Born a Crime: Stories from a South African childhood by Trevor Noah 288 pages

If you think Trevor Noah is smart and funny already, just wait.  This was such a great book, especially since I listened to it read by Trevor himself.  More than anything, it is a tribute to his mother, but the stories from his childhood in South Africa are compelling, funny and thought provoking.  This book never delves into current politics, or even talks about how Trevor got his career started in America.  This is strictly about his experience growing up under apartheid and its fall.  It's no wonder he is the intelligent, and thoughtful man he is, with his mother being the woman that she was.  I highly recommend this to everyone, I enjoyed it so much! 

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz, 288pages

The full title of this book is "The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook--What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing."

I approached this book with trepidation.  I am not a fan of true crime or horror but I am happy to say this truly was a book of hope.  I wanted to read (listen) to this book because my Rotary Club is getting ready to work with a local elementary school whose teachers and staff all plan to read this.  Students who have adverse childhood experiences don't learn or behave like students who have a happy and stable home life. 

We all need appropriate love and interaction from birth and some families are not equipped to provide that.  In order to help traumatized children succeed and thrive, they need adults who can step in and be supportive and love them even when they are acting out.  That's a tall order, but this book explains why and how caring adults can impact lives.

El Deafo by Cece Bell 233 pages

This graphic novel is a semi-autobiographical recounting of Cece Bell's childhood.  The characters are all rabbit people, so it's not Persepolis accurate, but it's a really great book.  When Cece is 4 years old, she gets Meningitis and it causes substantial hearing loss.  The rest of the book is her trying to navigate a world she has lost one point of contact with.  We see her struggle with finding a friend who doesn't take advantage of her, or boss her around, or pity and talk down to her.  Let's face it, childhood is rough enough without feeling like you are completely unlike your peers.  Cece has a special hearing aid that requires her teacher to wear a microphone.  This ends up being a real perk when Cece begins hearing her teacher even when she's not in the room doing a lesson.  All's well that ends well, as the real Cece Bell grew up to write this wonderful book.  I hope a lot of kids read this and get a better feeling about making friends with those who have special needs of all kinds.  Those boxes may have different locks, but the treasures are just as rich if you manage to open them.