Overview

Summer 1985, in the downtrodden Bronx neighbourhood of New York. At just 5 years old this would be the last time that Liz Murray could remember feeling like a child. In the years that would follow she would be consistently absent from school, kept awake with the pain of hunger or from waiting up until the small hours for her drug addicted parents to return home parents who spent what little money their government dependent family had on getting their next fix. Barely managing to hold her family together and outcast for her dirty appearance, Liz was certain that dreams of a better life were just that. At the age of 15, she found herself homeless with nowhere to turn but the rough streets, scraping by eating garbage and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. But when her mother died of AIDS a year later, Liz s life changed forever.Determined to take control, she pulled herself back from the brink and set about picking up the pieces of her life- Starting with finishing high school. Without a stable home and while supporting herself and her sister, Liz defied all the odds when at the age of eighteen she was awarded a once unthinkable scholarship to Harvard. Told

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9781846058707

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Reviews

It's a white-knuckle account of survival, marked by desperation, brutality and fear, set in the wilds of the Bronx...Breaking Night itself is full of heart, without a sliver of ice, and deeply moving -- Tara McKelvey The New York Times Liz Murray shows us that the human spirit has infinite ability to grow and can never be limited by circumstance. Breaking Night is a beautifully written, heartfelt memoir that will change the way you look at your community, the obstacles in your own life, and the American Dream. An inspiration; a must-read. -- Robert Redford As much as it is a memoir, Breaking Night is a primer on how poverty and drug abuse create a heartbreaking underclass of children, one that goes largely unnoticed. By the truly uplifting ending, Liz Murray has shown us the worst, and the very best, of America. -- Haven Kimmel, Author Of A Girl Named Zippy And She Got Up Off The Couch In tender and graceful prose, Murray gives us the uncompromising and searing story of a forgotten family and devastated childhood. She reminds us that the greatest acts of love and failure can occur side by side; that isolation and loss can give way to accomplishment and promise. She offers the awesome hope that, regardless of its past, a life can go beyond endurance and reach for triumph. She leaves us with the memory of a child who clung to and refused to surrender the dignity of her soul. -- Andrew Bridge, Author Of Hope's Boy Liz Murray's startling and beautifully written memoir is a story of one young woman's tenacity, ingenuity, brilliance and compassion. It not only shows us the fierce, triumphant spirit of teenage girls, but that of the human spirit, as well. Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and I am An Emotional Creature

Author Information

Liz Murray completed high school and won a New York Times scholarship while homeless, and graduated from Harvard University in 2009. She has been awarded The White House Project Role Model Award, a Christopher Award, as well as the Chutzpah Award, which was given to her by Oprah Winfrey. Lifetime Television produced a film about Murray's life, Homeless to Harvard- The Liz Murray Story. The founder and director of Manifest Living, a New York-based company that empowers adults to create the results they want in their own lives, today Murray travels the world delivering motivational speeches and conducting workshops to inspire others.

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