Educated is a memoir, so it is a bit slower at times. Although it's hard to get into at first, it's overall a good read and an empowering almost rags to riches story. Westover illustrates her upbringing, which is very different from what would generally be considered "normal" in a descriptive way. She depicts her childhood, and the stories that made her who she is today, some of which are surprising. Westover's story cements the idea that having an education can be a privilege and is something people often take for granted. The book is slightly more mature, so I'd recommend it to people with a slightly higher reading level who want a book with an empowering story. 

- Anonymous 12th grade teen volunteer

 

Publisher's description:

Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent. When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

 

Find Educated: A Memoir in our online catalog.