最貧窮的哈佛女孩：那一段飢餓、無眠與被世界遺忘的倖存歲月

一個無比真實的社會底層寫實故事，
　　一段從漫漫長夜走入破曉黎明的向上人生！
　　三歲時看見父母親在廚房「吸毒」。
　　九歲時，開始出門乞討，在超市偷東西裹腹。
　　十五歲時成了流浪街頭、無家可歸的女孩。

　　莉姿．茉芮出生於紐約市的布朗克斯區（Bronx）；她的雙親彼此相愛，卻嗑藥成癮。莉姿在學校時，經常被人取笑她一身髒衣服與長滿頭蝨的亂髮，可想而知，她不斷曠課，次數如此頻繁，導致她最後被送進少女中途之家安置。在她十五歲時，原本飄搖的家終告瓦解，莉姿開始自己一個人流落街頭討生活。她學習勉強度日的辦法，尋找食物果腹，並且整夜搭乘地鐵，以讓自己有個溫暖的地方過夜睡覺。

　　當莉姿的媽媽死於愛滋病之後，她決定要好好掌握自己的命運，於是重回高中上課；她經常在她睡覺的地鐵站與走廊上，完成學校作業。即便無家可歸、沒有安定的居所，莉姿卻把四年的高中學程，壓縮成兩年讀完，並且贏得《紐約時報》的一項獎學金，由此成功申請進入常春藤名校就讀。本書即是講述這樣一名不屈不撓的年輕女孩，在重重險境中奮鬥求生，最終克服萬難獲得成功的故事。

Liz Murray never really had a chance in life. Born to a drug-addicted father who was in and out of prison, and an equally dependent mother who was in and out of mental institutions, she seemed destined to become just another tragic statistic. Another life wasted on the brutal streets of New York. By the age of 15, Liz found herself homeless with nowhere to turn but the tough streets, riding subways all night for a warm place to sleep and foraging through dumpsters for food. But when her mother died of AIDS a year later, Liz's life changed for ever. With no education, with no chance at a job or a home, she realised that only the most astonishing of turnarounds could stop her heading all the way down the same path her parents took. And so she set her mind to overcoming what seemed like impossible odds - and in the process, achieved something extraordinary. Told with astounding sincerity, "Breaking Night" is the breathtaking and inspirational story of how a young women, born into a world without hope, used every ounce of strength and determination to steer herself towards a brighter future. Beautifully written, it is a poignant, evocative and stirring portrait of struggle, desperation, forgiveness and survival.