subject: Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard [print this page] 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.
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
