Essentially an annotated bibliography, this book includes autobiographies and memoirs written in English and covering at least some aspect of the author's youth. Long groups entries into 17 themes. They range from experiential (Survivors and Victims) to avocational (Men and Women of Words) to environmental (Rural and City Life). Not surprisingly, these works frequently take the form of coming-of-age memoirs. A subject index with cross-referencing provides access points beyond the broad categories, although some index terms are so oddly phrased as to be of limited usefulness (e.g., Growing Up between WWI and WWII). The volume includes an author/title index and index of settings. More than 2,800 titles are included, so annotations are very brief when included at all. Remembered Childhoods will be most valuable to high school and college students and to general readers seeking autobiographies by subject. Even though readers may want more than just autobiographies of youth, this work will serve as a good starting point. Recommended. All levels.” —Choice
“For author Long, this project has been in the works for many years, and it shows in the care given to this easy-to-use, well-organized volume….Remembered Childhoods would be an excellent addition to larger public libraries or any academic library. Reader's-advisory librarians will find it of particular interest.” —Booklist
“Approximately 2,800 titles are listed in this reference, which collects autobiographies and memoirs about childhood and youth, covering works published between 1725 and 2007. They are briefly annotated, with subjects listed, and organized by themes and characteristics. Some themes, for example, are adventures, nature, rural and city life, places, multicultural heritage, survivors and victims, disease and disability, and works by writers, entertainers, and those in other career fields. Appendices list films, disputed titles, and collected works. To be included, memoirs must have at least 50 pages devoted to the authors' first 21 years and have been written or translated into English. Author/title, settings, and subject indexes are provided. The volume is aimed at librarians, teachers, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, genealogists, general readers, and history buffs.” —Reference & Research Book News
“[T]he sort of book you may wish to ask your public library to order….[p]rovides indexes of subjects, settings, titles, and authors that should prove useful to those of us who spend our days poking about in the lives of others.” —The Boston Globe
“Perhaps fortunately, a different attitude prevails today, and accessibility, not worship, conditions the design of buildings and systems for preserving and organizing knowledge. Remembered Childhoods: A Guide to Autobiography and Memoirs of Childhood and Youth, by Jeffrey E. Long, is a volume that exemplifies this spirit—and meets these goals—with stunning success. . . . Mr. Long…is himself a librarian. With this book, he has confirmed my belief in his kind as the guardians of civilization—preserving, and showing us a trail back to, knowledge accumulated, text by text, author by author, from the earliest days of the written word. Mr. Long has condensed an overwhelming amount of data into this volume. A monumental work, one might say; but one that invites entry, exploration, and discovery…” —Smith College Studies in Social Work
