Books to borrow from the library:

Red Scarf Girl similarities: vivid atrocities, personal growth, no judgements differences: China 1960's vs. St. Louis 1980's

Somehow Form a Family sims: "remarkable access to his inner life", nostalgia factor diffs: covers longer time frame, deep south area

Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter sims: abuse and poverty, and how you grow up anyway diffs: southern setting 1960's

An interesting note: Most of these authors write about how they became writers. How the desire lived inside of them and finally blossomed into the book they hope you'll hold in your hands and enjoy. I only infrequently imagined being an author. Writing is an art. Artists starve. Better to work a blue collar job and write as a hobby, was my thought. I never had the financial security to just write my stories down on paper. I never had the confidence to leave lasting evidence of my creativity. In my neighborhood women only had value as mothers, everything else was men's work.