. Interesting. I'll have to check it out for sure!

I just finished Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. A very good biography of a young woman who has been all but lost to history. Recommended.

I just read a great biography about Leonard Bernstein called Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan G. Rubin. Definitely a great read and gives a bit of insight into the life of this musical genius. :)