A Young Reader edition, adapted for children ages 10 and up and featuring a special introduction by the author and three full-color photographic inserts, will be released in hardcover by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. A trade paperback edition of the original memoir, including a new introduction by the author, a letter from Mrs. Obama to her younger self, and a book club guide featuring 20 discussion questions and a 5-question Q&A, will be simultaneously issued by Crown, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. Both editions will carry a suggested list price of $18.99. is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
With the Young Reader edition of BECOMING, Michelle Obama tells her full story for a new generation with the honesty and candor that is her trademark. In sharing her joys and triumphs alongside the bumps, bruises, and challenges she has encountered along the way, Mrs. Obama invites readers to realize that no one is perfect, and that the process of becoming is what matters, as finding yourself is ever evolving. In telling her own story with boldness, she asks young readers: Who are you, and what do you want to become?
As Mrs. Obama writes in her introduction to the Young Reader edition, “Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s and ’70s, my parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, always kept it straight with me and my brother, Craig. They never sugarcoated hard truths or presented their reality as anything other than what it was—because they knew we could handle it. I want to give you all that same respect.
“So my promise to you is to give you my story in all its messy glory—from the time I struggled in front of my kindergarten class, to my first kiss and the insecurities I felt growing up, to the chaos of a campaign trail, to the strange experience of shaking hands with the Queen of England. . . . I hope that as you’re reading my story, you’ll also think about your own—because it’s the most beautiful gift you’ll ever have.” |