I’ve always loved reading memoirs, especially about a hero’s journey—whether it’s a teacher figuring out a tough group of students or a kid figuring out how to change the story they’ve been written into. I love nothing more than the triumphant ending that makes me cheer and cry happy tears. As an English teacher and debut author of my own memoir, I’ve found that honest storytelling opens a door for others to walk through and tell their own stories. I love seeing my students connect with stories like theirs because it shows them they’re not alone in their struggles and that living happily ever after is possible.
I wrote
Bright Eyes: Surviving Our Monsters and Learning to Live Without Them
I loved this book because it’s a true hero’s journey—from an unimaginable start in life to an awe-inspiring grand finale—Stephanie overcame everything and found light at the end of her dark tunnel. She was abused, abandoned, and on her own from a young age—all things I felt on a visceral level because I know the shame of feeling unloved and unwanted.
The title also struck me because of all we’re promised as citizens in this country, but our most vulnerable are left without the resources to pursue their happiness. This memoir is not only about the strength of the human spirit but a call to action that we must do better for children who are battling the monsters of poverty and foster care.
The sharp and surprising true story of a woman who finally sets out to understand her past, and the mother she had one day hoped to forget. Full of unexpected twists and unbelievable revelations, American Daughter is an immersive memoir that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page.
For years, Stephanie Plymale, successful CEO and interior designer, kept her past a fiercely guarded secret. Only her husband knew that her childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and worse. Stephanie,…
Bobi Conn’s story of growing up in poverty was too familiar: the cheap food, a car they push to start, a motel they move into when her father hits her mother, and the frustration of watching our mothers go back because they don’t have the courage to stay gone. Bobi also found refuge at school, which I related to because this was where life was predictable—and we were fed.
The author’s voice is powerful and honest as she shares her trauma, humiliation, and loss. Bobi Conn comes from the holler, deep in Appalachia, and her story is a beautiful testament to the resilience and bravery children are forced to have—and the childhood too many lose along the way.
A clear-eyed and compassionate memoir of the Appalachian experience by a woman who embraced its astonishing beauty, narrowly escaped its violence, and struggles to call it home.
Bobi Conn was raised in a remote Kentucky holler in 1980s Appalachia. She remembers her tin-roofed house tucked away in a vast forest paradise; the sparkling creeks, with their frogs and crawdads; the sweet blackberries growing along the road to her granny's; and her abusive father, an underemployed alcoholic whose untethered rage and violence against Bobi and her mother were frighteningly typical of a community marginalized, desperate, and ignored. Bobi's rule of survival:…
This book had me from the opening line of the prologue: ”We make chapels of our scars.” Her descriptions read like poetry, and I highlighted and underlined page after page.
Alice writes about using the chaos of Hurricane Katrina to “fly away” from her home in New Orleans, where she and her children lived with her abusive husband. I loved this book because of the way Alice fought for her children—something I desperately wished my mom had done for me when I was young.
This is a story you won’t put down—no eating, no sleeping—until you know for sure that Alice has defeated all the monsters and her children are living happily ever after.
The incredible true story of one woman's journey to relocate the place inside herself where strength, hope, and personal truth reside.
After Hurricane Katrina, Alice Anderson has returned home to assess the damage to her beloved Mississippi coastline and the once-immaculate home she’d carefully cultivated for her husband, Dr. Liam Rivers, one of the community's highly respected doctors.
But in the wake of this natural disaster, a more terrifying challenge emerges as Liam’s mental health spirals out of control, culminating in a violent attack at knifepoint, from which Alice is saved by their three-year-old son. Afraid for her life, she…
Penny’s story grabbed me by the hand and pulled me with her from the first chapter when she’s ripped from the only home she’s ever known and thrown into a car with a strange man who doesn’t even speak her language.
For years, this sweet girl lives with a monstrous stepmother whose abuse is tolerated by everyone but suffered only by Penny. I loved this book because while it’s Penny’s journey, there were many similarities to my life—both of us scrubbing floors like Cinderella and taking care of a sibling who called us “Mama”—and we both not only survived but thrived.
There is comfort in knowing that Penny didn’t believe what the monsters told her about herself, and she didn’t let them write the ending to her fairytale.
Penny is just four years old when she is snatched away from her all-American home by the Hungarian father who abandoned her when she was a baby. After facing isolation and neglect in a strange, dysfunctional household where heartache, rejection, and physical abuse rule her life, she escapes-only to find herself in a relationship with a man who's just converted to fundamentalist Christianity. Penny's road is long, winding, and often painful, but gradually she begins to listen to her inner voice, stand up for herself, and refuse to bow to the pressures of either her family or society-freeing herself to…
Kimberly Shannon Murphy’s story of unspeakable abuse by a trusted family member is as heartbreaking and harrowing as it is a testament to the importance of truth-telling. If only others had been as brave as Kimberly and spoken up, her abuse wouldn’t have happened.
I loved this story because no matter how hard life was, little Kimberly felt a “glimmer” deep in her soul—magic that promised she would live happily ever after. It’s a raw retelling, but I reminded myself that she lived it, so I owe it to her to read it.
She excavated these memories, bringing them out of the dark and into the bright spotlight where she now stands as an award-winning stuntwoman who defeats monsters on the big screen!
Winner of the 2024 Andy Award for Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction
A Zibby's Top 10 Book of 2023
A USA Today Best Book of 2023
A USA Today Book Club Pick
Foreword by Cameron Diaz
“Reading Kimberly Shannon Murphy’s searing and vividly told memoir is like watching a gripping work of cinema verité: each scene demands our attention as the plot moves towards its dramatic conclusion. A powerful and inspiring story of suffering and shame, resilience and redemption.” —Gabor Maté M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Myth of Normal
A raw and heartening memoir of one woman’s journey…
Bridey is tethered to her mom’s addiction to dangerous men and their drugs. Raised to be her mother’s keeper, rescuer, and punching bag, Bridey stuffs her life into black trash bags she hauls between Alaska and California, changing schools every time her mom moves in a new monster—or runs away from one.
Desperately seeking the normal life she’s observed in sitcoms and her friends’ families, Bridey earns her way into a fancy, private college, where she tries to forget who she is—until her mom calls with a threat that drops Bridey to her knees. Watching doctors and police interrogate her mother at the hospital, Bridey realizes her mom has become a monster herself...and she doesn’t want to be saved. But Bridey does.
Not So Little Things by Kyle Ann Robertson unravels the meticulously crafted life of Tina, an artist engrossed in the intricate world of historically accurate miniatures. As she dutifully honors her deceased father's desire for her to follow in his artistic and historical footsteps, Tina's controlled existence is shaken by the emergence of long-buried secrets when she takes a commission to build a replica of Jake Martin’s family mansion.
Robertson navigates the delicate balance between Tina's devotion to her father's wishes and the disruptions caused by revelations from the past. The novel beautifully explores the complexity of familial expectations and…
Tina Edwards loved her childhood and creating fairy houses, a passion shared with her father, a world-renowned architect. But at nine years old, she found him dead at his desk and is haunted by this memory. Tina's mother abruptly moved away leaving Tina with feelings of abandonment and suspicion. Raised by her loving, wheelchair-bound Aunt Liddy, her father's sister, 33 year old Tina has become a miniature room artist and cherishes the control she has over her life in Northeast Georgia as she works hard to please her beloved dead father's wishes of following in his footsteps in art and…
