Long before the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, the visionary, Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó knew that an ephemeral and underappreciated molecule called messenger RNA could change the world. Karikó worked for more than three decades at her lab bench, in the single-minded pursuit of a breakthrough that would confirm her hunch: that mRNA could transform ordinary cells into tiny factories

Contributed by Malaina Kapoor, co-author of Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education. A searing, deeply personal memoir of a tenacious Afghan girl who educated herself behind closed doors and fought her way to a new life, the book has received advance praise from Bill Gates, Sal Khan, and

Contributed by Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America. 2023 marks the 20-year anniversary of the groundbreaking memoir, which has remained a classroom favorite for two decades.  When I was in high school, a major news outlet took a poll to find out the most unpopular country

We’re delighted to announce that Penguin Random House will publish former First Lady Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, available November 15, 2022. In an inspiring follow-up to her critically acclaimed, #1 bestselling memoir Becoming, Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly

Educated, now available in paperback, is an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. One of the most acclaimed books of our time, it has been taught in classrooms across the country and been selected for common

  First published in 2008, A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor is Dana Canedy’s memoir and a true story of a soldier deployed to Iraq who keeps a journal of love and advice for his infant son. It is soon to be a major motion picture directed by Denzel Washington and

Salt in My Soul: An Unfinished Life is a collection of journal entries by Mallory Smith written over the course of 10 years, beginning at age 15 and ending with her death. Mallory was an intelligent, resilient young woman living with cystic fibrosis, who wrote about invisible and visible illness, mental health, and the challenges those

  Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, and Malaka Gharib, author of I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir, sat down over Zoom for a conversation about their books, the value of representation, using humor and joy as teaching tools, and how positive change begins