Haverhill Public Library » biography http://www.haverhillpl.org Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:44:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 With or Without You by Domenica Ruta http://www.haverhillpl.org/blog/staff-picks/2013/05/with-or-without-you-by-domenica-ruta/ http://www.haverhillpl.org/blog/staff-picks/2013/05/with-or-without-you-by-domenica-ruta/#comments Sun, 05 May 2013 20:01:13 +0000 ddavainis http://www.haverhillpl.org/?p=6700 imagesTrashy North Shore girls unite!  Domenica Ruta’s gritty and dark-witted memoir of growing up in Danvers, MA with a charismatic and destructive drug addicted mother takes you on a wild ride.  This a story that either takes you into a different world or is a story that you know very well, and you are proud that this writer can take adversity and turn it into art for others to read.   Domenica and her mother, Kathi, lived in a practically condemned house that served as their warped palace and neighborhood drug den.  Kathi thought it was more important to be an interesting person than it was to a good one. Mother made her daughter skip school to watch old movies and TV sitcoms because they were much more important life lessons than school. Even though there wasn’t always food in the house, Kathi kept Domenica on a diet of Oxycontin, Xanax, and alcohol.  Domenica had no close friends and was seen as the Hamilton-Wenham High weirdo because of her social class, attitude, and fashion statements.  Despite living on the wrong side of town, mother and daughter were self proclaimed snobs and worked hard to get Domenica into Phillips Academy.  Domenica’s resilience, intellect and education are tools that helped transform her life.  She, however, still has addictions and demons to conquer in the next phase of her life.  There are countless smart, funny, and sad passages in this biography involving her enmeshed love/hate relationship with her mother. After a life of turmoil with no end in sight, Domenica decided to end their relationship.  It still took a few years to get sober and create a more normal life for herself.  Domenica ends the book describing herself as still a work in progress and she wrote this book “For her”.   If you like books about unconventional and intense family relationships, told through a dark humor lens, pick up this book.  This memoir doesn’t end in an exhilarating reconciliation because Domenica’s young life is playing out as you read this book.

This is a book that will generate a lot of discussion.   Domenica Ruta is currently on tour.   She will be at the Cambridge Public Library on May 7th and in her home town of Danvers on May 9th.    For more information view her website:  http://www.domenicaruta.com/

Check out this book today or put it on hold.  Click on the title to find it in the catalog- With or Without You

]]> http://www.haverhillpl.org/blog/staff-picks/2013/05/with-or-without-you-by-domenica-ruta/feed/ 0 Staff Pick: Bessie Coleman by P. Hart, M. Cosgrove http://www.haverhillpl.org/blog/teen/2013/02/staff-pick-bessie-coleman-by-p-hart-m-cosgrove/ http://www.haverhillpl.org/blog/teen/2013/02/staff-pick-bessie-coleman-by-p-hart-m-cosgrove/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:16:27 +0000 ssednek http://www.haverhillpl.org/?p=6165 Bessie Coleman from catalogWho is Bessie Coleman? If you don’t know, you definitely need to check out this biography. She was the first black woman pilot. She earned her pilot’s licence a whole year before that other famous flier: Amelia Earhart!

So, if you’d like to read a biography about overcoming adversity and flying high, Bessie Coleman’s is not to be missed. The “Just the Facts” version is just full of great historical documents and pictures, highlighted fast facts (Did you know that Bessie is on a US Postage Stamp?), and great insights.

Oh! And it is 112 pages so it just meets that biography report requirement too! ;)

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