Read-alikes
Books Like Educated
Hard childhoods, a way out, and the distance an education puts between you and home.
Updated September 2026 · By Sawyer V.
The short version
Educated readers loved the extraordinary childhood, the escape or the idea of learning as a way out. The Glass Castle is the closest match, I'm Glad My Mom Died and Heavy the family reckoning, Angela's Ashes the poverty told with humor, and Born a Crime the outsider's education.
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How we picked
Each pick names which element it matches: the upbringing, the break with family or the education. Memoirs of hard childhoods can be difficult reading, so we note the heaviest material. We have not read all eight.
What we do on every list: read the publisher’s own description rather than a summary of it, check print length and first publication year against library catalog data (last refreshed September 11, 2026), confirm the book is still sold in the format we suggest, and write the match line before the blurb. What we do not do is claim to have read every book here cover to cover. The full method is published, and it is written so anyone can check it.
The short answer
Who each book is for, at a glance. Select a row for the full write-up.
| # | Book | Give this if | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Glass CastleJeannette Walls · 347 pagesThe closest match | they want the book most often paired with Educated | |
| 2 |  I'm Glad My Mom DiedJennette McCurdy · 320 pagesMatches the family reckoning | they were moved by breaking away from a parent | |
| 3 |  HeavyKiese Laymon · 256 pagesMatches the honesty | they want a memoir that looks directly at a mother | |
| 4 |  The House of My MotherShari Franke · 304 pagesMatches the escape | they were gripped by a child seeing through a parent | |
| 5 |  Angela's AshesFrank McCourt · 432 pagesMatches the poverty | they want a hard childhood told with humor | |
| 6 |  Born a CrimeTrevor Noah · 304 pagesMatches the outsider | they want a story of growing up between worlds | |
| 7 |  WildCheryl Strayed · 363 pagesMatches the self-rescue | they loved the idea of remaking a life | |
| 8 |  BecomingMichelle Obama · 464 pagesEducation as the way up | they want an uplifting version |
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Eight memoirs, by which element they match
1. The closest match
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
Give this ifthey want the book most often paired with Educated
A journalist recounts growing up with brilliant, unstable parents who moved the family between the desert Southwest and a West Virginia mining town, often without food. Unsentimental and loving at once.
- Print length
- 347 pages
- First published
- 2005
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
2. Matches the family reckoning
I'm Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy
Give this ifthey were moved by breaking away from a parent
A former child actor describes her mother's control over her life and career, and her recovery after her mother's death. Darkly funny and very frank.
One caveat: Eating disorders and abuse.
- Print length
- 320 pages
- First published
- 2022
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
3. Matches the honesty
Heavy
Kiese Laymon
Give this ifthey want a memoir that looks directly at a mother
A writer addresses his mother directly in an account of growing up Black in Mississippi, of his body, and of the lies families tell to survive.
One caveat: Sexual abuse and disordered eating.
- Print length
- 256 pages
- First published
- 2018
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
4. Matches the escape
The House of My Mother
Shari Franke
Give this ifthey were gripped by a child seeing through a parent
The eldest daughter of a family behind a popular parenting YouTube channel describes growing up on camera, and the abuse of her younger siblings that ended with her mother in prison.
One caveat: Child abuse.
- Print length
- 304 pages
- First published
- 2025
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
5. Matches the poverty
Angela's Ashes
Frank McCourt
Give this ifthey want a hard childhood told with humor
A childhood of desperate poverty in Limerick, Ireland, told in the voice of the boy who lived it. Funny and heartbreaking, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
- Print length
- 432 pages
- First published
- 1996
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
6. Matches the outsider
Born a Crime
Trevor Noah
Give this ifthey want a story of growing up between worlds
Trevor Noah's childhood in South Africa as the son of a Black mother and a white father, at a time when his birth was illegal. Very funny, and a tribute to a remarkable mother.
- Print length
- 304 pages
- First published
- 2016
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
7. Matches the self-rescue
Wild
Cheryl Strayed
Give this ifthey loved the idea of remaking a life
After her mother's death and her own unraveling, a young woman hikes more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone, with no experience. About grief and starting over.
- Print length
- 363 pages
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
8. Education as the way up
Becoming
Michelle Obama
Give this ifthey want an uplifting version
Michelle Obama's account of growing up on Chicago's South Side, her education and career, and her years in the White House. Warm and much lighter than the rest of this list.
- Print length
- 464 pages
- First published
- 2018
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
The childhood, the escape or the learning
Educated is the story of a girl raised by survivalist parents in Idaho and kept out of school, who taught herself enough to get into college. Readers attach to different parts of that arc.
- The childhood: The Glass Castle or Angela's Ashes.
- The break with family: I'm Glad My Mom Died or Heavy.
- The way out: Born a Crime or Becoming.
A note on hard reading
Several of these memoirs describe abuse, and we note which on the picks. They are powerful gifts for the right reader and heavy ones for a reader going through something similar. Memoir audiobooks are another way in: many are read by their authors, and the subscription panel on this page explains who audio suits.
Where this fits
Nonfiction sorts the wider shelf, books for college students and graduation gifts are where Educated itself is most often given, and books like Sapiens suits a reader who wants ideas rather than a life.
Two ways to read this list for less
If several books here appeal, a subscription usually beats buying them one at a time — but only for the right kind of reader. Here is who each one actually suits.
Audible Premium Plus
For anyone whose hands are busy
Driving, walking, cooking, cleaning. It converts hours that were never available for reading, which is a bigger effect than any discount. Books bought with a credit stay yours after you cancel — titles from the included catalog do not, and confusing the two is the most common complaint about the service.
See Audible plans and current pricingHow Audible actually works — credits, gifting and what happens when you cancel.
Kindle Unlimited
For fast readers who browse
It pays off from about three ebooks a month, in the genres the catalog covers well — romance, romantasy, cozy mystery, thriller, progression fantasy. It does not pay off if you are waiting on a specific new hardcover, because those are usually not included. Everything is borrowed, not owned.
See Kindle Unlimited terms and pricingIs Kindle Unlimited worth it? — the arithmetic, done on your own reading.
#ad — how we are funded. We print no subscription prices anywhere on this site, because they change and a stale figure sends you to a checkout expecting something that is not there. And if you read in silence in a chair, neither of these is for you — buy the book, or borrow it from your library.
What we would skip
Assuming every reader wants more hardship
Educated is harrowing, and a reader who loved it did not necessarily love the suffering. Many loved the learning: the girl who taught herself enough to get to college and eventually earned a PhD from Cambridge. For that reader, a memoir of ambition and discovery can be a better gift than another hard childhood. Ask which part they talk about.
Questions people ask
What should I read after Educated?
The Glass Castle is the closest match. I'm Glad My Mom Died and Heavy are also memoirs of breaking away from a parent.
What memoirs are like The Glass Castle and Educated?
Angela's Ashes for poverty told with humor, and Born a Crime for a childhood between worlds.
Is there an uplifting memoir like Educated?
Born a Crime is very funny, and Becoming follows education as a way up without the same darkness.
Are these memoirs good as audiobooks?
Several are read by their authors, including Born a Crime, I'm Glad My Mom Died and Becoming.
Sources
- Open Library Search API — First publication year, median print length and cover art for every book on this page. Queried 8 September 2026.
- Audible Premium Plus membership page — The only authoritative source for current Audible plans, prices and terms.
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- Books Like Sapiens
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