This is a list of books I am compiling of TCK and Expat memoirs. I am not rating them or endorsing them except I have added some notes on the ones I have read. I have commented on a few in my blog. Please tell me about others! (I believe they are all available on Amazon unless otherwise noted)
Echoes of a GlobalLife by Kathleen Gamble. This is part memoir, part travelogue, part history lesson. It is about culture, transition, survival and self-discovery. I am a Third Culture Kid who grew up on five continents and six countries – Burma, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Switzerland. As an adult I living in the Netherlands for a few months and in Russia for nine years during the 1990’s. My father worked in agricultural education and development for the US Government and then for the Ford Foundation. I continue to love to travel even though I survived a commercial plane crash at a young age. For more information click here. (2025)
Diary of a Third-Culture Kid: Missions, Miracles,
and Mischief in the Last Kingdom of Africa by Ellen Decker
Our family of four arrived in the Kingdon of Swaziland in the third year of an extreme drought, and soon had a Swazi grandmother living with us (along with a green mamba, bats, and thousands of bees) in our one-bedroom cement house. Reading like a novel set in the 1960’s and 70’s, our unconventional, often madcap life story will take you across the Swazi kingdom; into Mozambique’s civil war and apartheid South Africa; chased by Zambian gun-toting soldiers; and on into Europe, the Middle East, and a mind-bending year in America. Diary of a Third-Culture Kid is an unflinching portrait of growing up among worlds, and the journey of learning to forge an identity from all of them. (2026)
Doctor Sahib and Me: Two Years as a Missionary Family in India by Tom Carter
I was 12 when Dad dropped everything and took us half way around the world. Boarding school in the Himalayas, a new baby sister, a remote mission hospital struggling to transition to self-governance and a very impatient, forceful Missionary doctor. Very hard on my family but an unexpected invitation from a classmate, and a letter Dad never sent, brought renewed friendships and understanding. This is available from Pagemaster Publishing.
The Home Within: A Soulful Memoir of Self-Belonging Across Cultures and Change by Nina Aziz Justin. Per Amazon: In this lyrical memoir of resilience and reinvention, Nina Aziz Justin weaves her story from Malaysia to Europe into a living tapestry of migration, motherhood, loss, and soulful transformation. Blending neuroscience with Eastern wisdom, The Home Within is more than a memoir. It’s a companion for anyone navigating identity shifts, cross-cultural belonging, or the hidden work of becoming. (2025)
Baggage Claim by Marion Lougheed. A TCK Poetry collection
“My poetry collection delves into growing up across homes and borders, and the echoes of that TCK life into adulthood. ” (2025)
Embassy Kid: An American Foreign Service Family Memoir by J.K. Amerson López
Per Amazon: This book follows Robert and Nancy Amerson, a courageous couple from the American Heartland, and their two daughters as they carry out the mission of the US Information Agency to “win hearts and minds for democracy” in Latin America and Europe during the Cold War. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service, Embassy Kid pays timely tribute to our diplomats and their families who sacrifice safety, security, and stability while representing America thousands of miles from home. (2025)
Between Worlds: An Expat’s Quest for Belonging by Inga Aksamet.
Inga has written several books about hiking, camping and travel. This is her memoir about growing up TCK. She starts out in Pakistan at age four. She crisscrosses the globe always returning to California between postings. She evacuates from Pakistan and Bangladesh because of wars. She searches for her own identity through all the changes and challenges of constantly being uprooted. In the end she finds her calling as an oncology nurse. I enjoyed this story of self discovery. As I traveled through Inga’s world, I could relate to her adventures and traumas having lived in Asia, South America and even Oakland myself. It sounds like it all worked out very well for her in the end. (2025)
Letters Now Sent: A Collection of Letters from the Globally Mobile by Megan Norton-Newbanks
Per Amazon: Letters Now Sent, Volume 1 is a moving collection of real, heartfelt letters written by and to individuals who have lived cross-culturally. Inspired by Ruth E. Van Reken’s seminal Letters Never Sent, this volume opens a window into the emotional landscapes of identity, belonging, and transition. (2025)
A Work of Heart: a Collection of Artwork by TCKs – compiled by Megan Norton-Newbanks and Simona Wiig
Be Awesome Be Global by Bernard Asnong. Per Amazon: From the barefoot days of a curious boy in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, to the polished shoes of a student in Mayfield, England to sunny Spain, this book chronicles an extraordinary journey of cultural discovery and personal growth. (2024)
The Black Attaché, Vignettes from a Life by JK Cheema.
JK Cheema was born in northern India when India and Pakistan were still one country. She shares her loving memories of visiting her grandparents in a small village when she was a child. And the confusion when her mother managed to get them on the last train out before the border was closed on the newly formed Pakistan. As an adult she is accepted into a PhD program at the University of Michigan in International Development. From there she joins USAID and works in Burkina Faso, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Eritrea. She shares memories of each country along with visits to her own India. This book is a lovely stroll through JK’s life. (2023)
Girl Uprooted by Lena Lee
A memoir of growing up TCK. (2023)
(see link for review)
Tales of a Diplomat’s Daughter by Marie Suazo. Memoir of growing up cross culturally. Marie Suazo is a third culture kid originally from the Philippines who was raised in Seoul, South Korea and Cairo, Egypt. (2021)
Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu.
She is a Third Culture Kid and grew up with a lot of trauma. Her mother was Armenian American and her father was Ghanaian. Growing up she lived in Tanzania, Italy, England, Ethiopia and Uganda and spent summers in Ghana. There were wars going on when she was in Ethiopia and Uganda. That is a lot to unpack but on top of that she had ongoing personal family issues to deal with. It is really not so much a memoir as a poem. A poem of self discovery. Who is she. Where is her home. How do the people around her influence her sense of self. How does the outside world influence her sense of self. It is a beautifully written introspective. (2021)
Toubab Tales: the Joys and Trials of Expat Life in Africa By Rob Baker
This is about British Expats living in Mali before and during a military coup in 2012. The author travels the countryside studying musical traditions of the area. A fun read with plenty of humor. (2020)
Things Fell Apart, but the Center Held by Dianne Darr Couts
Per Amazon: Dianne Darr Couts’ memoir, Things Fell Apart, but the Center Held, spans continents and cultures. It tells the story of Dianne’s extraordinary childhood, rich with wonderful experiences juxtaposed with sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse. Personal and institutional betrayal would impact Dianne and her family for life, but her candid memoir also shows how unwavering love, support and courage set the stage for her to thrive in spite of it all. (2020)
Worlds Apart: A Third Culture Kid’s Journey by Marilyn Gardner. (2018) This is the sequel to her book, Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging. Marilyn writes beautifully about growing up in Pakistan and living in other cultures. (2014)
Africa in my Soul, Memoir of a Childhood Interrupted by Cheryl King Duvall, PhD.
Cheryl moves to Nigeria with her family when she is eight. Her parents joined a Christian Mission and are sent to Lagos. Soon she is sent off to boarding school at the missionary school in Miango northeast of Lagos. The school is very strict and confining with no privacy and even her letters are censored. She has a difficult time adjusting. But when not at school, she takes every opportunity to soak up the sights and culture of this African country. She falls in love with it. She also lives through the start of the Biafran war and sees people gunned down in the streets. She struggles to come to terms with her family’s decision to move there, her difficult time at boarding school, and her return to the US. Even through all the heartache, I came away with a positive feeling. (2019)
At Home Abroad: An American Girl in Africa by Nancy Henderson-James
The daughter of American missionaries growing up in Angola in the 50’s. (2015)
The Sullivan Saga, Memoires of an Overseas Childhood by M.H. Sullivan
Memoir of a State Department family. (2015)
The Coconut Latitudes:Secrets, Storms, and Survival in the Caribbean by Rita M Gardner
A father makes the fateful decision to leave a successful career in the US behind and move to an isolated beach in the Dominican Republic. He plants ten thousand coconut seedlings, transplants his wife and two young daughters to a small village, and declares they are the luckiest people alive. In reality, the family is in the path of hurricanes and in the grip of a brutal dictator, Rafael Trujillo—and the children are additionally under the thumb of an increasingly volatile and alcoholic father. Set against a backdrop of shimmering palms and kaleidoscope sunsets, The Coconut Latitudes is Rita Gardner’s compelling memoir of a childhood in paradise, a journey into unexpected misery, and a twisted path to redemption and truth. (2014)
The Water Here is Never Blue by Shelagh Plunkett.
Shelagh is a Canadian teenager who moves to Guyana and then on to Indonesia. (2013)
Trailing: A Memoir by Kristin Louise Duncombe (2012)
An American TCK marries an Argentinian doctor and follows him to Africa (see link for review). She has written a sequel: Five Flights Up about moving with her family from Paris to Lyon. Her latest. book is Object: A Memoir of Childhood Abuse.
Letters Never Sent, a global nomad’s journey from hurt to healing by Ruth Ellen van Reken
Ruth is sent to missionary boarding school in Nigeria at a very young age and misses her family very much. She spends a long time struggling with her faith and coming to terms with her situation. She writes letters to her mother as part of the healing process. (2012)
Expat Life Slice by Slice by Apple Gidley
Apple Gidley’s book, Expat Life Slice by Slice, is an engaging story of expatriate life. Apple grew up in Africa and Asia and continued her married adult life wandering the globe adjusting from one posting to the next. She addresses the painful challenges of nomadic life as well as the excitement and joy of discovering new places. (2012) Apple has written several books, mostly historical fiction.
Here We Are and There We Go : Teaching and Traveling with Kids in Tow by Jill Dobbe (See link for review) (2012) Jill has written two more books: Only in India: Adventures of an International Educator and Kids, Camels & Cairo.
Voluntary Nomads: A Mother’s Memories of Foreign Service Family Life by Nancy Pogue LaTurner
Voluntary Nomads is about a US Foreign Service family adjusting from one post to the next. It is a highly personal account written by the mother of a family of four and includes funny, sad, interesting, and anxious anecdotes about their travels and the inevitable challenges of bringing up children in far away places. (2011)
For The Souls and Soils of India by Helen C Maybury
Helen, the author, is a missionary kid who grew up in India. Her mother wrote letters home often and Helen has put these letters together in a book. It is an interesting account of daily life as missionaries in India at the turn of the century. Helen provides some additional comments throughout the book and I wish there was more written from her perspective. (2011)
Home Keeps Moving by Heidi Sand-Hart
This is a wonderful, easy to read account of life as a Third Culture Kid who, due to her missionary parents, travels constantly between the UK and India. It is one of those books, as a TCK, I love to see. It touches on issues a TCK can relate to…confused loyalty, the search for identity, re-entry, friendships. Yet it is not overwhelming or sad. It is upbeat and engaging. Heidi, the author, includes contributions from other TCK’s providing an additional layer and perspective. If you are a TCK or interested in learning about TCK’s, this is a book for you. (2010)
Potato In A Rice Bowl by Peggy Keener
A military wife from the midwestern USA finds herself moving to Japan. She meets the strangeness and unique challenges of adjusting to a new culture with lots of humor and tongue-in-cheek. (2010)
Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global edited by Faith Eidse, Nina Sichel
This is an anthology of memoirs from Isabel Allende, Marie Arana, Pat Conroy, Carlos Fuentes, Pico Iyer, Tara Bahrampour, Ruth Van Recken, Ariel Dorfman, and more. (2004)
Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life by Elaine Neil Orr
An American missionary girl growing up in Nigeria (2003)
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller
Alexandra grows up in South Africa during the turbulent 70’s and 80’s moving between Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia. (2002) See Films.
An Englishwoman in India: The Memoirs of Harriet Tytler 1828-1858 Edited by Anthony Sattin (see link for review) (1986)