Wow ... That Really Happened?

Sometimes real life is stranger then fiction. These books describe unbelievable events (You just can't make this stuff up!). For those who like the truth and nothing but the truth ... then read about these astonishing stories. Yep, believe it ... these actually happened!

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Er

A compelling account of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 which brings together the divergent stories of two very different men who played a key role in shaping the history of the event--visionary architect Daniel H. Burnham, who coordinated its construction, and Dr. Henry H. Holmes, an insatiable and charming serial killer who lured women to their deaths. (977.311 LAR )

Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

The author details his immersion in a world of hardcore drugs, revealing the mental and physical depths of addiction, and the violent relapse one summer in California that forever changed his life, leading him down the road to recovery. (921 SHEFF)

The Year We Disappeared by Cylin & John Busby

With their lives unraveling around them, the Busby family left everything and everyone they had ever known--and simply disappeared. As told by both father and daughter, this is a harrowing true story of a family, a brutal shooting, and the year that would change their lives forever. (363.2092 BUSBY)

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

Return once again to the enduring account of life in the Mojo lane, to the Permian Panthers of Odessa--the winningest high school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. (796.332 BISSINGER)

Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich

The inside story of how 6 MIT students took vegas for millions. (364.1 MEZRICH)

A Child Called “It” by David Pelzer

It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother (921 PELZER)

sequel: The Lost Boy

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory

The author describes growing up as the victim of Munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse in which her mother invented or caused a series of illnesses and ailments, and her struggle to escape her mother's problems to rebuild her life.(616.85 GREGORY)

Punk Rock Etiquette: Ultimate How-To-Guide by Travis Nichols

Created by an indie-circuit veteran, this guide teaches aspiring musicians everything they need to know about creating an underground rock band--from how to pick bandmates to creating their own merchandise. (781.66 PUNK)

No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War by Anita Lobel

The author, known as an illustrator of children's books, describes her experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II and for years in Sweden afterwards. (921 LOBEL.)

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

The author tells about the happy life she led in China up until she was twelve-years-old when her family became a target of the Cultural Revolution, and discusses the choice she had to make between denouncing her father and breaking with her family, or refusing to speak against him and losing her future in the Communist Party. (921 JIANG)

War is … Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk about War by Marc Aronson

A dynamic selection of essays, memoirs, letters, and fiction about war written by those who experienced it first hand. (810.8 WAR)

If Not Now, When? Duty & Sacrifice in America's Time of Need by Jack Jacobs

A Medal of Honor recipient looks back at his own service during the Vietnam War and ahead to America's future, as he tells his stirring story of heroism and honor and expounds his views on the nature and necessity of sacrifice. (355.0092 JACOBS)

Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission by Hampton Sides

on January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. soldiers slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: march thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. (940.5425 SIDES)

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Funny, poignant, and passionate, this revelatory firsthand account of life in low-wage America--the story of Barbara Ehrenreich's attempts to eke out a living while working as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart associate--has become an essential part of the nation's political discourse. (305.569 EHRENREICH)

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eris Schlosser

To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Schlosser, a National Magazine Award-winning journalist, charts the fast food industry's enormous impact on our health, landscape, economy, politics and culture as he transforms the way America thinks about what it eats. (394.1 SCHLOSSER)

Hawk: Occupation Skateboarder by Tony Hawk

Internationally known American skateboarding champ Tony Hawk chronicles his life and his very eventful involvement with the sport. (921 HAWK)

Needles by Andie Dominick

In an intensely moving story of sisterhood, illness, and loss, this memoir tells of a girl whose older sister dies from complications of diabetes (921 DOMINICK)

My Losing Season by Pat Conroy

Moving between the action of the Citadel's 1967 basketball season and flashbacks into his childhood, Conroy relates his love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to young men who are struggling to find their own identity and place in the world. (921 CONROY)

Counting Coup:a true story of basketball and honor on the Little Big Horn by Larry Colton

A brilliant account of a teenage Native American girl who fought for honor on and off the basketball courts (921 LAFORGE)