An autobiography is a book someone writes about their own life. The word comes from Greek roots: auto (self), bio (life), and graphy (writing). When Benjamin Franklin wrote about his journey from a poor printer's apprentice to a founding father and inventor, he was writing his autobiography. When Helen Keller described learning to communicate despite being deaf and blind, she was writing hers.

Autobiographies differ from biographies, which are life stories written by someone else. In an autobiography, you get the story directly from the person who lived it. You learn what happened and also what they were thinking and feeling during key moments. Frederick Douglass wrote a powerful autobiography about escaping slavery and becoming a leader in the fight for freedom. Roald Dahl wrote two autobiographical books about his unusual childhood and adventures as a fighter pilot.

Writing an autobiography involves honest reflection about your own experiences: your successes, failures, turning points, and lessons learned. Some people write autobiographies when they're older and have gained perspective on their lives. Others write them to share important experiences with the world. While most kids haven't lived long enough to write a full autobiography, many keep journals or write memoirs about meaningful experiences, which can be steps in that direction.