Moderate Biographies

207 pages

Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of the University of Washington's eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler.

205 pages

A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s. Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.

Lynn's Book Review

Lesson Plan

116 pages

Like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin refused to give her seat to a white woman on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Unlike Rosa Parks, Claudette found herself dismissed by community leaders. She later served as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.

134 pages

Seen through the eyes of a boy, the author himself, who longed for an education and the right to call one place home. This is his story of working as a migrant worker with his family.

104 pages

This is the story of a man’s fight with the government of South Africa. It is the story of all people who prefer truth to lies. It is the story of all people who cry ‘Freedom’, and who are not afraid to die.

299 pages

Warm, feisty, and intelligent, the Delany sisters speak their mind in a book that is a vital historical record and a moving portrait of two remarkable women who continued to love, laugh, and embrace life after over a hundred years of living side by side.

Book Review

Carol's Materials

125 pages

Sadie Delaney and Bessie Delaney offer their fans a treasury of grandmotherly good sense: memorable aphorisms, engaging anecdotes, practical advice, etc.

After losing his job, Archie, could no longer hide from the truth: he couldn't read. Last Reader Standing is the story of Archie's amazing--and often painful--journey of becoming literate at middle age, struggling with the newfound knowledge of his dyslexia.

107 pages

Leon Tillage grew up the son of a sharecropper in a small town in North Carolina. Told in vignettes, this is his story about working to change an oppressive existence by joining the civil rights movement.

220 pages

Fantasia tells of her astonishing rise from hopeless high school dropout to American Idol superstar.

248 pages

George Dawson's extraordinary journey through the twentieth century and how he learned to read at age 98.

Book Review

137 pages

Gary Paulsen has owned dozens of unforgettable and amazing dogs. Each chapter describes each of his dogs and the impact they had on his life.

Book Review

163 pages

On April 14, 1846, the Donner Party set out from Springfield, Illinois, in search of a better life in the largely unsettled California territory.This account, filled with selections from the survivors' letters and diaries, focuses on the children's experiences.

Lynn's Book Review

188 pages

In this straightforward, compelling autobiography, Rosa Parks talks candidly about her active role in the civil rights movement.

Gail's Book Review

Carol's Materials

190 pages

At age sixteen, Sacajawea has been taken from her Shoshone people to join Lewis and Clark in their expedition to explore the land from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. This novel, which is told by Sacajawea herself and by William Clark, is a unique blend of history and humanity.

183 pages

As an eleven-year-old girl living with her Japanese family in northern Korea, Yoko is suddenly fleeing for her life with her mother and sister to Japan during WWII. It's a true story of courage and survival that highlights the plight of individual people in wartime.

253 pages

As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity. The allure of Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House Cookies becomes an ingenious metaphor for Nguyen's struggle to become a "real" American.

116 pages

A biography that balances Robinson's life and significance on and off the baseball diamond.

Lesson Plan

267 pages

A biography of the groundbreaking innovator who was a giant in the worlds of computing, music, filmmaking, design, smart phones, and more.

61 pages

In November 1960, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to go to a desegregated school in Louisiana. An icon of the civil rights movement, Ruby Bridges chronicles each dramatic step of this pivotal event in history through her own words. Complete with quotes and photos from historical documents.

192 pages

Mitch discovers his former professor is ill. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

Judy's Book Review

84 pages

Alma Flor Ada offers a collection of stories and reminiscences drawn from her childhood on the island of Cuba. Through those stories we see how the many events and relationships she enjoyed helped shape who she is today.