Our Best Indie Books of 2025 list included several starred memoirs that were so good, they deserve their own column and maybe their own producers. (They wouldn’t be the first Indie picks to become feature films: Netflix and Amblin are developing a film adaptation of The Themis Files series.) These starred titles are cinematic in scope and would be prime prospects for a future Book to Screen column by my colleague David Rapp. In one memoir, the author describes grade school in Hiroshima at the end of World War II, another recounts being hunted by a relentless stalker, and a third chronicles finding a baby in a New York City subway.
Kazuko: Sixth Grade in World War II Hiroshima, a short memoir written by Kazuko Blake with Sandra Vega, is set is 1945 Hiroshima. Blake had a comfortable childhood with few interruptions other than an appendectomy. Gradually, the war began to affect her daily life. She learned the Japanese version of “duck and cover” (“thumbs in ears, three fingers over eyes, pinkies hold nose, you can breathe through mouth”), which made about as much sense as the American version—until the catastrophic impact. The bomb’s blast was over quickly, but the aftermath has stuck with the author these past 80 years. “Even the chaos I witnessed while rushing home didn’t prepare me for seeing my house destroyed,” says Blake. Our reviewer writes, “Such simple, straightforward reflections fill this little book with warmth and immediacy.”
Kathryn Caraway, who was targeted by a pathological stalker, catalogs a series of terrifying experiences that left her nearly destabilized in her memoir, Unfollow Me. The author, who uses a pen name, was introduced to “Todd” by a friend. He had his own IT company and used his computer skills to burrow into all corners of her life, wreaking havoc along the way. “Caraway not only tells an important story, but also a gripping one,” says our reviewer. “She compellingly describes not only the slow, insidious way Todd’s stalking escalated until it was entirely choking Caraway’s life, but also her own dogged pursuit of justice in a legal system that was against her at every turn.…A powerful, riveting account about a woman being victimized by a modern-day monster.”
Peter Mercurio’s There: We Found Our Family in a New York City Subway Station recounts one of my all-time favorite New York stories. In 2000, the author’s boyfriend (they’re now married), Daniel Stewart, found an abandoned baby in a Manhattan subway station. Their lives changed in an instant. “This incredible first-person account documents the mind-blowing surprises, coincidences, and moments of sheer luck that led to the men adopting the baby and giving him a loving home,” observes our reviewer, who calls the memoir a “must-read.” The tale is also, thankfully, one about systems actually functioning as they should. The family court made the process of adoption as painless as possible, and friends and family helped with child care and financing. Mercurio, a theater producer, director, and playwright, is a natural storyteller and threads this emotionally involving book with plenty of humor. “An engaging celebration of queer joy and diverse families,” as our reviewer notes.
Chaya Schechner is the president of Kirkus Indie.
