DESC: Born into Liberia's privileged upper class, Helene Cooper's family were the descendants of the freed American slaves who first turned Liberia into a country. Her life took a drastic change in 1980 when Liberia plunged into a long and bloody civil war. Her family's possessions were seized, her mother was gang-raped, and her adopted sister Eunice was left behind as Helene was sent to America where she lost all her social status to become just another African immigrant, teased or ignored in the American school system. Cooper struggled and thrived however, growing up to became a talented journalist, but she always disassociated herself from the horrors of her past. When her Humvee in Iraq was destroyed and she was nearly killed, Cooper suddenly felt the need to revisit Liberia. There she discovered that miraculously, through war and poverty, Eunice had survived. Cooper's gripping and powerful memoir shines a light on the terrible history of Liberia, and the long road to personal and emotional recovery. THE HOUS