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

Amazing story and very inspiring

Une merveilleuse histoire, une vie combative, Liz Murray, vous avez été courageuse et cette autobiographie montre que rien n'est perdu. Bref, je conseille fortement cette lecture.

I must say that I watched the movie version 'From homeless to Harvard' first - something I categorically dislike, because you already know the end when reading the book afterwards. Nevertheless I bought the book and it just amazed me.My own summery:The book tells the story of Liz, born and living with her older sister and dug-addicted parents in a world she just adapts to. That world consists of waiting for the welfare check, caring for the parents while they're high, bad-tempered and longing for the next trip and the necessary school visits for not being taken by the child protective services. Liz just excepts her fate until the family splits up because Liz's mother wants to get out of drugs and cannot while being with her husband. Liz is torn between her parents. After a while, when she had made a very bad experience at a child's home and the child protective services is about to take her, she decides to become homeless, sleeping with friends and shoplifting for food, accompanied by her best friend. She begins a relationship with a cute and somehow rich and mysterious guy, who - after a while - not only cheats on her but also get violent so she leaves him. Loosing her mother to AIDS she's crushed down to the lowest limit. But like a phoenix she arises by making up her mind to work hard to do something with her life. She starts to attend a special school and by working hard and getting a lot help from teachers and friends she graduates - while still being basically homeless. Then she applies for a scholarship, sending in her story as the required essay.The book doesn't skip on the hard parts, that's what made it pretty real to me. It doesn't describe everything in detail but you definitely get the picture of the drug-taking, her first sex experience and the monthly problems arising when becoming a women, just as an example. I could visualize her before my eyes and I just admired her strong will to move on, from day to day most of the time. The happy end makes it seem kind of a fairy tale where in the end everything gets wondrously okay. It makes the world seem fair and gives hope when everything looks so dark.I'm glad, I read the book although having watched the movie. While in the movie Liz seems like a innocent girl getting in the end her reward for being brave and strong, the book makes her more realistic by showing her faults, too. Also, there are (like always) complete parts (like Liz' boy-friend) that are not even mentioned in the movie.I can definitely recommend this book! The scenery might pull you down but the end will exhilarates you.

Book was an inspiration and makes one appreciate that the grumbles of our day to day lifeare absolutely nothing compared with the lives of others. Author lifted herself up by thebootstraps and not much else and her reward is to live well and help others. It is extremelywell written if the picture of her life sometimes is even too graphic and upsetting to read.But setting that against her actually living through it all, we, in our armchairs can give thanks!Very well worth reading and I would give it to every stroppy protesting teenager you know.

A fascinating read; a tale of a person finding inner strength over long periods of time and finding success and happiness through their own hard work and effort. A fantastic book.

I bought it for my 12-year-old daughter. Nowadays, kids get what they want easily and take everything for granted. I give this book to her and want her to know that there are people living in very adverse situations and they work hard to achieve and thrive. We should learn from those aspiring and persistent people!