Heavy: An American Memoir

Recommended by Bianca Baldridge, Associate Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education

Baldridge describes “Heavy: An American Memoir” as an “extraordinary and deeply moving book.” Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction and voted one of the best books of 2018 by multiple publications, it explores themes of love, vulnerability, healing, and freedom through the personal narrative of author Kiese Laymon. It’s a difficult book to put down.

“I read this book in one sitting,” Baldridge said. “I think it encourages deep reflection on who we are (and how we got to be that way) and how we wish to be better in a world that is often dehumanizing to the most vulnerable.”