{"title":"Literary","description":"\u003cp\u003eYoung adult literary nonfiction highlights stories that emphasize biography and autobiography while using creative literary craftsmanship. These works combine factual life accounts and personal histories with the stylistic elements of narrative writing, providing teens with both compelling true content and a strong sense of voice and structure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo focus your reading, consider what style or perspective appeals most—some literary nonfiction approaches biography as a nuanced, richly drawn narrative, while others experiment with memoir or essay forms. If a direct biographical retelling seems too straightforward, literary nonfiction offers alternatives that prioritize language, tone, and storytelling as much as facts, distinguishing this category from conventional biography in young adult collections.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"you-are-not-alone-brutally-honest-teen-memoir-about-mental-health-family-chaos-growing-up-when-life-9798183747072-new","title":"You Are Not Alone: A Brutally Honest Teen Memoir About Mental Health, Family Chaos, and Growing Up When Life Doesn't Make Sense","description":"\u003cp\u003eI didn't write this after everything got better - I wrote it while I was still living it. This memoir is a brutally honest look at what it feels like to grow up when life doesn't feel stable, predictable, or easy to understand. It follows my experience as a young teen navigating family changes, custody shifts, school struggles, friendships that changed over time, and the process of trying to understand my own identity while everything around me was still moving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this story, I open up about anxiety, depression, PTSD, bullying, isolation, and the moments that most people never see from the outside. It's about what it feels like to be misunderstood, to feel like you're constantly trying to explain yourself, and to grow up in a world where things don't always make sense, but you still have to keep going anyway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut this book isn't only about the hard parts. It's also about connection - the people who stayed, the people who left, and the unexpected ways support can show up when you need it most. It's about learning that even when your life feels overwhelming or confusing, it doesn't mean you're alone in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a perfect story, and it's not meant to be. It's real, it's personal, and it's what growing up actually feels like for me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd if you've ever felt unheard, unseen, or like no one fully understands you - this story is for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause you are not alone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":67538717540642,"sku":"9798183747072-new","price":13.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0893\/4755\/5618\/files\/9798183747072.jpg?v=1792209433"},{"product_id":"running-broken-legs-9781646455744-new","title":"Running on Broken Legs","description":"\u003cp\u003eTake undersized five-year-old farm girl Elinor, give her the polio that not only cripples her but also nearly kills her, then give her an impossible dream. In her childhood and again as a college student she rebels against the plan. Finally, she embraces the dream, and it leads Elinor to one of the most primitive, rugged places on earth and to a life that brawny international explorers would envy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor nearly eighteen years Elinor deals with murdering tribal people, a devastating earthquake and the relief efforts that follow, joys, triumphs, depression, peace, life-threatening illnesses, recovery, and friendship with the Kimyal tribal people, whom she comes to deeply respect and love. The Kimyal people give her the name Bad Legs, which to them reflects how her weak body shows them God's love. Finally, the late effects of Elinor's original polio force her to leave the place and people that her heart has embraced. She must find a way to say goodbye. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn typical Kimyal fashion, Elinor tells a story to picture a profound truth: our weaknesses can be the conduit of strength beyond our own. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"REDEMPTION PR","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":67538721669410,"sku":"9781646455744-new","price":19.57,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0893\/4755\/5618\/files\/9781646455744.jpg?v=1792209600"},{"product_id":"marys-monster-love-madness-how-mary-shelley-created-frankenstein-9781626725003-new","title":"Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Both timely and terrifying.\" --Gregory Macguire, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e-bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWicked\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePairing free verse with over three hundred pages of black-and-white watercolor illustrations, \u003ci\u003eMary's Monster \u003c\/i\u003eis a unique and stunning biography of Mary Shelley, the pregnant teenage runaway who became one of the greatest authors of all time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLegend is correct that Mary Shelley began penning \u003ci\u003eFrankenstein\u003c\/i\u003e in answer to a dare to write a ghost story. What most people don't know, however, is that the seeds of her novel had been planted long before that night. By age nineteen, she had been disowned by her family, was living in scandal with a married man, and had lost her baby daughter just days after her birth. Mary poured her grief, pain, and passion into the powerful book still revered two hundred years later, and in \u003ci\u003eMary's Monster\u003c\/i\u003e, author\/illustrator Lita Judge has poured her own passion into a gorgeous book that pays tribute to the life of this incredible author. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 2019 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 2019 Amelia Bloomer Project Book\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis title has Common Core connections.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ROARING BROOK PR","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":67538723897634,"sku":"9781626725003-new","price":21.42,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0893\/4755\/5618\/files\/9781626725003.jpg?v=1792209781"},{"product_id":"hole-my-life-9780312641573-new","title":"Hole in My Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the Newbery Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eDead End in Norvel\u003c\/i\u003et, this is a memoir about becoming a writer the hard way. A Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eHole in My Life\u003c\/i\u003e, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos--once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell--moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis title has Common Core connections. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJack Gantos is an award-winning and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of books for readers of all ages, including \u003ci\u003eJoey Pigza Swallowed the Key\u003c\/i\u003e, a National Book Award Finalist, and \u003ci\u003eJoey Pigza Loses Control\u003c\/i\u003e, a Newbery Honor book. His book \u003ci\u003eThe Trouble in Me\u003c\/i\u003e is an autobiographical novel about a fourteen-year-old Jack Gantos, and his book \u003ci\u003eDead End in Novelt\u003c\/i\u003e won the Newbery Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eHole in My Life\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A memoir, by turns harrowing and hilarious, about a huge mistake.\" --\u003ci\u003eMiami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"His account is remarkably free of both self-pity and self-censorship. . . . This is a tale of courage and redemption, proving that a bad start in life does not have to lead to a bad life story.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gantos really is Everyman, but an Everyman who has landed himself into a deeper pit than most. What separates Gantos is the determination that took him out of his dreams and into a successful life as a writer. Those writerly skills are in full evidence here, in this thoughtful and provocative memoir as valuable to those who have never heard of Gantos as to those who have read all of his books.\" --\u003ci\u003eHyde Park Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The ultimate cautionary tale.\" --\u003ci\u003eSmithsonian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This true tale of the worst year in the author's life will be a big surprise for his many fans. . . .This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books.\" --\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eStarred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAwards for \u003ci\u003eHole in My Life\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSchool Library Best Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003eBooks for the Teen Age, New York Public Library\u003cbr\u003eBank Street Best Children's Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eMichael L. Printz Award - Honor\u003cbr\u003eALA Best Books for Young Adults\u003cbr\u003eNYPL Books for the Teen Age\u003cbr\u003eALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Library Association Best Books for Young Adults\u003cbr\u003eBulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award\u003cbr\u003eMassachusetts Children's Book Award\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Library Association Notable Children's Books\u003cbr\u003eHorn Book Magazine Fanfare List\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers\u003cbr\u003eParents' Choice Award Winner\u003cbr\u003eRobert F. Sibert Award - Honor\u003cbr\u003eSchool Library Journal Best Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003eALA Notable Children's Books\u003cbr\u003eBooklist Editors' Choice\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SQUARE FISH","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":67538742280482,"sku":"9780312641573-new","price":14.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0893\/4755\/5618\/files\/9780312641573.jpg?v=1792210796"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.albakireads.com\/collections\/young-adult-nonfiction-biography-autobiography-literary.oembed","provider":"AlbakiReads","version":"1.0","type":"link"}