Biography Books > B Biography Books > H

Advantages: A true story, compelling and emotional
Disadvantages: none

Beautiful Child is a book written by Torey Hayden an educational psychologist and a special -education teacher. Her work chronicled in a series of books, was based in America. This true story is about a young girl who is trapped in silence, and the teacher who refuses to give up on her. As the story unfolds Torey works hard to reach the young girl who is electively mute, trying to encourage her to speak . I found myself not wanting to put this book ...
...this little girls life behind closed doors is unveiled. However with the help and support of Torey and the team, she will find empowerment and be able to achieve a better future. I reccomend this book to anyone working with special needs children and/or who loves emotive stories. It's wonderful. ... Read review

Advantages: Will leave you feeling good!
Disadvantages: One for the girls only!

Now, I'm not one for celebrity Biography\'s or autobiography\'s especially by so called celebs who bring out a book after being in the limelight for a couple of years or just because they have been on BB (which Teri isn\'t)!! This book however seemed to scream at me from the shelf. I have always liked Teri Hatcher and having seen her in the press for various bad things happening to her I was intreagued to say the least to hear things from her point ...
...I loved it and couldn't put it down. She is very funny! You fall for her story like that of a blockbuster movie. The book is very personal and she talks very frankly about everything that has happened to her and how she coped, or didn\'t cope as the case may be. You find yourself relating to certain aspects of her story which only helps you be captivated even more. The way this book is written is like you personally, are having a conversation with ... Read review

Advantages: Well written, easy to read
Disadvantages: Nothing new, its all been written before

Madonna - love her or loathe her, it seems that everyone has an opinion about her. With a career that now spans over 25 years her rise to fame from the early days when she first arrived in New York, penniless but with huge ambitions has been well documented many times. Madonna - Queen of the world by Douglas Thompson could at first glance quite easily be dismissed as yet another regurgitated account of Madonna's rise to fame but from the sleeve notes ...
...that everyone claims to already know everything there is to know about. Madonna has given many interviews throughout her life. Usually these interviews are carefully timed to coincide with her latest project, be it a new album, movie, book or other project and the new image that compliments the project is always flaunted to its maximum effect. When it comes to being interviewed Madonna always calls the shots, so how can anyone really expect to know ... Read review

Advantages: A true life account of a terrible accident.
Disadvantages: You don't always get a happy ending in real life.

The book I will now review contains probably one of the worst nightmares any parent could anticipate, the fact is a biography detailing the entire scenario makes it even more difficult and heart wrenching to read. The book I will now review is "Shattered", by Mavis Marsh and ghost written by Andrew Crofts. The book starts with the awful words of the doctor that has done the pre assessment on Mavis's son Mathew - "Your son will be a cabbage for ...
...a vegetable, or what-ever you want to call him". From that awful statement the story goes back to Mavis's ( the mother, writer and teller of this somewhat frightening story), childhood, first detailing her parents life, from jobs and home life, through to her father serving in the war and the untold horrors he had witnessed. From this she went on to her school life, until reading further into the book I never quite understood the purpose for all ... Read review

Advantages: vivid and real
Disadvantages: none

"Cider with Rosie" has to be one of my most memorable, poignant and haunting reads. I discovered it when I was 16 in an English class whilst learning about descriptive writing and use of imagery. I didn't have to read it, I was just shown an example of his work, but it lured me in hook line and sinker and I couldn't put the book down. The book is an evocative memoir of his childhood growing up in a Cotswold village. He captures the time and the ...
...in such a manner that conveys reality - he paints a picture with his words and he excels in this art. I think the opening paragraph is simply magical, "I was set down from the carrier's cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began. The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each ... Read review