10 must-read biography books like Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

Cover of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

By: Andrea Elliott

4.72

Format: 602 pages, Hardcover

The riveting, unforgettable story of a girl whose indomitable spirit is tested by homelessness, pov…

".. they assume that intelligence is a pre-ordained trait, [...], their perceived destiny, which flows from another belief, that the poor are to blame for their condition. Poverty is the proof of deficiencies, including an intellect that is "fixed". Dweck's research challenges this belief. She shows that when children think that their intellectual abilities can improve, they are more likely to work hard. And working hard allows the brain to "grow" by strengthening its neural connections. [...] This makes struggle a good thing. Not a sign of stupidity, but a path to intellect. At Hershey, the growth mindset can be reduced to one word. Yet. The school wants its children to go from saying, 'I'm not good at math." to saying, 'I'm not good at math yet." The 'Yet' puts them on a continuum where mistakes are embraced rather than shunned. Students are taught about the growth mindset, using it as a crutch when they stumble. In math class, they can be heard telling one another, 'Wait, don't get frustrated, we can feel our brains growing."

-Andrea Elliott, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

".. they assume that intelligence is a pre-ordained trait, [...], their perceived destiny, which flows from another belief, that the poor are to blame for their condition. Poverty is the proof of deficiencies, including an intellect that is "fixed". Dweck's research challenges this belief. She shows that when children think that their intellectual abilities can improve, they are more likely to work hard. And working hard allows the brain to "grow" by strengthening its neural connections. [...] This makes struggle a good thing. Not a sign of stupidity, but a path to intellect. At Hershey, the growth mindset can be reduced to one word. Yet. The school wants its children to go from saying, 'I'm not good at math." to saying, 'I'm not good at math yet." The 'Yet' puts them on a continuum where mistakes are embraced rather than shunned. Students are taught about the growth mindset, using it as a crutch when they stumble. In math class, they can be heard telling one another, 'Wait, don't get frustrated, we can feel our brains growing."

-Andrea Elliott, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

If you liked the biography plot in Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott , here is a list of 10 books like this:

Cover of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

1. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

By: Matthew Desmond

3.37

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

From Harvard sociologist and MacArthur "Genius" Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and… read more

Similar categories in Matthew Desmond's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • history
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • sociology
  • audiobook

2. There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America

By: Alex Kotlowitz

4.00

Format: None pages,

This is the moving and powerful account of two remarkable boys struggling to survive in Chicago's H… read more

Similar categories in Alex Kotlowitz's There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

Cover of Trust by Hernan Diaz

3. Trust

By: Hernan Diaz

3.83

Format: 402 pages, Hardcover

10 hours, 21 minutes From an award-winning chronicler of our nation's history and its legends co… read more

Similar categories in Hernan Diaz's Trust book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • audiobook
"Where there's a ventriloquist, there's a dummy."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"Chaos is a vortex that spins faster with each thing it swallows."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"Silence between 2 is always shared. But 1 of the 2 owns it and shares it with the other."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"I’ve come to think one is truly married only when one is more committed to one’s vows than the person they refer to."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

Cover of The Covenant of Water by Abraham   Verghese

4. The Covenant of Water

By: Abraham Verghese

4.45

Format: 724 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial ep… read more

Similar categories in Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • audiobook
Cover of Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

5. Rough Sleepers

By: Tracy Kidder

4.35

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

In Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder shows how one person can make a difference, as he tells the story o… read more

Similar categories in Tracy Kidder's Rough Sleepers book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • biography
  • memoir
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • sociology
  • audiobook
Cover of James by Percival Everett

6. James

By: Percival Everett

4.54

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and f… read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's James book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • audiobook
Cover of King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

7. King: A Life

By: Jonathan Eig

4.67

Format: 688 pages, Hardcover

The first full biography in decades, King mixes revelatory and exhaustive new research with brisk a… read more

Similar categories in Jonathan Eig's King: A Life book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • audiobook
Cover of His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels

8. His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

By: Robert Samuels

4.52

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism… read more

Similar categories in Robert Samuels's His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • biography
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • audiobook
Cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James   McBride

9. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

By: James McBride

4.00

Format: 385 pages, Hardcover

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing de… read more

Similar categories in James McBride's The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • audiobook
Cover of The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen

10. The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions

By: Jonathan Rosen

4.07

Format: 576 pages, Hardcover

“Brave and nuanced…an act of tremendous compassion and a literary triumph.” — The New York Times … read more

Similar categories in Jonathan Rosen's The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
  • audiobook
"It's true I didn't love the job, but I did want the money. If I was too incompetent for ordinary work, I would have to do something extraordinary or face destruction."

-Jonathan Rosen, The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions

"Money had replaced community mental healthcare the way medication had replaced state hospitals. Medication did not go looking for those who resisted taking it, and money could not administer itself. …"

-Jonathan Rosen, The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions

Cover of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

11. Demon Copperhead

By: Barbara Kingsolver

4.50

Format: 560 pages, Hardcover

"Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose." Set in t… read more

Similar categories in Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • audiobook
"A kid is a terrible thing to be, in charge of nothing."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"I can still feel in my bones how being mad was the one thing holding me together."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"Counting on Jesus to save the day is no more real than sending up the Batman signal."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"life is a wild, impetuous ride. There could be good shit up ahead, don’t rule it out."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

Cover of Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

12. Poverty, by America

By: Matthew Desmond

4.27

Format: 284 pages, Hardcover

Reimagining the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in Ameri… read more

Similar categories in Matthew Desmond's Poverty, by America book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • history
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • poverty
  • sociology
  • audiobook
"To live and strive in modern America is to participate in a series of morally fraught systems. If a family’s entire financial livelihood depends on the value of its home, it’s not hard to understand …"

-Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

"The rest of us, on the ·other hand-we members of the protected classes-have grown increasingly· dependent on our welfare programs. In 2020 the federal government spent more than $193 billion on homeo…"

-Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

"In her book The Government-Citizen Disconnect, the political scientist Suzanne Mettler reports that 96 percent of American adults have relied on a major government program at some point in their live…"

-Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America

Cover of We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian

13. We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America

By: Roxanna Asgarian

4.32

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

The shocking, deeply reported story of a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of six children—and … read more

Similar categories in Roxanna Asgarian's We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • sociology
  • audiobook
Cover of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

14. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

By: Patrick Radden Keefe

4.54

Format: 535 pages, Hardcover

The highly anticipated portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, by the prize-winning, b… read more

Similar categories in Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • history
  • biography
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"The truth was, Librium and Valium were marketed using such a variety of gendered mid-century tropes—the neurotic singleton, the frazzled housewife, the joyless career woman, the menopausal shrew—that…"

-Patrick Radden Keefe, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Cover of Stay True by Hua Hsu

15. Stay True

By: Hua Hsu

4.03

Format: 208 pages, Hardcover

From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for se… read more

Similar categories in Hua Hsu's Stay True book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • biography
  • memoir
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
"My parents are great, I said. Unbelievably non-stereotypical."

-Hua Hsu, Stay True

"The first generation thinks about survival; the ones that follow tell the stories."

-Hua Hsu, Stay True

"You were describing people we had not yet met, maybe people we ourselves would become."

-Hua Hsu, Stay True

"It was a sign of personal growth, I thought to myself, that I could be friends with someone who liked Pearl Jam this much."

-Hua Hsu, Stay True

Cover of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

16. Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

By: Andrea Elliott

4.72

Format: 602 pages, Hardcover

The riveting, unforgettable story of a girl whose indomitable spirit is tested by homelessness, pov… read more

Similar categories in Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • biography
  • memoir
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • poverty
  • sociology
  • audiobook
".. they assume that intelligence is a pre-ordained trait, [...], their perceived destiny, which flows from another belief, that the poor are to blame for their condition. Poverty is the proof of defi…"

-Andrea Elliott, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

Cover of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint   Smith

17. How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

By: Clint Smith

4.71

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Poet and contributor to The Atlantic Clint Smith’s revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a… read more

Similar categories in Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • audiobook
"How do you tell a story that has been told the wrong way for so long?"

-Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

"Just as he did during the Slavery at Monticello tour, David did not mince words. "There’s a chapter in Notes on the State of Virginia ,"

-Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

"Jefferson believed himself to be a benevolent slave owner, but his moral ideals came second to, and were always entangled with, his own economic interests and the interests of his family."

-Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

"But not enough people spoke about the reasons so many black children grow up communities saturated with poverty and violence. Not enough people spoke about how these realities were the result of deci…"

-Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

Cover of Solito by Javier Zamora

18. Solito

By: Javier Zamora

4.48

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

A young poet tells the story of his harrowing migration from El Salvador to the United States at th… read more

Similar categories in Javier Zamora's Solito book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • biography
  • memoir
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • audiobook
"We nod, and I notice stars beginning to pop behind his head."

-Javier Zamora, Solito

"Puedo sentir El Viaje en las plantas de mis pies. Lo veo en mis sueños."

-Javier Zamora, Solito

"My chest like hummingbirds fighting for the hibiscus in Abuelita's garden."

-Javier Zamora, Solito

"Mom to my left, Dad to my right, a mosquito net like a crown covering all of us."

-Javier Zamora, Solito

Cover of How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

19. How to Say Babylon

By: Safiya Sinclair

4.47

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s … read more

Similar categories in Safiya Sinclair's How to Say Babylon book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
  • audiobook
"As I grew older, I knew I would never be his perfect Rasta daughter. I was too headstrong, too curious. Too much of myself, and not enough of him."

-Safiya Sinclair, How to Say Babylon

Cover of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

20. Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

By: Ilyon Woo

3.99

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

New York Times Bestseller | New York Times 10 Best Books of 2023 The remarkable true story of El… read more

Similar categories in Ilyon Woo's Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • biography
  • nonfiction
  • audiobook
Cover of When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey

21. When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era

By: Donovan X. Ramsey

4.36

Format: 448 pages, Hardcover

A kaleidoscopic account of the crack cocaine era and a community’s ultimate resilience, told throug… read more

Similar categories in Donovan X. Ramsey's When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era book and Andrea Elliott's Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

  • race
  • history
  • politics
  • nonfiction
  • social justice
  • sociology
  • audiobook

20 Best audiobook books like Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

Transform Your Habits

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Matthew Desmond

3.37

Transform Your Habits

Trust

Hernan Diaz

3.83

Transform Your Habits

The Covenant of Water

Abraham Verghese

4.45

Transform Your Habits

Rough Sleepers

Tracy Kidder

4.35

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11 best-selling adult books like Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Transform Your Habits

The Women

Kristin Hannah

4.64

Transform Your Habits

The Frozen River

Ariel Lawhon

4.43

Transform Your Habits

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward

3.70

Transform Your Habits

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

Erik Larson

4.24

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