As a boy in the segregated South, author Richard Wright was determined to borrow books from the public library. His story vividly illustrates the power of determination in making a dream into reality.

I had freckles. I had sandy hair. I was too short. Would my feet even touch the ground if I sat on the throne? These are the words of lady Jane Grey, as imagined by celebrated author Ann Rinaldi. Jane would become Queen of England f...

The year is 1774, and the British army has blockaded Boston. Ten-year-old Emma is stuck at Aunt Harmony's house in the city, far from her family. Emma desperately wants to help the American struggle for freedom. When Papa gives her a ...

Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she'd taken on a seemingly impossible job—teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious ...

The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is toinherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evilstepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced t...

A beautiful book about Molly Bannaky, a woman who married a slave and became Benjamin Banneker's grandmother.After escaping death on the gallows and working for seven years as an indentured servant, Molly Walsh staked her claim to a p...

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife to two kings, mother to two others, has been waiting in Heaven a long time -- eight centuries, more or less -- to be reunited with her second husband, Henry II of England. Finally, the day has come when Hen...

The fifth book in the Daughters of the Faith Series, The Hallelujah Lass tells the story of Eliza Shirley, a 16-year-old girl who traveled from England to pioneer the work of the Salvation Army in the United States. The Daughters of ...

Traveling by covered wagon, young Rachel and her family follow the Oregon Trail from Illinois all the way to California. The terrain is rough and the seven-month trip is filled with adventure. Rachel's own handwritten journal chronicl...

As a young woman in the 1920s, Bessie Coleman's chances of becoming a pilot were slim. But she never let her dream die and became the first licensed African-American aviator. In 'Nobody Owns the Sky', Reeve Lindbergh honors Coleman's ...

Once upon a time there was an Algonquin princess named Pocahontas, a curious 10-year-old who loves exploring the tidewater lands of her people. One day she encounters strangers, a group of people that look different from her own. She ...

IT'S 1876 AND THE whole country is celebrating the 100th birthday of the United States. The biggest party is in Philadelphia at the World's Fair, where the latest and greatest inventions are on display for all to see. Alexander Graham...

On hot summer nights in New Orleans, a boy named Louis Armstrong would peek under the big swinging doors of Economy Hall and listen to the jazz band. The best night was Friday, when Bunk Johnson would blow his cornet till the roof tre...

Coretta Scott King is well known for being the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and for her own civil rights and world peace activism. She also received many awards and honorary degrees. But before she did all of those impressive t...

Elizabeth Tudor's teenage years are hardly those of a fairy-tale princess. Her father has beheaded her mother; her jealous half sister has her locked away in the Tower of London; and her only love has betrayed her in his own quest for...

Today's preeminent biographer for young people brings to life our colorful 26th president. Conservationist, hunter, family man, and politician, Teddy Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many who marveled at his energy, d...

Marcia enjoys being her mother's helper, so she's hurt when Mother hires Fannie Farmer to prepare family's meals. But sure enough Fannie's charm (and griddle cakes!) win Marcia over, and she finds herself cooking up delights she never...

Kidnapped from her home in Senegal and sold as a slave in 1761, Phillis Wheatley--as she comes to be known--stuns her adopted country by becoming America's first published black poet. Includes a reader's guide.

Extensively researched, this fast-paced historical novel about Charlotte (Charley) Parkhurst combines all the known facts of a daring woman's colorful life in the Wild West with Pam Munoz Ryan's own spirited imaginings Ages 8-12. Pub:...

Born into slavery, Bass Reeves became the most successful US Marshal of the Wild West.Many 'heroic lawmen' of the Wild West, familiar to us through television and film, were actually violent scoundrels and outlaws themselves. But of a...

The amazing life of Ben Franklin--inventor, printer, editor, statesman, ambassador, and arguably one of the most important Americans in history--is depicted with warmth and insight.

In 1607, when John Smith and his 'Coatmen' arrive in Powhatan to begin settling the colony of Virginia, their relations with the village's inhabitants are anything but warm. Pocahontas, the beloved daughter of the Powhatan chief, is j...

Biography tracing the fascinating life of Louisa May Alcott from her happy childhood in Pennsylvania and Boston to her success as a writer of such classics as Little women.

In this redesigned edition of Scott O'Dell's classic novel, a young Native American woman, accompanied by her infant and her cruel husband, experiences joy and heartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark expedition seeking a way to ...

Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger...

As a secretary at the battle of Crècy, Hugh West'all has come close to death. But when he meets John Wycliffe, he embraces a mission even more excitingand just as dangerous: translating the Bible into English, the language of the com...

Winner of the 2011 John Steptoe New Talent (Author) Award!Racial duplicity threatens an idyllic African American community in the turn-of-the-century South in a dazzling debut inspired by the early life of Zora Neale Hurston.Whether s...

brbrbBook Details:/bulliFormat: Paperback/liliPublication Date: 8/1/2008/liliPages: 32/liliReading Level: Age 13 and Up/li/ul

How did a poor boy named Edson—who kicked rocks down roads and dribbled balls made from rags—go on to become the greatest soccer player of all time? Here is the story of the boy who with great determination, lightning speed, and a...

"Memoirs of adolescence by renowned YA authors. . . . Readers can journey to places where the seeds of imagination and keen powers of observation are planted." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Tell me a story of w...