The #1 New York Times–bestselling author shares her rough journey to adulthood in a book that “should be read by every American” (Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette).

M.M. Kaye is a young woman forced to leave her cherished home in India when her father takes a new post in China. Though at first disoriented by the unfamiliar customs and confusing protocol of her new surroundings, it is in China that she discovers the pleasures that come from independence. Coming into her own as a painter, Kaye first meets with artistic success in China and then moves to cramped quarters in London's South Kensington neighborhood, where she begins to flourish as a writer.

This unforgettable memoir introduces us to the young Toby Wolff, by turns tough and vulnerable, crafty and bumbling, and ultimately winning. As Toby fights for identity and self-respect against the unrelenting hostility of a new stepfather, his experiences are at once poignant and comical.

Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir 

With poignant, humorous tales of powerful love, awkward sex, and courage in the face of adversity, Russell Baker reveals how he helped his mother and family through the Great Depression by delivering papers and hustling subscriptions to The Saturday Evening Post.