Dreams from My Father facts for kids
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| Author | Barack Obama |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Early life of Barack Obama |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Times Books (1995) Three Rivers Press (2004) |
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Publication date
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July 18, 1995 August 10, 2004 |
| Media type | Book |
| Pages | 403 (1995) 442 (2004) |
| ISBN | 1-4000-8277-3 |
| 973/.0405967625009/0092 B 22 | |
| LC Class | E185.97.O23 A3 2004 |
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a special kind of book called a memoir. It was written by Barack Obama. In this book, he shares stories about his early life. He talks about growing up in Honolulu and Chicago. The book covers his life until he started studying at Harvard Law School in 1988. Obama first released this book in 1995. This was when he began his journey in politics.
The book became popular again in 2004. This happened after Obama won a big election to become a U.S. Senator. He also gave an important speech at the Democratic National Convention that year. Three years later, he started his campaign to become president. The 2004 version of the book includes a new introduction by Obama. It also has the speech he gave at the convention.
Many people praise Dreams from My Father for its writing style. Some have compared it to the famous novel Invisible Man. Obama himself mentioned that he sometimes changed small details. He also combined different people into one character. This was done to make the story flow better. He wanted to share his experiences in a clear way.
Contents
Barack Obama's Life Story
This book tells the story of Barack Obama's life. It starts from when his parents met. It continues until he entered Harvard Law School in 1988.
Growing Up
Obama's parents were Barack Obama Sr. from Kenya and Ann Dunham from Wichita, Kansas. They met while studying at the University of Hawaii. Obama's parents separated in 1963. They divorced in 1964, when he was two years old. His father later went to Harvard for his PhD. After that, he returned to Kenya.
Obama mostly knew his father through stories. His mother and grandparents told him these stories. He saw his father only one more time. This was in 1971, when his father visited Hawaii for a month. Obama Sr. passed away in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro. He was from Indonesia. When Obama was six, his family moved to Jakarta. At age ten, Obama returned to Hawaii. He lived with his grandparents there. This was so he could get a better education. He went to Punahou School, a private school. He was one of only six Black students there. Obama attended Punahou from fifth grade until he graduated in 1979. He wrote that his grandparents were very proud. They saw his admission as a big step for their family. At Punahou, he met Ray (Keith Kakugawa). Ray was also multi-racial. He helped Obama learn more about the African-American community.
Becoming an Adult
After high school, Obama moved to the mainland United States. He studied at Occidental College. He describes having a "party" lifestyle during this time. After two years, he transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University. He studied Political Science there.
After college, Obama worked in business for a year. Then he moved to Chicago. He worked as a community organizer for a non-profit group. He helped people in the Altgeld Gardens housing project. This was on the South Side of the city. Obama found this work challenging. He faced resistance from local leaders. He also dealt with a lack of interest from the government.
During this time, Obama first visited Trinity United Church of Christ. This church became very important to him. Before going to Harvard, Obama visited his relatives in Kenya. This was his first time there. He shares this emotional experience in the last part of the book. Obama wrote this memoir to explore his own experiences with race in America.
People in the Book
Barack Obama mentioned in the 2004 introduction that he changed some names. He did this to protect people's privacy. He also created composite characters. This means he combined traits of several people into one character. This helped the story flow better. However, some people recognized themselves. Researchers have also suggested who some of the characters might be.
| Actual name | Referred to in the book as |
|---|---|
| Salim Al Nurridin | Rafiq |
| Margaret Bagby | Mona |
| Hasan Chandoo | Hasan |
| Earl Chew | Marcus |
| Frank Marshall Davis | Frank |
| Joella Edwards | Coretta |
| Pal Eldredge | Mr. Eldredge |
| Mabel Hefty | Miss Hefty |
| Loretta Augustine Herron | Angela |
| Emil Jones | Old Ward Boss |
| Keith Kakugawa | Ray |
| Jerry Kellman | Marty Kaufman |
| Yvonne Lloyd | Shirley |
| Ronald Loui / Terrence Loui (composite) | Frederick |
| Greg Orme | Scott |
| Johnnie Owens | Johnnie |
| Mike Ramos | Jeff |
| Sohale Siddiqi | Sadik |
| Wally Whaley | Smitty |
Different Book Versions
Dreams from My Father has been released in many different versions. These include hardcovers, paperbacks, and audiobooks.
- New York: Times Books; 1st edition (July 18, 1995); Hardcover: 403 pages; ISBN: 0-8129-2343-X
- New York: Kodansha International (August 1996); Paperback: 403 pages; ISBN: 1-56836-162-9
- New York: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (August 10, 2004); Paperback: 480 pages; ISBN: 1-4000-8277-3
- New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 3, 2005); Audio CD; ISBN: 0-7393-2100-5; Includes the senator's speech from the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
- New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition on Playaway digital audio player
- New York: Random House Large Print; 1st Large print edition (April 4, 2006); Hardcover: 720 pages; ISBN: 0-7393-2576-0
- New York: Crown Publishers (January 9, 2007); Hardcover: 464 pages; ISBN: 0-307-38341-5
- New York: Random House (January 9, 2007); eBook; ISBN: 0-307-39412-3
- Melbourne: Text Publishing (2008); Paperback: 442 pages; ISBN: 978-1-921351-43-3
