If you loved
Books like Genie
A heartbreaking and thought-provoking exploration of language, humanity, and the ethical failures of those who seek to study it. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Genie.
- heartbreaking
- thought-provoking
- melancholic
- 01
The boy who was raised as a dog
Bruce Duncan Perry and Maia Szalavitz · 2006
A compassionate, eye-opening exploration of how extreme trauma shapes the developing brain and the innovative therapies that offer a path to healing.
- 02
Half broke horses
Jeannette Walls
A dusty, unsentimental ride alongside a fiercely independent woman carving her own path through the American Southwest.
- 03
Running with Scissors
Augusten Burroughs
A hilariously horrifying plunge into a childhood where the adults are the lunatics and survival requires a razor-sharp sense of irony.
- 04
A man named Dave
David J. Pelzer
A raw, unflinching exploration of carrying childhood scars into adulthood and the arduous, triumphant work of finally letting them go.
- 05
Let me hear your voice
Catherine Maurice
A fierce, emotionally grueling, and ultimately triumphant journey through the labyrinth of a life-altering diagnosis.
- 06
A shining affliction
Annie G. Rogers · 1995
A raw, poetic exploration of the fragile boundary between healing others and losing oneself.
- 07
A Stolen Life
Jaycee Lee Dugard
A harrowing but ultimately triumphant testament to the unbreakable human spirit, told with unflinching, quiet grace.
- 08
A child called "it"
Dave Pelzer · 1995
A harrowing, unflinching descent into a child's living nightmare that ultimately stands as a testament to the unbreakable will to survive.
- 09
Nobody Nowhere
Donna Williams · 1992
A searing, deeply internal memoir that translates the profound isolation of an misunderstood mind into a triumphant quest for self-discovery.
- 10
As Nature Made Him
John Colapinto · 2000
A gripping, heartbreaking investigation into medical hubris and the unbreakable core of human identity.
- 11
Ellen Foster
Kaye Gibbons · 1987
A poignant journey from the shadows of childhood misfortune into the warmth of a loving, chosen home.
- 12
The little girl who lives down the lane
Laird Koenig
A claustrophobic, autumnal descent into the chilling lengths a fiercely independent child will go to protect her secrets.
