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These texts explore the unique challenges of those students who identify as "first-gen," i.e., those whose parents do not have college degrees. This list may be particularly helpful for middle or high schoolers who also aspire to be the first to go in their families.
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| 1 |
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The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 1,342,831 ratings
score: 286,
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3 people voted
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| 2 |
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Educated
by
Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 1,813,509 ratings
score: 192,
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2 people voted
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| 3 |
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Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League
by
4.04 avg rating — 1,471 ratings
score: 190,
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2 people voted
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| 3 |
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Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
by
Sarah Smarsh (Goodreads Author)
3.76 avg rating — 16,402 ratings
score: 190,
and
2 people voted
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| 5 |
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A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League
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3.96 avg rating — 4,490 ratings
score: 188,
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2 people voted
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| 5 |
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The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students
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4.25 avg rating — 2,246 ratings
score: 188,
and
2 people voted
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| 7 |
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Every Student Has a Story: Personal Narratives from First-Generation College Students
by
3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 185,
and
2 people voted
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| 8 |
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A Lesson Before Dying
by
3.99 avg rating — 63,546 ratings
score: 179,
and
2 people voted
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| 9 |
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A Fighting Chance
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4.15 avg rating — 14,908 ratings
score: 177,
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2 people voted
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| 10 |
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My Beloved World
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4.09 avg rating — 33,751 ratings
score: 175,
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2 people voted
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| 11 |
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Free Food for Millionaires
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3.85 avg rating — 36,213 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
|
Circuits of the Wind: A Legend of the Net Age (Volume 2)
by
Michael Stutz (Goodreads Author)
3.42 avg rating — 12 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 81,698 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 11 |
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The Ultimate College Financial Aid Guide: Understand the Aid Offer & Ask For More Money
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4.38 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
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First Gen: A Memoir
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4.19 avg rating — 1,625 ratings
score: 100,
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1 person voted
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| 11 |
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The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America
by
Monica Potts (Goodreads Author)
3.87 avg rating — 7,215 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
|
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
by
Xóchitl González (Goodreads Author)
3.77 avg rating — 44,993 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 18 |
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Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
by
4.18 avg rating — 22,267 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 18 |
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The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement
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4.23 avg rating — 98 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 18 |
|
Becoming
by
Michelle Obama (Goodreads Author)
4.44 avg rating — 1,177,297 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 21 |
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Miss Giardino
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3.44 avg rating — 66 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 21 |
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The Invisibility Factor: Administrators and Faculty Reach Out to First-Generation College Students
by
Teresa Heinz Housel (Editor)
4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 21 |
|
Bandwidth Recovery
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4.09 avg rating — 142 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 21 |
|
The Inequality Machine
by
Paul Tough (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 2,358 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 25 |
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They Tell Me of a Home
by
4.21 avg rating — 1,225 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 25 |
|
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by
3.84 avg rating — 496,654 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 25 |
|
Finding Me
by
4.54 avg rating — 172,007 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 28 |
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Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen
by
3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 29 |
|
Rich Boy
by
Sharon Pomerantz (Goodreads Author)
3.69 avg rating — 1,306 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
|
Paper Daughter
by
3.85 avg rating — 1,087 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 30 |
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Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams
by
4.11 avg rating — 919 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 32 |
|
Fifth Chinese Daughter
by
3.89 avg rating — 1,343 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 32 |
|
Make Your Home Among Strangers
by
Jennine Capó Crucet (Goodreads Author)
3.74 avg rating — 3,854 ratings
score: 93,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
Those Winter Sundays: Female Academics and Their Working-Class Parents
by
Kathleen A. Welsch (Editor)
4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 34 |
|
My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education
by
Jennine Capó Crucet (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 2,016 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 36 |
|
The Breaks
by
3.21 avg rating — 282 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
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| 37 |
|
Joe College
by
3.42 avg rating — 4,739 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
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| 37 |
|
Every Student Has a Story: Personal Narratives from First-Generation College Students (Volume 2)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 39 |
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A Carpenter's Daughter: A Working-Class Woman in Higher Education
by
3.88 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
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| 39 |
|
50 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me About College: Straight Talk for First Generation College Students FROM First Generation College Graduates
by
4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
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| 41 |
|
Decoding College: Stories, Strategies, and Struggles of First-Generation College Students
by
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
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| 42 |
|
Breaking Through
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4.07 avg rating — 3,393 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
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| 42 |
|
First-Generation College Student Experiences of Intersecting Marginalities
by
Heinz Housel (Editor)
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 44 |
|
Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education
by
4.48 avg rating — 88 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
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| 44 |
|
First-Generation College Students: Understanding and Improving the Experience from Recruitment to Commencement
by
3.49 avg rating — 35 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
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| 46 |
|
Real Life
by
3.78 avg rating — 36,899 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
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| 47 |
|
Bread Givers
by
3.75 avg rating — 6,849 ratings
score: 81,
and
1 person voted
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| 48 |
|
Ella Price's Journal
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3.92 avg rating — 117 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
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| 49 |
|
How to Be a Chicana Role Model
by
3.94 avg rating — 373 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
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| 50 |
|
Ghosts of El Grullo
by
3.48 avg rating — 21 ratings
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
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| 51 |
|
The Invitation
by
3.17 avg rating — 539 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
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| 52 |
|
Leaving Yesler
by
3.41 avg rating — 39 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
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52 books ·
10 voters ·
list created September 3rd, 2012
by La'Tonya Miles (votes) .
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