And My Journey from Homeless to Harvard - A Memoir of Forgiveness

This is an amazing true story that although difficult to continue at times is so worth it in the end. Some people have so much inner strength that somehow they emerge victorius in life even though they have been to the depths of existence.

Heartbreaking, inspiring, and beautifully written. Made me both proud and ashamed to be a human being... Made me realize that there are no real obstacles to changing your life, you just have to have the genuine will to do so.

Amazing story of trials and hardship; and overcoming it all. Although I've never been homeless, the story took me back many of my struggles as a child. This book is so well-written and the story so incredible, at times made me wonder whether I was actually reading a true story. Amazed & inspired.

For the most part, I enjoyed Liz Murray's "Breaking Night." I found it heart wrenching and inspiring. There were, however, several spots that seemed to drag, with a bit of redundancy. I would recommend this book.

The story of Liz Murray is great, from tears to great joy. Rather then becoming a victim of circumstance, Liz rose up from ashes to accomplish great things. This is a wonderful read and I was totally sucked in by this book.

I familiarized myself with Liz on a lot of different levels. This book overwhelmingly inspires me. I have been indecisive about a lot of direction in live, Liz reassured me, I control my own destiny. Thank you!

This book was an unknown to me. Glad they suggested this book to read, it was sad, very sad but what a story. How wonderful to see the outcome. Read this book if you do not mind how sad it is. Gonna see if I can find the movie.

Amazing story of one little girl who learns that the only one that would ever be able to take care of herself is herself. Growing up with two dug addicted parents, barely having enough food to eat and secretly sleeping at friends homes to have a place to stay, dropping in and out of school, amazingly she goes on to Harvard. Wished the book would have spent more time in her years at Harvard. Hard to believe that she remembered events in her family at the age of 3 in such detail and maturity.

I familiarized myself with Liz on a lot of different levels. This book overwhelmingly inspires me. I have been indecisive about a lot of direction in live, Liz reassured me, I control my own destiny. Thank you!

This book was an unknown to me. Glad they suggested this book to read, it was sad, very sad but what a story. How wonderful to see the outcome. Read this book if you do not mind how sad it is. Gonna see if I can find the movie.

Amazing story of one little girl who learns that the only one that would ever be able to take care of herself is herself. Growing up with two dug addicted parents, barely having enough food to eat and secretly sleeping at friends homes to have a place to stay, dropping in and out of school, amazingly she goes on to Harvard. Wished the book would have spent more time in her years at Harvard. Hard to believe that she remembered events in her family at the age of 3 in such detail and maturity.

One of the best memoirs I've read in the past decade.
Liz describes drug abuse from the perspective of the innocents it affects, unlike any other approach I've ever read. Brilliant in the way she's able to get the reader to relate.

You might have seen this story on a lifetime movie "Homeless to Harvard". This book goes into much more detail. If you came from a dysfunctional hard childhood you will so relate to this story. If you came from a wonderful childhood you will be touched and thankful. Very good book.

Good book, but I really was expecting something of a read more like "The glass castle' because others have compared this to it. This is not as dynamic. This story is a good one and the lifetime movie out there is enough, no need to read this book. Liz has a very inspirational story, but there are many times where it felt the book was a tribute to her teenage friends and she held back for fear of hurting others. I think this book is better suited for YA as it would be more interesting and realistic.

Book arrived in good condition except for missing pages. My son needed the book for school so I checked with other students and was informed that some of them were in possession of copies with the same missing pages, an apparent publishing error.

Breaking Night is a life changing book that everyone needs to read, it opened my eyes to how someone who grew up in poverty really lives and how hard it is to pull yourself out of it. It is one of a number of books that will make you want to better your own life and be thankful that you had a nice life.

With 75% of the book about being homeless because her parents were drug addicts and irresponsible, I found it very depressing to read and couldn't wait to get to the end. With only the last 25% being somewhat good, I'd never recommend this book to anyone.

Way too much detail on things that don't matter and don't help the reader make a mind picture. Liz needed too enrich her street experiences and her family life more. This story dragged in too many places. Glad she made it through her life though.

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK , BUT VERY HARD TO READ . THE DETAILS OF THE NEGLECT AND SACRIFICE WAS JUST HARD TO BELIEVE AND CERTAINLY HARD TO REALIZE THERE ARE STILL SITUATIONS LIKE THIS INVOLVING CHILDREN . SHE IS A VERY BRAVE YOUNG LADY AND I AM VERY HAPPY FOR HER SUCCESS.

In an unusual transition, this true story went from a made-for-TV in 2004 to an enthralling memoir in 2010. "Homeless to Harvard" was the descriptive title of the movie and it is incorporated into the book title. Liz Murray's grandfathers were abusive alcohols who made the streets seem safer than home. The parents of Liz Murray were baby-boomers who grew up in the '60's and were drug addicts in the '70's. It was Liz Murray who has broken the generational pattern of violence, of substance abuse and of homelessness. She is all of thirty now.

This autobiography is a can't-put-down page turner describing the crazy life of having indiscriminating drug addicts for parents (all drugs were good, but cocaine was always better). Having worked for many years with children and teenagers with lives similiar to the author, her story rings true with its harrowing details of survival (which seemed normal to her, having nothing else to compare it to). Her prose is simple and straight forward as she describes her journey from darkness to light (hence the title).

Liz Murray's memoir, Breaking Night is a riveting, desperate and ultimately triumphant story that I could not put down once I began reading. I found the book fascinating, well written and paced, and found her honest point of view, particularly looking back at her earliest memories to be both perceptive and heart breaking. Her to the point prose helped transport me to the dirty apartment, the cold streets, the hard hallways, the seedy hotels, the kindness of friends who snuck her in for food or shower or a brief rest. Life was not easy for Liz or her family, and I felt deep sorrow for their hunger, fear and neglect over and over again as they struggled to find some semblance of normalcy in their tenuous lives.

This story is not just another rags to riches tale, but an inspirational one driven by the radical decision Liz makes to change her life and finish high school. Her determination and utter refusal to give up despite all the obstacles she faced is remarkable and humbling. I would have rated this book higher had there been more closure on several issues I wished to understand more fully, particularly at the end of the book. Her reconciliation with her sister Lisa, the fates of the friends who helped her along the way, particularly Sam, and the outcome of her Harvard application left me feeling the story needed an Epilogue. I know which letter the postman must have delivered based on the Homeless to Harvard blurb, but wanted to know how she felt to receive the news, how she celebrated, how she financed her education, how she and Lisa managed. I wanted to know how she assimilated, what she studied, how her career trajectory progressed. Perhaps this is material for a later book, but I was left wanting at the end of this one. I had travelled a long journey with the author and felt she held out on me at the end of the book. I had to satisfy my need to know with some additional google research and was thrilled to find some video clips of her motivational speeches online. Her story is a very important one, and I hope it gets the exposure it deserves.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates memoirs and to anyone who enjoys a story of succeeding against all odds. This book is perfect for book groups, as well as high school english classes, as there are a wealth of issues to discuss from its pages.

Very inspirational; good story. I was pinned to this book until the last quarter, which seemed to drag out a bit. This woman is amazing, but I have to say the help she received financial aid and awards is only given to those people who are poor. My income is middle class, two wager earners in the house and we feel we cannot afford to send our daughter to a private college. The scholarships that are out there are not just for merit, but depend on financial need as well. The aide and scholarships for private universities is nearly nonexistent unless you are in the top 10 of your school.

Liz Murray takes the reader through a complex and painful journey. Her parents were drug addicts so in a way she brought herself up. Somehow she managed to stay on track, even when she was avoiding school. She didn't get into drugs herself and she didn't get crushed by her situation. Even early on, she made things happen, finding "jobs" in a grocery store and gas station.

The best part of the book comes when Liz realizes she needs to do something with her life. A friend tells her about alternative high schools. Liz somehow finds the energy, courage and persistence to apply to all the alternative high schools in New York. She describes one day when she's ready to give up. She's got enough money left for a pizza or train fare to her next interview. Somehow she gets on the train and that's when her life really turns around. Her high school has dedicated teachers and friendly students. She sets a goal: graduate in two years with straight A's. On a school field trip she adds another goal: go to Harvard.

Somehow she does all those things. Her life is a struggle; she doesn't have a home so she has to study in stairwells and other people's homes. I was exhausted just reading about it. Of course, before we open the book we know the outcome.

Murray's book says more than a dozen self-help inspiration books put together. She walks the talk. She somehow knew that much of success is just showing up. She knew her family wouldn't be there for her so she finds a new family from her high school friends and teachers.

And Murray can write. She evokes scenes and conversations. The last few pages of the book are especially strong.

I'm wondering what's next and what happened to some of the people Murray met along the way, and very glad I got this review copy.

"For years, maybe for my whole life, it felt as thought there was a brick wall down the middle of everything... On one side of the wall there was society, and on the other side there was me, us, the people in the place I came from. Separate... The feeling in my heart was of the world being divided into an `us' versus `them,' and everyone on the other side of the wall felt like `those people.' The everyday working people on the train, the smart students who raised their hands in class and got everything right, the functional families, the people who went away to college --- they all felt like `those people' to me. And then there were people like us: the dropouts, welfare cases, truants, and discipline problems. Different."

Sure, "tortured souls" memoirs are a dime a dozen these days. The more harrowing the author's story, the more accolades the author gets from the press and the longer the book stays on bestseller lists. Are all of these sagas worth reading? Not by a long shot. It's not to say these writers with unfortunate backgrounds are milking their situations (except, of course, when they are), or that their stories don't deserve to be told (except when the book's purpose seems to be a self-pity party or a PR stunt). But there needs to be some sort of distinction between a run-of-the-mill woe-is-me story and a book that is well-thought out, well-crafted, and well-deserving of respect and praise. Liz Murray's memoir BREAKING NIGHT is an example of the latter.

The now-29-year-old author's story is certainly shocking. As a child growing up in the Bronx, Liz and her older sister, Lisa, ran the household while their drug-addicted parents mainlined cocaine in plain view, breezed through the family's paltry welfare check each month leaving nothing left over for food, and trashed the roach-infested apartment. The fact that the family wasn't evicted is a miracle.

If that doesn't pull at your heartstrings (or at least make you shift uncomfortably in your seat), there's more. Before Liz had even reached puberty, she was molested by one of her mother's "companions." Her mother, Jean, had six schizophrenic bouts in four years, was in and out of mental institutions, and contracted AIDS. Her father continued using and moved into a shelter. And Liz was sent to live in a group home for a short stint while her sister and mother shacked up with a man Jean met at a neighborhood bar.

By the time she was 15, Liz was basically homeless --- crashing at friends' houses after their parents had gone to work, or sleeping under bridges, on the subway, or in stairwells of random apartment buildings. Everything she owned, she carried with her on her back. She barely showered, and stole food wherever and whenever she could.

But despite all of this hardship, Liz rarely shows resentment toward her parents, and this is partly the reason why the book is so powerful. Or maybe it's just the way Liz coped. The descriptions of her mother's illness or the times Jean would come home drunk from the bar ("I'd take my mother and clean her up; help her, naked and vulnerable, into a warm bath; shampoo her hair as clumps of it came out in my hands. Sometimes she'd vomit in the tub and we had to start all over again") are straightforward and factual. But there's a hint of compassion there as well --- and self-awareness. In a letter to Jean after her death, she writes: "People had done that to you all your life, hadn't they? Treated you like something they needed to back away from. Me too." It's clear Liz is working out her demons, but her words are heartfelt and true.

After Jean's death, Liz's life --- and her memoir --- takes a turn for the better. Well, sort of. Her circumstances haven't changed --- she's still homeless, broke and basically parentless --- but she makes a crucial decision: to apply to high school following years of truancy. After aiming to graduate in two years with a straight-A average --- and doing so --- she sets her mind to accomplishing other previously unimaginable goals. She applies for a New York Times college scholarship and gets it. She submits an application to Harvard and is accepted. She rents an apartment with her sister and has a home for the first time in years.

Beyond the sheer impressiveness of Liz's accomplishments is the honesty and humility she shows when writing about her experiences. Nowhere does she gloat or preach. In fact, you get the sense that she's still in shock that any of her successes happened at all: "Had I known how difficult it was supposed to be to interview with Harvard or the New York Times, had anyone told me that these were hard, nearly impossible things to do, then I may have never done them. I didn't know enough about the world to analyze the likelihood of my success." She never fails to give credit where credit is due: to her friends who supported her, to the teachers who gave her a chance, to her parents who loved her despite their faults, and most of all, to herself, for believing that she could beat the odds.

BREAKING NIGHT is, of course, the ultimate story of an underdog --- a have-not --- who triumphs over adversity, thanks to the people who love her and her own will to do what it takes to survive. But it's also full of lessons to be learned, spoken not from the perspective of a Harvard professor, a social worker, or a sociologist, but from a person who has been there. Real questions ("How was it that anyone ended up possessing oddities such as a savings account, a car, or a house they actually owned? Getting and maintaining a job?"), frank observations ("On our side of the wall, priority was given to whatever thing might solve the most immediate problem."), and funny but candid class distinctions ("After all, in the ghetto, by no means do we talk about things like different types of cheese...in the ghetto, we buy one kind of cheese, and that is American.") offer up countless opportunities to think beyond the scope of one person's story, to a broader, more accurate picture of society, its pervasive problems, and hopefully a way forward.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

What did I think? WOW

Okay, I picked up this book on audio - 12 CDs read by the author herself, Liz Murray. I got it as a recommendation from my library.

I thought this was a VERY interesting story. So scary what this girl had to go through. But such a deep insight into the mind of a child growing up with drug-addicted parents. I felt so bad. I felt so SCARED for her as she was telling this story. It's like nothing could go right and at every turn was potential for death, disease, and disgrace. Really gripping. Reality bites.

I liked a LOT of things about the story. I liked the differences between the two girls growing up - Liz and her sister Lisa. I liked the constant thought process of Liz as she was growing up. How she felt she had to stay up ALL NIGHT, looking out the window to make sure her parents came back home, or that she would call 911 if someone were to happen. I liked the inner thoughts as a young adult, and her strong will "all those problems were like hurdles and I'm racing, jumping over these hurdles, to the finish line." I think she is so STRONG to go through all that. And also very lucky. She could have gotten deathly ill, being out all nights in the rain and such. She could have gotten physically hurt by accident, or by others. She should have died many many times. It's amazing that she made it out like she did.

It's amazing just how much drugs, alcohol, and disease TWISTS the mind of a child so that they see a totally different world growing up. "How could i go to school, if I had to sit and wait for ma?" You really don't understand their STATE and how they become this way. But Liz explains it very well.

Some things that I wish were a little better asnwered: I wonder what happened to some of those people from her past. The kids she grew up in the Bronx with. I wondered why she never tried to go to the other grandma, the one in Long Island, to seek help. I wanted her to describe her reaction to finally getting the BIG ENVELOPE from HARVARD. it would have brought a nice finality to the story. But I still liked the ending "I knew that no matter what, I would be okay." I'm happy that things were resolved and they "Became" a family again.

I do agree with Liz and can relate in many ways. As an immigrant child, I never had a lot and would always e made fun of at school. Many things like eating at restaurants, cars and other things were out of reach for me and my family. It's like we had a wall to "them" and "us", so I can totalyl agree! I've felt that way and I understand.

But she's also NOT the only one going through all this. It makes me wonder about all the other kids of abusive or drug-addicted parents: I wonder if they sleep at night, i wonder if they take on more responsibility then they know, I wonder if they have regular showers, or any help at all. How do THEY make it though? I'm sure not ALL of them were as amazing as Liz.

A note on the audio: by Tantor Audio. I thought it was well read, good pace (not too fast not too slow), clear, and easy to understand. Well done!

I highly recommend this book!! Such an inspiring, gripping, and amazing story! Absolutely a must-read for every teenager and most adults out there!

I watched a bit of the "Homeless to Harvard" Lifetime TV movie for an in-class sociology assignment and my interest was piqued. Since that time, I spent a fair bit of time trying to find this memoir, and I guess you can say her story got me interested in social work. In fact, this book should probably be read as part of a social work curriculum or at least considered for it. I say this because Liz Murray recounts her story from her earliest days to about age 19, during which time she had to deal with substance-addicted, HIV+ parents, crushing poverty, homelessness, abuse, and so much more, but the part of her story that really stood out for me, is that every few pages or so, she would recount something or another, then step back and write how that made her feel or how a person could have intervened in her life or something like that. I don't know of another memoir in which the author intervenes like this and makes the reader really step back and think. This book should be required reading for social workers, and anyone else with a heart.

Breaking Night is gripping story about the child of two chronic drug abusers and how she managed to finally break the cycle of dysfunction that turned her life into a nightmare of hunger and homelessness. Despite the bleakness of her upbringing, Liz Murray, much like Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle, does not play the victim card. In fact, it's not until she is finally safe in her own apartment and about to enroll in college does Liz allow herself to fully grieve over the way she was raised.

Liz Murray was saved by school. The young girl who hated the institution and became a truant finally realizes at age 17 that the only way for her to improve her circumstances is through getting an education, but arriving at that conclusion was no easy task. Liz and her older sister Lisa were raised in abject poverty in the Bronx. Their parents would routinely leave them alone in their apartment while they were out all night scoring drugs. Their mother Jean was legally blind and received government assistance, but as soon as the monthly checks arrived they would be spent on drugs. The girls were so hungry that they ate mayonnaise sandwiches and cherry Chapstick. But Liz still loved both of her parents and even tried to shield them from Lisa's critcism.

Things go from bad to worse after Liz' mother leaves her father to move in with another man who has a job and lives in a better neighborhood saying that it's the only way that she can stay off drugs. Liz refuses to leave her father and is placed in a group home because of truancy and is later released into the custody of her mother's boyfriend. This marks the beginning of a downward spiral that leads to Liz living on the streets and stealing to survive. Her brief experience in the system was such that she preferred take her chances on the street rather than be treated like less than a person and housed with unstable and mean girls.

Far from some maudlin sob story about a hard knock life, the author relays her story simply and effectively. She talks about the practical implications of being raised by junkies and having to rely on the kindness of friends to meet her basic needs. Liz was often hungry. Her clothing was filthy and raggedy and the kids at school made fun of her because of it it. Liz realized that there would be a point when people tired of helping her and started thinking about her future. She was 17 years old and only had one high school credit and still had no permamnent address, but Liz vowed to graduate from high school rather than just getting a GED in order to give herself more options. One of the biggest lessons she learned from her mother is that when you have no options, you just have to accept what life throws your way. In the case of her HIV positive mother, this meant living with a cruel man who showed her very little compassion in the latter stages of her disease.

The story ends with her about to receive her acceptance letter from Harvard University. She was so anxious about it and was driving herself and her teachers crazy about the decision until a trusted adviser told her that she was going to be okay either way and to give herself a break. The old Liz would have taken this the wrong way, but after two years of hard work, and mentoring she was able to see the truth in those words. Getting to that point was a huge accomplishment and even if she never went to Harvard Liz had made already great strides and was even profiled in The New York Times.

I think this book should be required reading for high school students because it shows not only how easily you can find yourself on the wrong path, but also that it's always possible to start over. This was a truly an inspirational story.

Things go from bad to worse after Liz' mother leaves her father to move in with another man who has a job and lives in a better neighborhood saying that it's the only way that she can stay off drugs. Liz refuses to leave her father and is placed in a group home because of truancy and is later released into the custody of her mother's boyfriend. This marks the beginning of a downward spiral that leads to Liz living on the streets and stealing to survive. Her brief experience in the system was such that she preferred take her chances on the street rather than be treated like less than a person and housed with unstable and mean girls. The the author relays her story simply and effectively. She talks about the practical implications of being raised by junkies and having to rely on the kindness of friends to meet her basic needs. Liz was often hungry. Her clothing was filthy and raggedy and the kids at school made fun of her because of it it. Liz realized that there would be a point when people tired of helping her and started thinking about her future. She was 17 years old and only had one high school credit and still had no permanent address, but Liz vowed to graduate from high school rather than just getting a GED in order to give herself more options. One of the biggest lessons she learned from her mother is that when you have no options, you just have to accept what life throws your way. In the case of her HIV positive mother, this meant living with a cruel man who showed her very little compassion in the latter stages of her disease. I think this book should be required reading for high school students because it shows not only how easily you can find yourself on the wrong path, but also that it's always possible to start over. This was a truly an inspirational story. Beyond the sheer impressiveness of Liz's accomplishments is the honesty and humility she shows when writing about her experiences. Nowhere does she gloat or preach. In fact, you get the sense that she's still in shock that any of her successes happened at all: "Had I known how difficult it was supposed to be to interview with Harvard or the New York Times, had anyone told me that these were hard, nearly impossible things to do, then I may have never done them. I didn't know enough about the world to analyze the likelihood of my success. She never fails to give credit where credit is due: to her friends who supported her, to the teachers who gave her a chance, to her parents who loved her despite their faults, and most of all, to herself, for believing that she could beat the odds. I also recommend K S Michaels' When To Give Up On Life And Child.

Liz Murray has a new memoir out. In this memoir, the feeling I had throughout was one of dread. Here is this child, on guard, trying to keep her parents safe, herself out of foster care and her home together. She was not even in school yet.

I enjoyed "Breaking Night". Though I was appalled at the parenting, I found myself pulling for this spunky,never-say-die child, while simultaneously scared out of my wits that Liz was going to end up dead.

The book's beginning reminded me of Walls' "Glass Castle" with dysfunctional, free-spirited, druggie parents over whom the children feel they must watch. The check that comes on the first of the month is gone by the second week. . .3% on food and 97% on drugs.

Liz loves her parents. But she would also love to eat, have a clean house, and not live at the whims of social services. She does not love feeling hungry, eating moldy food, feeling physically smelly and dirty, and carrying responsibility for the mess her life has become because her parents do not choose to do so (Her mom is mentally ill, so her mom has more issues than drug abuse).

Things get worse (and more interesting in the book) when Jean (mom) is diagnosed with AIDS. Older now, in her teens, Liz makes some bad decisions about boys and also about her family duties. She finally reaches that very low point that helps her turn her life around. Though she has HATED school all of her life because she doesn't fit in, her teachers feel sorry for her, and her peers hold , suddenly, school seems her only option.

The rest is history. A good book, easy read, well told if repetitive. B+

It took me a while to make the decision to read this book, and it took me a couple of chapters to get really interested in it, but once Liz got me involved in her life, she held me captive. The basic plot--homeless to Harvard does not do justice to the actual story she tells. It is a story of family love and the longing for connection that every human being feels, and yet the devastation of this need by hard drugs. Her mother suffers not only from drug addiction, but also mental illness that also scarred her own mother's life, so that despite her real love for her daughters, she is unable to give them the care they need. Her father is intelligent and well-meaning also, but is also caught up in drugs that dominate his brain so that he is simply unable to function as a parent.

So young Liz takes on adult-sized responsibilities at a shockingly early age. One of the most noteworthy things about her struggle is that the people who one would think were her protectors--social workers and teachers and group homes--are to her, the enemy. She reminds us that offers of "help" from outsiders are seldom seen as being of real use to people in deep trouble. She did not aspire to the middle-class values of those who surrounded her, she feared them, and having had a few contacts with social services myself, I understand that feeling all too well.

The ending of the story, when she commits herself to getting an education, is meant to be inspiring, and I guess it is, but what struck me the most is how unlikely her success really is. It is not exactly a model that can be held out to other young people and say, See, you can do it too, because it simply was super-human and also was enabled by the fact that she had a tremendous amount of native intelligence.

And despite a scholarship, getting through Harvard while penniless would be a horrendous struggle. When the dorms close for Christmas break, where is a homeless girl to go? And how would it feel, being not just lower-middle-class but actually impoverished, while surrounded by people of wealth and privilege?

This is a one-of-a-kind life story, well told and moving, but I don't think it offers any answers to other people trapped in unmerciful circumstances. It was only because of media coverage of her that Liz was ultimately able to overcome her circumstances.

You would not, three chapters into this sobering book by Liz Murray, believe that anyone could come out whole from the childhood exposed to light here. Liz and her sister Lisa, neglected children of good-hearted but drug-addled parents, survive a horrific childhood and youth that I could not imagine. They go without food, or little food, and clean clothing, while their clueless mother and father fritter money away on drugs and alcohol. There are rare glimpses of nearly-normal family life, but they don't last long; their living conditions are ghastly, and though the parents attempt to instill in Liz the importance of school, no one is guiding her in any way, and she only manages to escape the system and squeeze by by the expedient of being highly intelligent and passing all the standardized tests to promote her, grade by grade. I live in a city small enough that neglect of this magnitude would probably be caught far sooner than it was in Liz's case; she is stuck in the maw of New York City, however, where kids like her are probably thick and difficult to catch or keep up with. Even where I live, the social welfare system is overtaxed and buried; I can't imagine what NYC is like. Eventually, Liz is brought into the system, long past time, though she manages to escape back into street life, successfully avoiding the authorities. Her epiphany, at the age of 17, is nothing short of miraculous. She eventually achieves vindication over all her demons.

This was a difficult book to read, and I can only commend Ms Murray for her strength and power to exist through horrors that should have destroyed her. I'd like to see a book from her sister as well, who seems to have survived by closing her eyes to what was going on around her and forging ahead, never missing school and apparently never sinking into street life. She even attempts to shame her parents into reality by berating them when they go on binges, to no avail.

I was a little put off by Liz's seeming enabling of her parents as she assisted them in their procurement of drugs (by getting them past the militant Lisa) and her attempts to cull favor by aiding them in every bad way, but everyone has their own defense system and who is to know, case by case, what someone else would do in such circumstances. The important thing is her eventual escape out of the loop, and it is fairly clear that she never took to drugs herself.

A gut-wrenching portrayal of a non-childhood that should not be visited on anyone, this story was made into a movie a few years ago. Liz is now a motivational speaker.

This is a powerful book and should be part of a college social studies curriculum.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone. There. I said it and now that I've totally gotten rid of the anticipation of what I recommend, let me tell you about this book. Liz Murray was born in 1980 addicted to crack (because her mom used consistently throughout her pregnancy), but otherwise healthy and lived in the Bronx, New York. During her time growing up, she watched her parents struggle with drug addiction and struggling to provide for her and her older sister, Lisa. Liz also dealt with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a way that most of us may never, ever know about. At 15, Liz became homeless. She had no place to live and, for a long period of time, did not go to school. However, Liz did manage to get into an alternative school - the Humanities Prepatory Academy in Manhattan, where she managed to complete all of her assignments in the subway stations that she slept in. She earned enough credits to graduate in two years and was eventually accepted into Harvard University.

This young woman showed an uncanny maturity beginning at an early age - she knew how to mainline drugs at age 6 (even though she never used them) and had to care for her parents when they both hit their rock bottom moments (which seemed to happen often enough in Liz's early life). She showed that she is a fighter by being able to scramble to care for herself in the girls' home that she was placed at during her early adolescence and then during the period of time that she was homeless. I was deeply impressed by her writing style - no holds barred, but classy at the same time. This isn't just some morality tale for the reader; she literally just tells it like it is.

Worth the read.

Breaking night is the story of a child who survives being reared
by parents who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. I gave the book
4 stars stars because it is good, BUT.....it is no different from
all of the other stories about children, parents and drugs. They
all are heart breaking. The children suffer and are effected for
the rest of their lives. Also, I find it hard to believe that the
stories are not exaggerated. I have to wonder about memoirs,
The Glass Castle, even "The Death of Santini"---both, great reading.
I reviewed and liked both books. But lets face it,
these are writers, story tellers, and they have a story to tell.
Liz Murray tells her life story very very well. She writes, the story flows
and the reader is captivated. The first part of the book is better
than the second, The first is her struggle and the second is her
schooling and her success. The book was a compelling read, I liked it
and I certainly think Liz is amazing.

The first 100 pages of Breaking Night had me asking the same question over and over; "why haven't her parents been murdered yet?!?"

Both of her parents are long-time addicts. The mother was a teenage runaway who'd been on her own since 16. Her father was a college graduate who'd been dealing and addicted since high school. Both come from poor, troubled families. By the time their youngest is born, they're at the end of the line; the mother prostitutes herself, and the father is high or absent for days at a time. They survive on eggs or leftover junk food, and live in one of the worst buildings in the South Bronx. I kept wondering why some psycho hadn't kicked down the door and killed the whole family?

The book is divided into three parts. In the first part, she stays in an apartment all day and never goes to school. In the second part, she couch-surfs and crashed in whosever home she can. In the third part, she enrolls in Humanites Prep on West 18th Street while couch surfing with friends in the South Bronx, gets a job fundraising for a charity, and meets some rich white kids. In the last few pages, she gets a scholarship to college, takes time off to care for her father who has HIV, goes on the motivational speaker circuit, goes back to school, etc.

Now here's what's missing; I wanted to know more about how the nighbors reacted to her. What did they say when they saw a white girl in their neighborhood? Were they intrigued? Surprised? Disgusted by her? Also, it's not clear what's going on in the part about her childhood. Did she and her sister spend 24 hours a day locked int he apartment? The point where she finally ventures out onto the streets unaccompanied should've been a great surprise. Perhaps some things happend that Murray doesn't want to write about?

One of the themes that Liz Murray tries to convey is the issue of foster-system abuse. Her first experience in a "group home" is very bad. The kids there are agressive, and the woman in charge is like something out of Dickens. Liz spends three years, from age 13-17, being truant from school and dodging the social workers. She has no incentive to go to school, but at the same time she knows she'll be treated like a criminal for skipping class.

It's not like a blame her; I wouldn't be comfortable going to a school with 1000 kids and teachers who barely knew who I was.

But still, she doesn't give any description of what it was like when she did go to school. Like many things I wanted to know, Liz Murray seems to have "left it out."

Liz Murray's earliest memories are centered upon her drug-addicted parents' habits, dictating the family's existence. Her parents unapologetically and candidly shot up in front of tiny Liz and her older sister Lisa, running in and out of the apartment all night, buying nickel bags for the next fix. The family survived on welfare checks, which only bought food in the first few days of any particular month; within a week, all their money was gone on drugs, and Liz and Lisa were left to fend for themselves.

At one point, Liz's mother Jean, so desperate for a fix, took Lisa's winter coat to the local dealer, hoping to make a trade. The dealer realized the coat belonged to a child and refused to accept it, in the midst of a harsh New York winter. Jean came home, shaking and weeping, not for what she had almost done but for the high she had been unable to get.

Living amidst constant hunger, a state of wakefulness every night, and unable to properly wash and groom herself, Liz's school attendance was almost non-existent from the earliest grades. Staying home where she felt hidden was just a safer alternative. As the years passed, Liz continued to pass from grade to grade, slipping through the system.

Yet despite it all, Liz's love for her mother and father continued unwavering. Unlike her sister Lisa, who yelled at their parents and demanded better living conditions, Liz accepted their life as it was. While she admitted unhappiness and the desire for better parenting, she understood from a young age that her parents were simply not equipped to provide it.

The family's life continued to unravel over the years, ripped apart by increasing drug addiction, AIDS, mental illness and foster care, until one terrible night Liz hit rock bottom...fifteen years old and homeless.

Liz and her best friend, also homeless due to her own home problems, prowled the streets of New York together, staying at friends' homes, in local parks, on the landings of apartment buildings. They stole food, they panhandled...they did anything in order to survive. They promised one another they'd go to high school...someday.

The lifestyle continued for several years, until Liz discovered educational opportunities outside the mainstream, and decided she could, in fact, take charge of her own destiny.

Murray's story, though harrowing and deeply disturbing in many parts, is told with a frankness that doesn't pity herself. She is likeable and causes readers to root for her throughout her entire journey, while inspiring others to refuse to fall into a lifestyle of despair simply because they may have been born into it.

I have read this book twice and have been amazed at the tenacity of a little girl to will herself to survive and succeed. Another branch of the narrative was meaningful to me, an educator. The role an appropriate school environment and especially the teachers at that school helped immeasurably to propel Liz Murray toward success. Often just taking time to really see a struggling student and taking a genuine interest in that student can sometimes work magic.

If you liked the GLASS CASTLE, you will probably like this book. If you couldn't bear to read it, you definitely won't want to read this one. If you are looking to have your eyes opened to the tragedy of children who are neglected by parents who value getting high more than making sure that their children are clean and fed, then dive in.

I enjoyed reading Breaking Night. Liz Murray's writing is descriptive, yet not flowery. She tells of the horrors of poverty she endured almost as an observer. Where this book diverges from the GLASS CASTLE is that Murray almost got pulled down as well. The bulk of the story tells about her struggle to stay motivated to attend school from about the time she was 11 on. There were many reasons and excuses for it, but in the end, her story shed light on how so many kids can end up on the wrong path.

But as the subtitle tells us, there is hope and restoration. Liz Murray eventually gets her act together and ends up being accepted on scholarship at Harvard.

I am curious if she's writing another memoir, because though it was obvious that she was always an intelligent child, I'm curious how her transition into life at Harvard went. The book ends with the reader not even knowing if she got into Harvard or not, but the title and the bookjacket tells you that she did. If they didn't, it would probably be unsatisfying as an ending, though I do understand why she chose to end it as she was waiting to receive her acceptance or rejection from Harvard.

I raised two great kids, and like many modern moms, did the family meal thing, vacations, after school activities, birthday parties, and homemade Halloween costumes. The Finnerty/Murray folks raised two great kids as well, rarely did evening meals...at all, pulled presents out of other people's trash piles, and let 6 year Liz stay up 'til dawn as they came and went in search of a fix. Daughter Lisa devised a way to bathe unscathed in a bathtub of slime, finally leaving with Mom to live with Mom's lover. Dad spent days away on mysterious errands, relinquishing Liz to Child (not so) Protective Services.

Liz Murray's book is a tribute to the resiliency of human beings, as well as a very different kind of family love story. A hungry but self-sufficient little girl becomes a wild teen on the streets and finally a self-made woman. Human Services failed her but she saved herself. Read this eye-opening book, you'll never regard the downtown mall street kids (nor your own) in the same way once you do.

Okay I like this book. I really like it. It is like a pulp fiction exciting novel with deep insights tossed in. It is all real as well. That makes it like a documentary glimpse into 90's youth culture and street culture in NYC. You sometimes see people like Liz and her friends and wonder what they are about. This book gives you some idea.

She is the type of person that many people would want to avoid. She sees herself as an outsider and sort of at war with the world around her. Then she comes to realize that she needs rent and had better get with the program or she will just be a loser forever. This is the type of epiphany that happens to young people. As life goes on, you come to realize that not every day is full of opportunity. You have to seize the opportunities while they are still there.

She seems to scrape by by divine providence many times. She got into the last high school that she almost gave up even trying for. That makes this book very exciting. I feel this experience is very unique to Liz herself. Other people will not be able to do everything she did or do it the way she did. It is still inspiring but not as a blueprint for life. It is more or less like she has a joie de vivre that is just entertainingly fresh.

I find some of her comments and insights to be very funny, perhaps without her intending so. Like her reaction to the bread basket when she realizes the people there weren't really her friends was wryly amusing.

If you can't afford her $450 life changing seminar, you can read this book instead. I am pretty sure you will come away with the same insights, just that you can keep trying to make your life better and improve yourself.

to start:

"WOW"...(there were many "wows", actually)

I finished this book over two weeks ago, and still find it a little hard to "write" about it.

Liz Murray has come forward with the story of her life up to now, growing up with alcoholic and drug-addicted parents, who, though they loved her, certainly were not able to care for her and her sister correctly. Thus we are shown the painful, and rending separation, that comes with these conditions thrust upon these two sisters to have to deal with even at the ages of toddlers, and up on through adulthood.

To daily witness their parent's using, drinking, and passing out for hours, or all day, etc. To go hungry because the "check" is gone on it's 3rd day at the beginning of the month. To be a child of the streets, because that's where one finds people to love them, and befriend them, only returning home to sleep...to skip school and finally be incarcerated in a home, removed from your parents and their disfunctionality and thrust into another "haven of hell" if one will, must simply be totally bewildering, and destructive, depressive, and totally unimaginable to those of us who have never even come close to this tragedy that does, indeed, present itself to many many children.

Liz Murray truly has had the angels or someone watching over her, to pick her up, or show her how to pick herself up, and to rise up out of her plight of near utter hopelessness and to go on...it truly warms one's heart, and reaffirms, I believe, God's love.

She got herself back into high school, and finished in two years with A's and B's, and beyond that, got herself accepted into Harvard, and has come "up from the sidewalks of New York, into the healthy sunshine of a life that is resplendant with one of the finest educations (gotten solely on her determination to rise up), a "New Live", a "Healthy Life", truly a "Miracle Life".

Able to forgive her father, and accept him as who he is, and to work through all the tremendously hurtful things/aspects of her mother's life and truly tragic death from AIDS, working through forgiveness and healing herself from all this, Liz is truly what I would call a "Walking Miracle".

As I said at the beginning of this review, I am still processing, thinking, and blown away by this amazing book from this truly amazing young woman and her illumination of her life growing up under the conditions that she did.

Everyone should read this book....I cannot imagine anybody who will not be, first, blown away at where she came from, and, second, reaffirmed by what is right and sometimes comes about, in this world of ours. I have NEVER been so deeply touched by, and proud of, anyone's struggle and climb as Liz's. This book will surely reaffirm your belief in "Someone's watching over us", which, surely is a good thing to have reminder of.

God Bless you Liz, I'm very proud of you and what you have done. May your future forever be bright...you certainly worked for this option!

~operabruin

Omgoodness. Anyone thinking of writing a memoir should read this as an example of perfect execution. My problem with most memoirs is the manipulation- of words, of situations, of quotations, and even punctuation (as silly as that sounds). I love to read an account of overcoming struggle, but it is usually outweighed by the self-serving and self-congragulatory manner the book is written in. Not so with this book.

I kept waiting for that moment where you get the "woe is me, chip on my shoulder" attitude, but it never came. I kept waiting for the "blame everyone for the way my life turned out", never came. Liz told her story in a captivating way without one wasted word, and it was beautifully written. One thing I kept looking for as her story progressed was the timeline. I actually loved how she didn't date pieces of her story, because I was able to understand more clearly how her time must have blurred together. I loved her way of looking at her life situation through different eyes as her mother's illness progressed and she was able to get back into school.

Her honesty is both brutal and touching at the same time. Not one time reading this did I feel she put something in for shock value. Some of it was jaw-dropping, heartwrenching, and tear-inducing, but not because she's manipulating herself as the phoenix rising from the ashes. It was as if she was telling me her life over a cup of coffee, and she saw through the tragedy to find the good. I felt she showed both the good and the ugly of her life, and gave everyone an even playing field.

You can't help but rally for her, and even though the title says it all, the end isn't anticlimactic. I can't see how anyone could walk away from this book with one negative thing to say....truly, an amazing piece of work

WOW! What an interesting book filled with insight into poverty, homelessness and drug addiction! "Breaking Night" is the memoir of Liz Murray who shares about her life of living with her drug addicted parents, her effort to protect her parents who both contracted AIDS, living at a group home, her dependence on friends while homeless, her determination to go back to school and change her life. This is a very good book! It is so hard for me to fathom people actually living like she did.

Breaking Night shows that a person can change in spite of one's circumstances if they make good choices and work hard. It is about family relationships, forgiveness, friendship, judging by appearances, survival, overcoming obstacles and being responsible. Liz overcame many obstacles and found herself with a scholarship from The New York Times and was accepted at Harvard! Liz is a remarkable person! This is an inspirational book that I highly recommend! Loved it!

As I read Breaking Night I felt like I was right there beside Liz Murray, experiencing everything that she went through. The way she wrote out her story made it so easy to visualize myself standing there feeling every emotion she felt. Murray’s book cover was what drew me in at first. The picture of a young girl with a small smile and her hair covering half of her face. I thought that the cover used for this book worked perfectly with Murray’s story. The girl in the picture looked as if even though she went through so much in her life, she still pulled through and survived. Even though the picture seems a bit depressing or “dark,” the young girl appears to be very innocent.

Liz Murray starts off the book with her staying at a friend’s house and looking at a picture of her mother. She describes in detail the appearance of her mother and how similar their features are. The way Murray describes her mother in the picture makes it clear to the readers that she truly did love her mother, even though her mother acted the way she did towards her.

Murray’s mother was going through a tough time in her life. Her mother did neglect Murray, but she loved her in her own dysfunctional way. While her mother dealt with her issues, Murray had her own issues to deal with. The lack of a mother figure in her life took its toll on her. Murray was going through her rebellious teenage years, doing things many teenagers think is “cool.” As teenagers, we believe that we are already becoming adults and that because we are closer to becoming adults we don’t have to listen to our parents, and we could do whatever we want without having to worry about anything. As teenagers, we need to start thinking about what is going to happen to us after high school, we start worrying about how we’re going to survive the real world. Some teenagers have different views of life. Most want to be successful and work at their dream job, live in their dream house, and have their dream family. Others decide it isn’t important to graduate from high school, which hinders their opportunities to find the right jobs for them, to earn the money needed to have the successful life they dreamt of. Murray was an example of those teenagers who went through so much trauma in their life, but moved on from that to get a better life.

I can say that this book will motivate many people to try the hardest they can, and let them know that they can achieve their goals. However, I feel like this book may have a stereotypical structure. First she is a poor, homeless teenager, and then she goes to a Harvard graduate. I can understand that a person’s life can change quickly, but in this book it seemed as if her life changed dramatically. However, there was one quote from the book that went perfectly with the way her life changed for the better. When her mother died of Aids, Murray wrote a letter to her, as a closure. “You and me, Ma, reminds me of how pearls are made. People see pearls as beautiful, perfect gems, but never realize that they actually come from pain-from something hard or dangerous getting trapped inside an oyster that doesn’t belong. The oyster makes a pearl to protect itself.” (Murray, 228) In this quote she is comparing her life to that of a pearl. A pearl isn’t made beautiful just like that, just like Murray’s life. Her life wasn’t very nice at first, but she made it through and changed the direction her life was going.

De’Vaughn Williams

Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard

“Dream, but don’t sleep“– Liz Murray

Breaking Night was published in September 2010 and written by Liz Murray, an author whose story is well-known and in this unforgettable book you will understand why. Liz Murray’s story is a memorable one, the story of a homeless girl born in the Bronx who succeeds through all and goes to Harvard University. The style of the book is a memoir of the life Liz Murray lived as a child to teenager to the adult she is now. The books characterization is very authentic, but the characters are only relatable to some, the ones who have gone through a huge struggle not just in a section of their life, but those whose entire life has been an ongoing struggle. The characters are so real, raw, and authentic, which is so refreshing to find in literature. I am sure the characters are relatable in certain aspects to some, but not fully. The story’s plot is something that will truly keep you on the edge of your seat and always have you wondering, not wanting to put the book down. When will Liz get her stuff together? Why does she love him? Why does she stay? How did she do it? How did she not succumb? It’s a book with twists and turns, almost so exciting, real, and unpredictable you feel as though you are in the book, as if you’ve gone through everything being said. The plot has the author/main character everywhere both in a mental and physical state; it’s almost confusing, but just confusing enough to keep you reading.
My life, the life of just about all teenagers does not begin to compare on the same level as the lives in this books. To where as we complain about not having the latest Jordans, this girl is happy to have shoes that she hasn’t worn for years. To where as we wish we had the pool in the backyard, this girl is hoping that the apartment landing she’s been sleeping on is free. The author has no other works, up to date to compare with this book. This book does contain such things as strong drug and alcohol usage, sex, crude language, and global issues such as AIDS and the usage of cocaine and marijuana. The themes are your past, or the past of your parents, does not have to affect you and determine what happens to you in life and you can always get out of a bad situation and make it into a better situation. I would recommend this novel to anyone in high school and up as far as maturity, it’s a story that all age groups will love; it’s also a story that all class levels will love and benefit from.

I have great admiration for someone who breaks the cycle of their circumstances and comes out triumphant. Liz Murray is born to parents whose sole objective in life was to score the next hit. From a young age she had to contend with being different; dismally impoverished, unhygienic and neglected. From living a runaway life on the streets at the age of seventeen she came to the realisation that it was only education that was going to stop her slipping into the abyss of her upbringing. She does it with a courage and tenacity that I can only herald as a survivor's story of note. Touching, inspiring, just plain wonderful !

Homeless to Harvard
Murray, Liz, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
Film, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Ray story
Published: September 7th, 2010
“I had a calling inside of me. I had a sense that when I was going through experiences like living on the streets, losing my parents to AIDS, just having my whole world turned upside-down, there was this feeling inside of me like I was meant for something greater” (Murray Breaking Night).The amazing memoir of young women, Liz Murray, who at the age of fifteen was living on the streets though eventually made it into Harvard.
Liz Murray has shown readers that the human drive has infinite ability to strive under any circumstances. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. When Liz's mother contracts HIV, Liz decides to take control of her own destiny and go back to high school, often completing her assignments in the hallways and subway stations where she slept. Liz squeezed four years of high school into two, while homeless and won a New York Times scholarship. Growing up neglected, born to drug addicted, mentally ill parents, she still overcame her obstacles and achieved greatness.
The plot is original, jaw dropping, and won’t disappoint it is a must read. From being poor with nothing living day by day, then suddenly the will inside herself pushes Murray to be an inspiring author and motivator. Breaking Night is recommended for high school students and young adults.

I read a lot. About a book a day. That adds up to a couple hundred books in a year so saying this one is one of the very best I've read in years is saying a lot!

I am still wiping the tears from my eyes as I just finished this heartbreaking and uplifting story by Liz Murray. I had never heard of her or her story before reading this book, despite there being two films about her and numerous articles so it's all new to me.

A brief synopsis: Liz was born to drug addicted parents, the younger of two children. As she describes her parents throughout the book, they never come across as abusive or malicious, they come across as what they were: addicted to drugs. I'm sure many people who read her story have a lot of disgust and hatred towards her parents but I don't. Before adopting our two youngest children from foster care, we were foster parents. I never hated or judged the parents of the children I cared for. I went out of my way to meet them and let them know who it was that was caring for their child. I treated them with dignity and respect and they responded by trying harder, asking questions about their child and often apologizing for what they had done. That wasn't my intent, my intent was for me to let them know that I recognized they were human beings who were making very bad choices and that though I've never taken drugs, I understand that addiction takes over your entire life.

So that's how I felt about Liz & her sister Lisa's parents. They did love their girls (you might say "how could they love them letting them live that way"). The answer is, until you're in their shoes, inside their minds, you don't know how they feel. If they were such awful parents, they wouldn't have raised two daughters who were able to feel love and compassion towards other people, who were able to get past a horrific childhood and go on to inspire other people. This young lady, Liz, grew up watching her parents shoot up drugs while talking to her about life, watching them take money they needed for food to buy drugs, being teased and bullied at school because they didn't have any way to keep their clothing and bodies clean, etc. yet she never took drugs herself and always kept her spirits up, seeing the good in many people that others would completely ignore.

For me, her story shows that every choice you make in life is your own. You can't blame everyone else for your problems, your struggles, etc., that you yourself are in charge of what happens. You can make it happen or you can let it happen.

I recommend this book for every person on the planet that can read. I especially recommend it if you think you have your life together or if you tend to judge someone based on appearance. I challenge you to meet with someone you think you have nothing in common with and have a conversation with them. Wake up today and look around at what you have and forget about what you don't have because after you read this book, you'll see just how blessed you really are.

This is an absolutely inspirational story and I think a must read for every teenager. So many people believe they have it difficult and spend time and energy making excuses for why they didn't accomplish something. This young lady did everything in her power to create a life that she wanted and deserved in spite of her most difficult circumstances.

Reviewers have summed up the story quite well so there isn't much to add to that. But I would highly recommend reading the book even though you know the "gist" of the story. It is powerful. And for me quite a reminder when I want to say, I can't do that because.....

I have much admiration for this young woman as I don't think I would have survived her circumstances much less thrived!!! Bravo!!!

Liz Murray's memoir could have been just another tale of misery, an "Oh, woe is me!" story written to compete with all the other stories of miserable lives. But it isn't. Though it is a harrowing tale of an astonishingly brutal childhood and adolescence, it is never self-pitying. Neither is it sanctimonious, pointing the finger of blame for her lack of adequate care at her parents - though that would be completely understandable. Instead, it's a compassionate, unbiased account of what it's like to grow up in abject poverty, the younger of two daughters of crack-addicted/alcoholic parents.

That Liz Murray eventually pulled herself up from a life of homelessness and truancy to become a student at Harvard proves everyone, regardless of how low he or she has fallen, has the option of choosing success over failure. The difference between those who succeed and those who fail is, we learn from this book, spirit and the willingness to work as hard as it takes. Those who've had a harder time in life have to work harder in order to pull themselves up out of it. Of course that seems inherently unfair, but it's what separates the weak from the strong.

'Breaking Night' isn't always an easy book to read. It's often very painful hearing the story of Liz - and her sister, Lisa - struggling to survive when their parents fail to provide adequate food, clothing and clean and comfortable shelter. It's hard for those who had it easier to fathom going hungry, sleeping in a roach-infested apartment, then resorting to life on the streets as a means of survival. We don't want to believe these things happen in this country, but Murray's honest account assures us it most definitely does.

Rather than being unrelentingly depressing, Murray manages to tell her story both from an intensely personal perspective and also in a detached enough voice that the reader isn't inclined to squirm from feelings of guilt and revulsion.
Like Jeannette Wall's 'The Glass Castle,' Liz Murray relates the story of a miserable childhood that's at once unique and universal. Even if we haven't been where she was, we can identify with what it must have been like by looking at it through her own eyes.

Walking that very fine line differentiates a really good memoir from one that writhes in misery. And this is a really good memoir. Highly recommended.

I once heard an author say she considered herself something of a "tragedy snob," referring to how it was hard for her to feel a lick of sympathy for others who are suffering simply because she had suffered so much in her own life. I relate totally in that its not often that I am struck by the obstacles people face, but when I read Breaking Night I was just so impacted by what Liz went through. Everything from molestation to her parents choosing to get high over feeding her, to homelessness, to dropping out of school, an abusive relationship...I mean, it's almost more than one person can take. Yet Liz did not once feel sorry for herself, she just came to a point where she basically said "okay what am I going to do about it?" Then she stepped up and changed her life, and she changed the lives of those around her, bringing her friends along any chance she got.

Breaking Night is heartbreaking and so well written that I couldn't put it down. Thank you Liz for putting into perspective what really matters in life: loving people (even your troubled parents) unconditionally, taking charge of your life, rising above your circumstances and contributing positively to the lives of others. I teach the 11th grade and I know now what their spring reading book will be. Beautiful and life changing, I love Breaking Night!

In a age where it is very easy to play the victim and blame your circumstance and those around you for why your life turned out all wrong along comes Liz Murry and shows us that none of us are a slave of our circumstances. Like Liz there are countless others who have risen above their circumstances while others have unfortunately fallen far below. An insightful and compelling memoir. I was particularly impressed by how she held no bitterness towards her parents and how freeing that was for her. Reminds me of the words by someone even greater, "we forgive because we are forgiven."

A reminder for us all to look from where we've come and where we want to go. A great book to put into the hands of any young person a little lost in life.

Liz Murray's younger years were filled with extreme adversity and hardship. Her parents were addicted to drugs and lived in terrible poverty. Liz's childhood was difficult and she had a hard time staying in school. Eventually, due to illness and other factors, she ends up homeless and without a real education. However, because of her resilience and strength of character, Liz turns her life around and ends up going to Harvard.

This book is a memoir about how Liz overcame all obstacles and, despite it all, became successful, inspiring a movie and writing a book about her life. It is a surprisingly fast read with some very interesting insights about the educational system, being homeless and surviving. Although, at times heartbreaking, it is not a pity tale, but an uplifting story of hope and change. At no moment does the book become preachy or dreary, which is surprising given its premise. This is a great read and very inspiring.

As a young woman who attended graduate school at Lehman College in the Bronx, I identified with monuments mentioned throughout these tales. It was difficult to imagine as I was driving up with my parking pass to enter classes of the anatomy of the speech mechanisms. There was a young girl not far from where I was, she had such determination within her. This book is beyond inspiring and has brought me into the world of non-fiction. I don't think I could read anything but the truth from this point forward. I have recommended this story as a read to many a friends T this point. This is. It just an incredible read, but a mind altering and as lame as it is to say, inspiring story.

Grateful. I feel grateful that someone has finally formed the words and sentences to describe for me my personal journey through childhood poverty and family addiction. I thought that it would be too painful for me to revisit this issue, but Liz's expression of love, strength, innocence and perseverance held me and reminded me of those qualities in myself, and how I somehow survived also. Her story reminded me of my own personal Angel Brigade. Thank you Liz . I'm inspired to pay it forward.

I devoured this book over the weekend. I couldn't put it down. I had heard about Liz's story on 20/20. The book was well-written. At times it was difficult to read, simply because of how rough her life was. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because there was only one photo, that of her mother as a teenager. I really would have liked more photos. Other than that, I highly recommend this book. Her story is one that you will think of long after you've finished reading.

She was very descriptive and it was drawn out as a story, but nonetheless it was a good book. I would like to read more about her and plan on looking up The NY Times article. I think she is inspiring for changing under her circumstances. I do wish it elaborated on how her sister and her reconnected in the end.

Liz Murray had loving parents but they were addicts who spent their welfare checks on drugs, sometimes leaving Liz and her sister with nothing but ice cubes and toothpaste to eat. When she had a home its filthy backed-up shower meant she couldn't bathe, so classmates made fun of her rancid smell, grimy appearance and tattered clothes. In first grade she was cutting school to look out for her parents. By 15 she was homeless and on her own. It's a childhood you would not wish on anybody, but like Jeannette Walls in THE GLASS CASTLE being neglected made her resourceful, and it's transfixing to read how she coped with a life that's hard to imagine. It was not a straight path to success, but she ultimately managed to be accepted by Harvard even though she was squeezing four years of high school into two while living on the streets.

In Breaking Night, 30-year-old Liz Murray shares memories of her childhood through teenage years lived in NYC with her two-years-older sister and poor-choice-making parents, (p 5) "Ma used coke, shooting dissolved white dust into her veins..." while her father, (p 7) "became both well-educated and a drug addict." The adults' drinking and drugging meant that the girls often went hungry, lived in squalor, and were forced to fend for themselves. While her elder sister seemed somewhat skilled at handling certain situations (the incident in the bath for example), Liz struggled. She skipped school regularly, hung out with other truants, spent time as a ward of the state, lied and stole. At the start of 5th grade, she learned of her mother's affliction with AIDS (her father also eventually contracted it) and had to deal regularly with her mom's debilitating bouts of mental illness. In spite of barely getting by, she shunned help from teachers and social workers, gravitating instead towards those in similar situations. Fortunately, she finally figures things out, gains self-confidence, and seeks success; applying to an alternative high school at the age of 17 with only a single credit to her name in order to earn a diploma. Through efforts that would make any parent proud, and the support of excellent educators, she succeeds scholastically, leading her to apply for scholarships in hopes of gaining entrance into a great college.

Although Ms. Murray generally keeps the readers interest, especially from the beginning until about the two-thirds point and then again when she heads back to high school, somewhere between those two sections, things seemed to drag (and I found myself having to resist the urge to simply skim). Worst of the book are certain sentences that sound strange, such as, (p 117) "The grime had an airborne weight that you could feel as you breathed," (p 157) "Thoughts broke loose, swarming in my mind like a jumble of angry bees," (p 206) "Her voice, like some confused child, made my throat feel as if it were splintered with razors," (p 208) "If only he could be wonderful all the time and not send me so deep inside myself for answers that I didn't have," and (p 210) "Sam was speaking a jumble of words at me." The fact that the memoir ends when Liz is only 17 years old turns what would otherwise be a weakness, its high-school reading/writing level, into an unexpected strength. Although one would not expect it to win any literary awards, the book is worth the look because of Ms. Murray ability to succeed against overwhelming odds, and her genuine thankfulness towards those whose kindnesses helped her achieve it. Better: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Every Silence Has an End by Ingrid Betancourt, and Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu.

I couldn't put this book down. The story was captivating and the detail provided was thorough without being too lengthy. It gave me insight into societal aspects that I have not only never experienced but had inaccurate views of. Read this book, you won't be sorry!

I'm generally a fan of memoirs by people who have overcome adversity and this was no exception. The book was incredibly well written and very engaging and I liked it almost as well as Glass Castle, which it has been compared to. I read it in 3 days which is fairly fast for me considering I work full time and have small children but it was good enough to keep me awake at night. This is a book I'll recommend to all of my friends without hesitation.

Very heart-breaking story. But as a memoir I find it hard that a very small child would remember in the detail in which she writes. A good read at times, but has a somewhat unsatisfactory end. Overall a very educational look at how some families "work." And eyeopener for someone in a more normal environment.

I love to read a memoir to get a view on someone's life. This was a tale of loss, gain, struggle, pain, growth and the ability to continuously move forward. It's incredible detail can paint a vivid picture that leaves you in awe but eager to continue. I would recommend this to anyone, especially people who tend to make themselves a victim of their situation. Thank you Liz, for sharing your story.

Liz Murray was raised in a home plagued with poverty and addiction. Yet somehow, she recollects moments when she felt loved; fleeting memories of being read to in bed by her mother and trips to the Bronx public library with her father empowered Liz to escape her circumstances through literature during formative years.

In middle school, Liz credits her access to books as a fundamental component of her advancement through 8th grade. "Any formal education I received came from the few days I spent in attendance, mixed with knowledge I absorbed from random readings of my or Daddy's ever-growing supply of unreturned library books. And as long as I still showed up steadily the last few weeks of classes to take the standardized tests, I kept squeaking by from grade to grade" (p. 112). Ultimately, this foundation of free voluntary reading propelled Liz to overcome poverty.

Few high-poverty children have this chance. Studies show that children of poverty typically have very little access to books; they live in neighborhoods with poorly funded public libraries, attend schools with poorly funded classroom and school libraries, and have few books in the home.

This memoir chronicles Liz Murray's life in New York City. Haven been born into poverty to tow drug addicted parents, she decides at the age of fourteen to run away from home and live on the streets or with friends.

She details how she overcame her obstacles and was able to go to Harvard. The story is inspirational, uplifting and thought provoking. It's good to know that she has taken her experiences to speak to and motivate others to better their lives.

This book was a little difficult for me to read at times. What a story of troubling times for Liz Murray. I knew it would end up well, but reading the details was hard. Especially the "breaking night" chapter. What an inspirational book, though. Just reinforced to me that it's in the tough times we grow. Thanks, Liz, for sharing your powerful story. I know you will inspire many young people who are victims of abuse and neglect. As a CASA GAL volunteer, I sincerely appreciated your book.

I read the whole book hoping it would get better. It was repetitive in several places and she rambles a lot. I could not stop reading it sometimes and other times just waded through it. The story is compelling but poorly written. I would not recommend it. Watch the movie instead.

A woman who grows up w two drug addicts as parents. Her life is worse than horrible yet after years of skipping school and being homeless she somehow gets it together and ultimately ends up at Harvard. We definitely take our "normal" lives for granite.

I once heard an author say she considered herself something of a "tragedy snob," referring to how it was hard for her to feel a lick of sympathy for others who are suffering simply because she had suffered so much in her own life. I relate totally in that its not often that I am struck by the obstacles people face, but when I read Breaking Night I was just so impacted by what Liz went through. Everything from molestation to her parents choosing to get high over feeding her, to homelessness, to dropping out of school, an abusive relationship...I mean, it's almost more than one person can take. Yet Liz did not once feel sorry for herself, she just came to a point where she basically said "okay what am I going to do about it?" Then she stepped up and changed her life, and she changed the lives of those around her, bringing her friends along any chance she got.

Breaking Night is heartbreaking and so well written that I couldn't put it down. Thank you Liz for putting into perspective what really matters in life: loving people (even your troubled parents) unconditionally, taking charge of your life, rising above your circumstances and contributing positively to the lives of others. I teach the 11th grade and I know now what their spring reading book will be. Beautiful and life changing, I love Breaking Night!

Liz Murray takes the reader through a complex and painful journey. Her parents were drug addicts so in a way she brought herself up. Somehow she managed to stay on track, even when she was avoiding school. She didn't get into drugs herself and she didn't get crushed by her situation. Even early on, she made things happen, finding "jobs" in a grocery store and gas station.

The best part of the book comes when Liz realizes she needs to do something with her life. A friend tells her about alternative high schools. Liz somehow finds the energy, courage and persistence to apply to all the alternative high schools in New York. She describes one day when she's ready to give up. She's got enough money left for a pizza or train fare to her next interview. Somehow she gets on the train and that's when her life really turns around. Her high school has dedicated teachers and friendly students. She sets a goal: graduate in two years with straight A's. On a school field trip she adds another goal: go to Harvard.

Somehow she does all those things. Her life is a struggle; she doesn't have a home so she has to study in stairwells and other people's homes. I was exhausted just reading about it. Of course, before we open the book we know the outcome.

Murray's book says more than a dozen self-help inspiration books put together. She walks the talk. She somehow knew that much of success is just showing up. She knew her family wouldn't be there for her so she finds a new family from her high school friends and teachers.

And Murray can write. She evokes scenes and conversations. The last few pages of the book are especially strong.

I'm wondering what's next and what happened to some of the people Murray met along the way, and very glad I got this review copy.

In a age where it is very easy to play the victim and blame your circumstance and those around you for why your life turned out all wrong along comes Liz Murry and shows us that none of us are a slave of our circumstances. Like Liz there are countless others who have risen above their circumstances while others have unfortunately fallen far below. An insightful and compelling memoir. I was particularly impressed by how she held no bitterness towards her parents and how freeing that was for her. Reminds me of the words by someone even greater, "we forgive because we are forgiven."

A reminder for us all to look from where we've come and where we want to go. A great book to put into the hands of any young person a little lost in life.

Liz Murray's younger years were filled with extreme adversity and hardship. Her parents were addicted to drugs and lived in terrible poverty. Liz's childhood was difficult and she had a hard time staying in school. Eventually, due to illness and other factors, she ends up homeless and without a real education. However, because of her resilience and strength of character, Liz turns her life around and ends up going to Harvard.

This book is a memoir about how Liz overcame all obstacles and, despite it all, became successful, inspiring a movie and writing a book about her life. It is a surprisingly fast read with some very interesting insights about the educational system, being homeless and surviving. Although, at times heartbreaking, it is not a pity tale, but an uplifting story of hope and change. At no moment does the book become preachy or dreary, which is surprising given its premise. This is a great read and very inspiring.

As a young woman who attended graduate school at Lehman College in the Bronx, I identified with monuments mentioned throughout these tales. It was difficult to imagine as I was driving up with my parking pass to enter classes of the anatomy of the speech mechanisms. There was a young girl not far from where I was, she had such determination within her. This book is beyond inspiring and has brought me into the world of non-fiction. I don't think I could read anything but the truth from this point forward. I have recommended this story as a read to many a friends T this point. This is. It just an incredible read, but a mind altering and as lame as it is to say, inspiring story.

Grateful. I feel grateful that someone has finally formed the words and sentences to describe for me my personal journey through childhood poverty and family addiction. I thought that it would be too painful for me to revisit this issue, but Liz's expression of love, strength, innocence and perseverance held me and reminded me of those qualities in myself, and how I somehow survived also. Her story reminded me of my own personal Angel Brigade. Thank you Liz . I'm inspired to pay it forward.

I devoured this book over the weekend. I couldn't put it down. I had heard about Liz's story on 20/20. The book was well-written. At times it was difficult to read, simply because of how rough her life was. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because there was only one photo, that of her mother as a teenager. I really would have liked more photos. Other than that, I highly recommend this book. Her story is one that you will think of long after you've finished reading.

She was very descriptive and it was drawn out as a story, but nonetheless it was a good book. I would like to read more about her and plan on looking up The NY Times article. I think she is inspiring for changing under her circumstances. I do wish it elaborated on how her sister and her reconnected in the end.

Definitely an inspiring story and I do recommend it, but it was hard for me to read about all hardships the author went through. I usually avoid books like this, but I was drawn to this one. After reading it, I placed in my high school classroom library. My students love it. This genre is one of their favorites. It is so rare for a person to overcome the obstacles that Liz Murray had to overcome in order to be successful. It is much more common for people to take the path of least resistance and to then accept their lot in life. That difference is why I wanted my students to read it.

Liz Murray had loving parents but they were addicts who spent their welfare checks on drugs, sometimes leaving Liz and her sister with nothing but ice cubes and toothpaste to eat. When she had a home its filthy backed-up shower meant she couldn't bathe, so classmates made fun of her rancid smell, grimy appearance and tattered clothes. In first grade she was cutting school to look out for her parents. By 15 she was homeless and on her own. It's a childhood you would not wish on anybody, but like Jeannette Walls in THE GLASS CASTLE being neglected made her resourceful, and it's transfixing to read how she coped with a life that's hard to imagine. It was not a straight path to success, but she ultimately managed to be accepted by Harvard even though she was squeezing four years of high school into two while living on the streets.

In Breaking Night, 30-year-old Liz Murray shares memories of her childhood through teenage years lived in NYC with her two-years-older sister and poor-choice-making parents, (p 5) "Ma used coke, shooting dissolved white dust into her veins..." while her father, (p 7) "became both well-educated and a drug addict." The adults' drinking and drugging meant that the girls often went hungry, lived in squalor, and were forced to fend for themselves. While her elder sister seemed somewhat skilled at handling certain situations (the incident in the bath for example), Liz struggled. She skipped school regularly, hung out with other truants, spent time as a ward of the state, lied and stole. At the start of 5th grade, she learned of her mother's affliction with AIDS (her father also eventually contracted it) and had to deal regularly with her mom's debilitating bouts of mental illness. In spite of barely getting by, she shunned help from teachers and social workers, gravitating instead towards those in similar situations. Fortunately, she finally figures things out, gains self-confidence, and seeks success; applying to an alternative high school at the age of 17 with only a single credit to her name in order to earn a diploma. Through efforts that would make any parent proud, and the support of excellent educators, she succeeds scholastically, leading her to apply for scholarships in hopes of gaining entrance into a great college.

Although Ms. Murray generally keeps the readers interest, especially from the beginning until about the two-thirds point and then again when she heads back to high school, somewhere between those two sections, things seemed to drag (and I found myself having to resist the urge to simply skim). Worst of the book are certain sentences that sound strange, such as, (p 117) "The grime had an airborne weight that you could feel as you breathed," (p 157) "Thoughts broke loose, swarming in my mind like a jumble of angry bees," (p 206) "Her voice, like some confused child, made my throat feel as if it were splintered with razors," (p 208) "If only he could be wonderful all the time and not send me so deep inside myself for answers that I didn't have," and (p 210) "Sam was speaking a jumble of words at me." The fact that the memoir ends when Liz is only 17 years old turns what would otherwise be a weakness, its high-school reading/writing level, into an unexpected strength. Although one would not expect it to win any literary awards, the book is worth the look because of Ms. Murray ability to succeed against overwhelming odds, and her genuine thankfulness towards those whose kindnesses helped her achieve it. Better: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Every Silence Has an End by Ingrid Betancourt, and Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu.

This memior was rich and amazing.. Like The Glass Castle, keeps you rivited to it. I stayed awake to 1:30 one morning trying to finish this.
Liz has gone through so much and actually stayed sane through it all. I found myself cheering her and wanting to know more about her after i finished.
This young woman could have just given up and been another welfare person.. or became a drug addict like her parents did.
I give her a sound applause.. and also her sister Lisa for overcoming so much

I couldn't put this book down. The story was captivating and the detail provided was thorough without being too lengthy. It gave me insight into societal aspects that I have not only never experienced but had inaccurate views of. Read this book, you won't be sorry!

I'm generally a fan of memoirs by people who have overcome adversity and this was no exception. The book was incredibly well written and very engaging and I liked it almost as well as Glass Castle, which it has been compared to. I read it in 3 days which is fairly fast for me considering I work full time and have small children but it was good enough to keep me awake at night. This is a book I'll recommend to all of my friends without hesitation.

Very heart-breaking story. But as a memoir I find it hard that a very small child would remember in the detail in which she writes. A good read at times, but has a somewhat unsatisfactory end. Overall a very educational look at how some families "work." And eyeopener for someone in a more normal environment.

I love to read a memoir to get a view on someone's life. This was a tale of loss, gain, struggle, pain, growth and the ability to continuously move forward. It's incredible detail can paint a vivid picture that leaves you in awe but eager to continue. I would recommend this to anyone, especially people who tend to make themselves a victim of their situation. Thank you Liz, for sharing your story.

Liz Murray was raised in a home plagued with poverty and addiction. Yet somehow, she recollects moments when she felt loved; fleeting memories of being read to in bed by her mother and trips to the Bronx public library with her father empowered Liz to escape her circumstances through literature during formative years.

In middle school, Liz credits her access to books as a fundamental component of her advancement through 8th grade. "Any formal education I received came from the few days I spent in attendance, mixed with knowledge I absorbed from random readings of my or Daddy's ever-growing supply of unreturned library books. And as long as I still showed up steadily the last few weeks of classes to take the standardized tests, I kept squeaking by from grade to grade" (p. 112). Ultimately, this foundation of free voluntary reading propelled Liz to overcome poverty.

Few high-poverty children have this chance. Studies show that children of poverty typically have very little access to books; they live in neighborhoods with poorly funded public libraries, attend schools with poorly funded classroom and school libraries, and have few books in the home.

This memoir chronicles Liz Murray's life in New York City. Haven been born into poverty to tow drug addicted parents, she decides at the age of fourteen to run away from home and live on the streets or with friends.

She details how she overcame her obstacles and was able to go to Harvard. The story is inspirational, uplifting and thought provoking. It's good to know that she has taken her experiences to speak to and motivate others to better their lives.

This book was a little difficult for me to read at times. What a story of troubling times for Liz Murray. I knew it would end up well, but reading the details was hard. Especially the "breaking night" chapter. What an inspirational book, though. Just reinforced to me that it's in the tough times we grow. Thanks, Liz, for sharing your powerful story. I know you will inspire many young people who are victims of abuse and neglect. As a CASA GAL volunteer, I sincerely appreciated your book.

"Two Thumbs Way Up." 5 Bright Stars!
What an incredible journey that Liz Murray has travelled thus far in her life. She not only proves that each of us is responsible for our own successes, but also for changing our paths to make them happen.

I had real trouble reading the first half of this book - it was very sad and hard to know how very difficult life was for young Liz. However, by the end of the book, it was so amazing to hear how she made the decision that, no matter what, she would graduate from high school. What power and dedication. Also good to hear about the power of teachers to affect someone's future so strongly!

Breaking Night captivated me from beginning to end. So many people, myself included, struggle to find the meaning of our life. Liz was able to find her meaning against all odds. I felt like I was walking with Liz through each phase, hurdle, and milestone of her life. I am inspired by this story and will continually remind myself that no matter how hard my life might seem, it's a cakewalk compared to what others might be experiencing.

Not that well written, but a great true story. It's such an incredible story that I assume fact checkers did their work and verified its veracity, which should n't be hard to do. Very impressed with this Liz Murray, as well as with her sister!

Liz Murray's courageous memoir is a testament in tenacity. How does a child from a severely dysfunctional family wind up a Harvard graduate? By having a vision and jumping life's hurdles one at a time. When I wasn't nodding my head in affirmation, I was sniffling trying to hold back the tears. This book is less about her victimization and more about her capacity to love and her dedication to survive and then thrive in a situation where most do neither.

This story will give you both an insight to the destructive all-consuming life of drug addiction, and its impact on the addict and their families, as well the amazing love and perseverance of a child to break the cycle and succeed against what for most would be insurmountable odds. Be prepared to cry, be angry and rejoice.

I'm half-way and I hate to put it down. Written appropriately from childhood, adolescence, and on. Enduring sexual abuse, a mother with aids, living on the streets, and more life trauma than our average 'life stuff', Liz is an amazing human being.

This was a great read, I couldn't put it down. I think it is difficult to write about yourelf without sounding egotistical or boring. This book walked the line between "who cares" and actually making Liz Murray into someone I would like to meet. She definitely had a "hard" childhood being hungry a great deal of the time due to her drug addicted parents. The great thing about this story is that despite all of the hardships she still cared deeply about her parents and felt that they loved her despite "the next hit" being their primary focus. I would compare this book to Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt - I hope it goes on to a similar success.

If you are facing any kind of difficulty in life, this is the book that you need. I am forever changed after devouring this book in one sitting. Ms. Murray draws you in the grip of a painful past and does not relinquish you until you've witnessed her redemption. The circumstances she faced may seem extreme, but it's simply a reminder that we are ALL capable of overcoming what life throws at us. I believe in this book, and I promise, you will NOT be disappointed. Youtube has a great video review on this book, type Breaking Night Liz Murray in the search engine.

This is a powerful well written book. As a career teacher, I feel it is a must read for anybody who works with our youth. People have no idea of the baggage some of our youth carry around in their everyday life. Liz Murray's story is inspiring. I could not put it down.

The memoir is both fascinating and heartbreaking. It really shows the love, the bond we have with our parents, despite their addictions and shortcomings. It's a beautiful memoir of love, loss, and "rising above one's raising."

I just retired from 38 years of teaching. In that time, I have had my share of struggling students. Until we walk a mile in someone else's shoes, how can we truly understand? Your book helped me walk that mile, so much so, that I would like to suggest "Breaking Night" to be considered for Professional Development for teachers. You clearly describe how your school life (and personal life) was affected. But you also applaud those teachers who helped make a difference. Any one who works with kids needs to read this book. It's an inspiration for everyone. I just love your indomitable spirit!

This is a really inspiring memoir of indomitable spirit and ability to triumph over adversity. It also illustrates the fact that survival often trumps ambition for a long time. It's an honest and complicated story with, fortunately, a happy ending.