Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America

In this memoir, Beth Macy examines the transformation of Urbana, Ohio, her hometown, over four decades. Growing up there in the 1970s and 1980s, Macy lived in poverty with a father struggling with alcoholism, yet the town had a functioning economy and strong schools. She left on a Pell Grant to pursue journalism, maintaining gratitude for the place that shaped her. When her mother's health declined in 2020, Macy returned to find Urbana dramatically changed. The local newspaper she once delivered as a paper girl—once a source of civic connection—had diminished. While job losses contributed to economic decline, deeper forces were at work: rising absenteeism in schools and workplaces, a mental health crisis, and the spread of conspiracy theories among residents. Macy witnessed her ex-boyfriend, formerly liberal, become a vocal opponent of Haitian immigrants during the 2024 presidential campaign, repeating false claims. After her mother's death, Macy investigated what had happened to her hometown. The result explores urgent national issues through the lens of one community, examining family and social fracture with empathy for people she loves, even those she struggles to understand.