Michelle: A Biography by Liza Mundy

The author of Michelle: A Biography is Liza Mundy, a staff writer for The Washington Post. She follows Michelle Obama from her working class childhood on Chicago's South Side thru Princeton and Harvard Law School as well as her marriage to President Barack Obama. Interesting woman!

SRC

The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood is a powerful, honest memoir that documents the author’s childhood in war-torn Liberia and her return to her native country 20 years after her family’s flight during the 1980 coup.

SRC

She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer

“By the time Laura Bridgman was twelve years old, she was … famous. Like all children, you would have loved an admired her. You would have named your favorite dool after her. . . . And then you would have poked out the doll’s eyes.” (xi)

Almost everyone has heard of Helen Keller, the deaf-blind child who finally understood words after her teacher placed her hand under running water. But this is the lesser known story of Laura Bridgman, who was born 50 years before Helen Keller. Laura, like Helen, was born with all her senses. At three years old, Helen and her two sisters contracted scarlett fever. While her sisters died from the disease, Helen survived but lost her vision and hearing, along with most of her senses of taste and smell. Left only with touch, Laura was patiently taught to navigate the world around her. Written by someone who is also considered a deaf-blind person, Sally Hobart Alexander provides a unique perspective of this little known trailblazer in She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer.

AMY

Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup

A memoir by a chaplain to the Maine Warden Service, Kate Braestrup writes of her life as a widow with four young children. She chooses to go to seminary to become a minister, after the tragic death of her state trooper husband.

Here If You Need Me tells the stories of Kate's life serving as chaplain for search and rescue missions in the Maine woods, giving comfort both to the victims families, and to the rescuers. Providing her presence, her comfort, her sense of humor as well as her religious support when requested, she serves as a compassionate and caring presence during times of tragedy and of joy, and reminds us that love and gratitude give meaning to our lives.

PS