Breaking Night:A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and my Journey from Homeless to Harvard

by Liz Murray

This is the real life story of Liz Murray who went from being a homeless at the age of 15 to getting accepted into Harvard. This is an emotional page turner, powerful and a very motivational story for anyone to read.  It is a great read for teenagers who do not think they have what it takes to turn their lives around, it shows that if you want something so bad, nothing in life can stop you, except you yourself. The things she has been through in her life, and if she can make it anyone can.  

Liz Murray was born in 1980 to drug addicted parents, who later contracted HIV.  They couldn't even take care of themselves, any money they had went to drugs, how were they supposed to take care of Liz and her older sister Lisa.  She writes that drugs were the 'wrecking ball' that destroyed her family.  So she dropped out of school by the time she was 15 she ended up on the streets homeless and by herself and depended on some friends for shelter.  After her mother died she realized that in order for her to have any sort of a normal life she needs education.  So the girl who hated school enrolled to get her high school diploma instead of a GED.  She eventually graduated high school in a matter of 2 years instead of the 4, she had teachers who were rooting for her.  The book ends with her waiting and about to receive her acceptance letter to Harvard University. Read the book if you would like to know more about what Liz Murray has been through and how she came out of it on top.  It is amazing how she never plays the victim card, or blame her family for the life she has, in fact it is not until she is safe in her own apartment getting ready to enroll that she allows herself to grieve over the way she was raised.