Now adapted for young adults—the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir which Toni Morrison
called quite extraordinary ” offers an intimate look at Barack Obama’s early days. This is a
compelling journey tracing the future 44th president's odyssey through family race and
identity. A revealing portrait of a young Black man asking questions about self-discovery and
belonging—long before he became one of the most important voices in America. This unique
edition includes a new introduction from the author full-color photo insert and family tree.
The son of a white American mother and a Black Kenyan father Obama was born in Hawaii where
he lived until he was six years old when he moved with his mother and stepfather to Indonesia.
At twelve he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Obama brings readers along as
he faces the challenges of high school and college living in New York becoming a community
organizer in Chicago and traveling to Kenya. Through these experiences he forms an enduring
commitment to leadership and justice. Told through the lens of his relationships with his
family—the mother and grandparents who raised him the father he knows more as a myth than as a
man and the extended family in Kenya he meets for the first time—Obama confronts the
complicated truth of his father’s life and legacy and comes to embrace his divided heritage. On
his journey to adulthood from a humble background he forges his own path through trial and
error while staying connected to his roots. Barack Obama is determined to lead a life of
purpose service and authenticity. This powerful memoir will inspire readers to examine both
where they come from and where they are capable of going.
