Biography and Memoir
July 2021
Recent Releases
Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons
by John Paul Brammer

What it is: The debut memoir-in-essays from popular Substack queer advice columnist John Paul Brammer.

What's inside: Brammer's funny and frank reflections on his mixed-race identity, Oklahoma upbringing, coming out experiences, and more.

Essays include: "How to Be a Real Mexican;" "How to Fall in and out of Love;" "How to Chat with Your Childhood Bully over a Gay Dating App." 
Somebody's Daughter
by Ashley C. Ford

What it's about: Writer and podcaster Ashley C. Ford's coming of age in 1990s Indiana, where she navigated fraught relationships with her incarcerated father, neglectful mother, and tough-love grandmother.

Read it for: A moving and heart-wrenching portrait of generational trauma, survival, and reconciliation. 

Also available in eBook on OverDrive
Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice
by Yusef Salaam

What it's about: In 1989, 15-year-old Yusef Salaam and four other teen boys were falsely accused of raping a white woman in a case that made national headlines. Imprisoned at Rikers Island for nearly a decade, Salaam spent his time behind bars earning an education and becoming a spiritual leader before his conviction was overturned in 2002.

Why you should read it: Salaam's inspirational memoir marks the first time a member of the Exonerated Five (previously known as the Central Park Five) has told his story in his own words.  
19th-Century Lives
She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman
by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

What it is: A short, conversational biography of heroic Underground Railroad conductor, Union Army spy, and abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

Why you might like it: Filled with photographs and eye-catching illustrations and sidebars, this engaging, pop-culture infused read "will leave even the least historically inclined readers in awe" (Booklist). 
 
Also available in eAudiobook on OverDrive
The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers...
by Miles Harvey

Introducing: Lawyer and committed atheist James Strang, who disappeared from his small New York town in 1843 only to reemerge as part of the fledgling Latter-Day Saint movement, eventually declaring himself Joseph Smith's successor.

Read it for: The surprising moments of dark humor that come from the farcical nature of Strang's story, including forgery, piracy, and creating a private kingdom for himself on an island in Lake Michigan.
Contact your librarian for more great books!