many people traditionally categorize memoirs as subsets of autobiography and biography, memoirs are actually different in form, presenting a more narrowed focus. Although a biography or autobiography covers the story of a particular life, a memoir tells the story of a specific event or series of events highlighted as memorable moments in the author’s life.
a) From Sing and Shout : The Mighty Voice of Paul Robeson reprinted by permission of the author. © 2020 Susan Goldman Rubin. The cover of Sing and Shout is courtesy of Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. b) From book covers/jackets published by Abrams Books. Used by permission of Harry N. Abrams, New York. All rights reserved. The Eye That Never Sleeps: How Detective Pinkerton Saved President Lincoln text © 2018 Marissa Moss. Illustrations © 2018 Jeremy Holmes.
FIGURE 3-6: Example biographies.
Great new literary picture book biographies include The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, illustrated by Oge Mora (Anne Schwartz Books) and Drawing on Walls, by Mike Burgess, illustrated by Josh Cochran (Enchanted Lion Books), about Keith Haring.
For middle-graders, check out biographies and memoirs such as The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II, by Michael Rosen (Candlewick); and The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan (Bloomsbury USA). And for the YA audience, Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band, by Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni, illustrated by Thibault Balahy (IDW Publishing); and Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe, by Carole Boston Weatherford (Candlewick).
Memoirs are books of nonfiction narrative that are about a person’s life and personal experiences. The author is the main character of a memoir, so the reader assumes the content is factual.
Although most writers are adults, not all memoirs are for adults. Many adults write memoirs for middle-graders and especially young adults. The prolific writer Nikki Grimes’ Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir (Wordsong) recalls a fraught childhood transformed by writing. Stupid Black Girl: Essays from an American African, by Aisha Redux (Street Noise Books), is “an important and eye-opening contribution to conversations about global identity politics,” according to Kirkus Review, a reviewing body that we discuss in Chapter 20.
LGBTQIA
LGBTQIA is an inclusive term that describes a range of sexual orientations and gender identities. It might be the reader who identifies as LGBTQIA or it might be a reader’s friend or parent or neighbor who identifies as LGBTQIA. Books in this genre help all readers better understand what living these experiences is like.
The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, featured in Figure 3-7, is an example of historical nonfiction about being gay in the 1960s and coming out and protesting the social stigma that existed then toward gay people.
From book covers/jackets published by Abrams Books. Used by permission of Harry N. Abrams, New York. All rights reserved. The Stonewall Riots text © 2019 Gayle E. Pitman.
FIGURE 3-7: The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets.
Transgender: Transgender is the term for someone who identifies as a different gender than the gender they were assigned on their birth certificate.
Queer: Can have various meanings but inclusively offers a unique celebration of not conforming to social norms (see Figure 3-8). Includes people who identify as non-binary, neither male nor female, using the pronouns they and them instead of she/her or he/him.
Intersex: Individuals who don’t fit into gender norms of boy or girl, or for those whose reproductive anatomy isn’t typical
Asexual: People who don’t have an attraction to either sex or who don’t feel typical romantic attachment.
Some standouts in the picture book category include Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero, by Ellie Royce, illustrated by Hannah Chambers (POW Kids); and the hilariously titled The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish, by Lil Miss Hot Mess, illustrated by Olga de Dios (Running Press), which takes as its inspiration the song “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Middle-grade entries include The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, by Ashley Herring Blake (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), about a 12-year-old who thinks her perfect new best friend might be someone she wants to kiss; and The Witch Boy, by Molly Ostertag (Graphix), about rigid gender roles with subtle trans overtones.
In YA, tons of titles exist to fuel imaginations, satisfy curiosity, and reflect a sense of identity. Figure 3-8 shows a book about two girls who must negotiate their feelings toward each other while existing in a backward-thinking town. In your research, consider titles like The Gravity of Us, by Phil Stamper (Bloomsbury YA); Music from Another World, by Robin Talley (Inkyard Press); and We Are Totally Normal, by Rahul Kanakia (HarperTeen).
From One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock. Copyright © 2018 by Shannon Hitchcock. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic
