Herstory Books in Print

What happens when the grip of addiction is stronger than love? Where does the heart travel?  

I DREAM ABOUT YOU is a remarkable collection of 19 heart journeys, taking the reader through the tangled intersections of addiction, incarceration and family love. Seventeen were written by women and girls inside Suffolk County’s correctional facilities. Two were written by family members. As dreams of drugs forbidden in the life behind bars interweave with dreams of children lost and families abandoned, a full and important picture emerges, a testimony to the deep humanity that joins us, guiding us to look for new solutions in the field of addiction treatment and criminal justice reform.  

What is so important about maintaining ties with a parent behind bars? Isn't it better to keep a child away from prison or jail? These are the questions that come up far too often among those who are caring for the children who are left behind, be they kin care providers, social service workers or teachers and social workers in schools.
This volume allows ten of the 2.7 million children with incarcerated parents living in the United States to answer these questions through stories that the reader will never forget. In an era of broken families, silence, stigma and shame around incarceration, affecting one generation after another, the voices of these young people give a resounding YES to the need for connection, breaking out of the stigma and silence, while proudly and hopefully speaking each young person's truth. [...]

Our newly expanded edition not only gives readers a glimpse into the lives of the women and girls whom our society incarcerates, but raises the most important questions confronting families faced with imprisonment, rupture of relationships, and closed doors. This groundbreaking collection includes 65 pages of narrative writing by adolescent girls (ages 16-21) and a section on writing for restorative justice. Recommended reading for human rights and justice reform activists and for classes in criminology in high school and college including: Introduction; Theory; Delinquency; Gender and Crime; Corrections; Urban Crime; Crimes Against Children; Women's Studies, and Human Rights.

This publication features the stories of nine incarcerated adolescent girls, taking the reader deep into their lives. Published in partnership with the Raise the Age Campaign of the Correctional Association of NY's Juvenile Justice Project, it provides readers young and old with a compelling look at the need for to reexamine our criminal justice system, shedding light on the historical background that has caused New York to remain one of only two states that prosecutes, sentences and incarcerates 16 and 17-year olds as adults.

An ideal reader for course work in criminal justice, juvenile justice, women’s studies, crimes against children and [...]

A breathtaking collection of 15 stories by young people, ages 14-17, who risked their lives crossing borders. The majority crossed mountains and deserts and rivers alone. A few came with relatives by plane. A testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, which no reader will ever forget. 


Una colección impresionante de 15 historias escritas por jóvenes, entre 14 y 17 años de edad, que arriesgaron sus vidas cruzando fronteras. La mayoría cruzó montañas y desiertos y ríos solos. Algunos vinieron por avión con un familiar. Un testimonio de la resiliencia del espíritu humano, que ningún lector jamás olvidara.

This 330-page bilingual collection takes the reader through sections on Immigrant Realities, Childhood, Motherhood, Faces of Illness and Faces of Love, through the voices of 23 women writing with Herstory all over Long Island and 11 women from Sutiaba, Nicaragua. Rarely do students in ESL, foreign language, sociology, writing and women’s studies classes have the chance to experience literature created by people “just like them.” A vital reader for community welcoming groups, book clubs, and classroom use. 

The story of a half-Jewish child growing up in Nazi Germany. It traces its way through her miraculous late escape in 1941 just three weeks before the German borders close, to her coming of age as a refugee in Franco’s Spain, and finally to her attempts to become a typical American teenager. Rich in the not usually documented details of everyday life for one who falls between the cracks —neither Jewish nor Gentile and thus subject to different rules — this is also the story of a mother and daughter who, due to the circumstances in their lives, need to adjust to their too-closeness, even as they find their own ways.

This unexpectedly optimistic memoir is a testimony to living life to its fullest, written with compassion and humor. Throughout this “love song” — which only deepens as we move from diagnosis into daily living with Alzheimer’s — we find remembrances of a sixty-two-year relationship in the everyday moments that weave through this work. It is ultimately a celebration of the human spirit, a bedside book for anyone who is connected to a sufferer from memory loss.

Herstory’s manual for teachers, writers and activists provides an introduction to Herstory’s empathy-based approach to memoir writing. Readings and reflections are interwoven with a step-by-step compendium of exercises and tools.

This collection of readings and exercises—based on what causes a “Stranger/Reader” to care— fosters dialogues across differences, diversity studies and a sense of community, as well as enhanced listening, reading and narrative skills.

Esta colección de lecturas y ejercicios-basada en lo que hace que un “Extraño / Lector” se preocupe-fomenta el diálogo a través de las diferencias, estudios de diversidad y un sentido de comunidad, así como habilidades mejoradas de escucha, lectura y narrativa.