Liz Murray, the subject of the Lifetime movie, "From Homeless to Harvard," will visit the Scio Township Meijer, at 5645 Jackson Road, on Friday, September 17 from 5-7 p.m. to sign copies of her new, bestselling (#29 nonfiction this week) memoir, “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.”

Her appearance follows her visit to several Michigan elementary schools this past week, where she made a food donation as part of her work with Blessings In A Backpack, an organization dedicated to helping to feed homeless schoolchildren.

Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents. Neglected and raised in squalor, she was so hungry that she resorted to eating chapstick and toothpaste. She was taunted by schoolmates for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls’ home.

When her family finally unraveled, Liz dropped out of high school. Later, after her mother’s death from AIDS, Liz went back to school, often completing her assignments in the hallways and subway cars where she slept. Squeezing four years of high school into two, she ultimately won a scholarship to Harvard. After taking time off to care for her father—who eventually also died of AIDS—she graduated from Harvard in June 2009.