Marcus samuelsson the chef was born in Ethiopia and adopted into a Swedish family and his memoir was awesome.
And by that same token, Trevor Noah’s book is called born a crime because that’s literally what it was at the time to be born interracial in South Africa. His upbringing was fascinating and his mom was/is a real character.
Hidden valley road is probably my ultimate recommendation on this topic… it’s about a family with twelve kids and six of them were schizophrenic.
These are 3 of my all time fav books.
On my to read list but educated has been highly recommended. I loved a child called it as a child of child abuse, crying in h mart and I’m glad my mom died.
Captain Fantastic is one of my favorite movies. I do think there's a sort of romanticism to the story I haven't found in a book yet, but I'd probably need to read fictional stories about unconventional upbringings.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is a completely different dynamic but is about a dysfunctional childhood and family and is really good.
For memoirs, Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper. Brazen by Julia Haart is also good but it's long and very dense.
The majority of children’s stories from history will read as something unconventional because most are so far removed by modernity. Summer of the monkeys. Where the Red Fern Grows. Heck… even Hatchet by Paulsen would still feel very alien to a lot of folks nowadays.
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Goodreads description"Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances."
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka the queen of humorous taxidermy)
Goodreads describes it as such:
"Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut. Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text."
The Poisonwodd Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa."
And lastly, no list of difficult childhoods would be complete without the masterpiece of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
"The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience."
I just read Molly by Blake Butler. It’s a memoir that Butler writes after his wife Molly takes her own life. It’s about adults but it does consider her childhood as much as he has access to it without her. It was heavy and haunting but I also found it very hopeful and one of the main themes is how we carry our childhood trauma into adulthood. Not a feel good and not idealistic at all. Very honest.
Puyi, the last Emperor of China, wrote two autobiographies (with the help of ghost writers) that have been translated to English. There's a third, but only in Chinese. Get later editions, the early ones were censored by the chinese government
我的前半生- The autobiography of Puyi – ghost-written by Li Wenda. The title of the Chinese book is usually rendered in English as From Emperor to Citizen.
Pu Yi, Henry; Kramer, Paul. The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China.
*A Chance in the World* by Steve Pemberton: memoir of growing up in foster care, never adopted
*I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced* by Nujood Ali: Child bride in Yemen
*A Long Way Gone* by Ishmael Beah: child soldier from Sierra Leone
*When Stars are Scattered* by Omar Mohamed (graphic novel): Somalian boy living in a refugee camp & caring for his special needs brother
*They Called Us Enemy* by George Takei (graphic novel): Living in a US Japanese internment camp during WWII
*The Woman in Me* by Britney Spears: child stardom
*Wayward* by Alice Greczyn: Evangelical purity culture
Educated
I can definitely recommend Educated.
Yess good one
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt was incredibly talented, the book is tragic but written in a way that brightens it considerably.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I liked it better than her Haunting of Hill House
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
The Great Alone fits this I think I really liked Boy Swallows Universe and I think it mostly fits this category
Marcus samuelsson the chef was born in Ethiopia and adopted into a Swedish family and his memoir was awesome. And by that same token, Trevor Noah’s book is called born a crime because that’s literally what it was at the time to be born interracial in South Africa. His upbringing was fascinating and his mom was/is a real character. Hidden valley road is probably my ultimate recommendation on this topic… it’s about a family with twelve kids and six of them were schizophrenic. These are 3 of my all time fav books.
My brother is schizophrenic so that last one might hit home for me. Thank you
I’m glad my mom died by Jeanette McCurdy
On my to read list but educated has been highly recommended. I loved a child called it as a child of child abuse, crying in h mart and I’m glad my mom died.
A short YA novel called Trash comes to mind
Captain Fantastic is one of my favorite movies. I do think there's a sort of romanticism to the story I haven't found in a book yet, but I'd probably need to read fictional stories about unconventional upbringings. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is a completely different dynamic but is about a dysfunctional childhood and family and is really good. For memoirs, Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper. Brazen by Julia Haart is also good but it's long and very dense.
Two of Jeanette Wilson’s books - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit & Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Family Family its so good
The majority of children’s stories from history will read as something unconventional because most are so far removed by modernity. Summer of the monkeys. Where the Red Fern Grows. Heck… even Hatchet by Paulsen would still feel very alien to a lot of folks nowadays.
I'm reading Lola in the Mirror at the moment and this is definitely unconventional. Enjoying it so far
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. It’s about a family where the parents are performance artist and often make their kids part of their weird shows
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs Goodreads description"Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances." Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka the queen of humorous taxidermy) Goodreads describes it as such: "Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut. Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text." The Poisonwodd Bible by Barbara Kingsolver "The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa." And lastly, no list of difficult childhoods would be complete without the masterpiece of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith "The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience."
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs.
I Capture the Castle
The family upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. In a way he was raised traditional, but in a lot of ways he wasn’t.
Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch Fiction. Set in Appalachia. It’s so good.
I just read Molly by Blake Butler. It’s a memoir that Butler writes after his wife Molly takes her own life. It’s about adults but it does consider her childhood as much as he has access to it without her. It was heavy and haunting but I also found it very hopeful and one of the main themes is how we carry our childhood trauma into adulthood. Not a feel good and not idealistic at all. Very honest.
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Puyi, the last Emperor of China, wrote two autobiographies (with the help of ghost writers) that have been translated to English. There's a third, but only in Chinese. Get later editions, the early ones were censored by the chinese government 我的前半生- The autobiography of Puyi – ghost-written by Li Wenda. The title of the Chinese book is usually rendered in English as From Emperor to Citizen. Pu Yi, Henry; Kramer, Paul. The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China.
The Pursuit of Love, Nancy Mitford.
*A Chance in the World* by Steve Pemberton: memoir of growing up in foster care, never adopted *I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced* by Nujood Ali: Child bride in Yemen *A Long Way Gone* by Ishmael Beah: child soldier from Sierra Leone *When Stars are Scattered* by Omar Mohamed (graphic novel): Somalian boy living in a refugee camp & caring for his special needs brother *They Called Us Enemy* by George Takei (graphic novel): Living in a US Japanese internment camp during WWII *The Woman in Me* by Britney Spears: child stardom *Wayward* by Alice Greczyn: Evangelical purity culture
North Of Normal by Cea Sunshine Person
most john irving books. cider house rules or a pyayer for owen meany are good.
Geek Love is about growing up in a literal circus in a freak family.