First-Generation College Students
Although anyone can enjoy these books, these titles may be of particular interest to first-generation college students.
Click on the book title to find it in a library near you!
Click on the book title to find it in a library near you!
Everybody Plays the Fool: A Novel by Brandelyn N. Castine, 2006
Join Melody as she navigates her way through college and medical school as a first-generation student. |
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz, 2009
This novel follows an admissions officer from an Ivy League institution as she makes decisions regarding student admission. |
Joe College by Tom Perrotta, 2000
Danny is a first-generation student at Yale. While his peers are on a road trip for Spring Break, Danny is forced to head home to New Jersey and help his father with the family business. |
Rich Boy by Sharon Pomerantz, 2010
At an upper-class institution, Robert creates a new identity for himself leaving his working-class background behind. What will happen when he meets a beautiful girl that threatens to expose his former life? |
The Breaks by Richard Price, 2011
Peter Keller is the first person in his family to go to college. Read about his journey to graduation and applying to law school. |
Getting In by Karen Stabiner, 2010
This book follows five families through the process of applying and being admitted to colleges and universities. |
Biographies & Memoirs
Although these works are not fiction they read more like novels than non-fiction texts.
Read about people that were first-generation students in their family.
Read about people that were first-generation students in their family.
A Carpenter's Daughter: A Working-Class Woman in Higher Education by Renny Christopher, 2009
This book chronicles the difficulties of navigating the education system as a first-generation college student. |
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson, 1990
Ben Carson grew up in the inner-city and overcame obstacles to attend college and medical school. He later became the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. |
Paper Daughter: A Memoir by M. Elaine Mar, 1999
M. Elaine Mar emigrated to the United States from Hong Kong when she was five years old. This book chronicles her journey to navigate between the two worlds and cultures she knew: Chinese and American. |
A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind, 1998.
Cedric Jennings grew up in the ghetto and attended school in Washington, D.C. Follow his story as he overcomes life in the ghetto and begins his quest for education at Brown University. |
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, 2005
This book chronicles the story of Jeanette Walls as she and her siblings support each other, against all odds, with the determination to live a successful life. |
Those Winter Sundays: Female Academics and Their Working-Class Parents by Kathleen A. Welsch,
This book explains how the lives of working-class parents impact female children attending college. |