Biography For Boys

Lyn Brakeman was among the first women to enter the ordination process in the Episcopal Church just after the General Convention voted in 1976 that women could be priests. The bishop of her diocese had voted against ordaining women priests, and hospitality toward female aspirants was guarded at best. So why would a 40-year-old institutional naïf, suburban housewife, and mother of four enter such unfriendly territory to seek priestly ordination at a time when her personal life was in chaos?

At the age of nine, Tomi Reichental, along with his mother, brother, grandmother, aunt and cousin, were incarcerated in the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Their crime: being Jews in Slovakia under Tiso’s regime which collaborated in the deportation of over 80 per cent of its Jewish population. He recalls the daily brutality, starvation and dehumanisation of the inmates.

On the seventy-fifth anniversary of Kristallnacht comes this untold story of a teenager whose act of defiance would have dire international consequences. On the morning of November 7, 1938, a seventeen-year-old Jewish refugee, Herschel Grynszpan, walked into the German embassy in Paris and in an act of desperation assassinated Ernst vom Rath, a low-level Nazi diplomat. He did it, he said, out “of love for my parents and for my people.”

From the highly successful author of Lightning Boys and Lightning Boys 2, Richard Pike, comes a welcome addition to the Boys series, Hunter Boys. A fascinating insight into the experiences and affections of those who flew the iconic Hawker Hunter. Fifteen aircrew relate their individual recollections of the highs and lows, the dramas and demands of this incredible aircraft, which came into service in July 1951 and changed the future of fighter development.

Ben Mattlin lives a normal, independent life. Why is that interesting? Because Mattlin was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a congenital weakness from which he was expected to die in childhood. Not only did Mattlin live through childhood, he became one of the first students in a wheelchair to attend Harvard, from which he graduated and became a professional writer. His advantage?

When George Alagiah was dropped off at a Hampshire boarding school as a child back in 1967, he was confronted with an extreme version of the private struggle faced by all immigrants: the battle to leave the past behind and fit into a new culture. His arrival in Britain coincided with the unhappy intrusion of race into politics. A key part of the ensuing fight against racism was the concept of multiculturalism. But in a closely argued and forthright chapter, Alagiah suggests that far from improving the prospects for some immigrants, multiculturalism may be an impediment to integration.

Best known for his unique brand of observational humor - seen on Broadway, in film, and on television - Klein details his life from ages nine to 25 as viewed "through the gauze of time". Klein's theme park of memories alternates dark moments with sunlit humor. Teenage frustrations prompted a visit to a Harlem prostitute, which filled Klein with "shame and triumph and guilt".

Hilarious and heartfelt, Ron Wolfson's inspiring memoir is filled with stories of growing up in a warm family, encountering colorful characters like the merchants of Omaha and the famous Warren Buffett, navigating adolescence and learning never to underestimate his mother.

Eduardo F. Calcines was a child of Fidel Castros Cuba; he was just three years old when Castro came to power in January 1959. After that, everything changed for his family and his country. When he was 10, his family applied for an exit visa to emigrate to America and he was ridiculed by his schoolmates and even his teachers for being a traitor to his country. But even worse, his father was sent to an agricultural reform camp to do hard labor as punishment for daring to want to leave Cuba.

This book follows its fascinating subject from the Indiana farm where he spent an active but troubled boyhood to the crucial, early training ground of the New York theater world to his meteoric rise to international stardom in the movies. It shows how postwar Hollywood was still a charmed, leisurely community, yet one ripe for the explosive ascension of a dynamic new presence like James Dean.

50 Real Heroes for Boys teaches young boys everywhere that being a man only requires being yourself - but your best self. Bright, colorful portraits by over a dozen international artists accompany true stories of men who knew that character - things like integrity, kindness, empathy, courage, respect for women, and more - mixed with their own unique gifts - art, athletics, creativity, dance, music, curiosity, and more - could make the world a better place.

How can a peasant boy become a mighty emperor? You will know by listening to the life story of Emperor Justinian I, also known as Saint Justinian the Great. Was it sheer luck that brought him to the palace, or was it fate? What lessons can be learned from his life story? Find out today!

Completely revised and updated for 2020, My 48 Years at Sea provides the reader with a fascinating look at the life of a merchant seaman in the 20th century. His adventures include harrowing stories of survival on storm-tossed ships, funny anecdotes of unforgettable characters encountered on his journeys and the rescue of stranded Vietnamese refugees looking for a better life.

On a hot night in July 1995, Janet Downing, a 42-year-old mother of four, was brutally stabbed 98 times in her home in Somerville, a city two miles northwest of Boston. Within hours, a suspect was identified: 15-year-old Eddie O'Brien, the best friend of one of Janet's sons.

This is the account of the coming out of a respected adventure survival filmmaker, taken from her journal entries as she leaves behind fear and white male privilege to embrace truth, grace and womanhood. Her gut-wrenching journey of love, acceptance and honesty becomes the ultimate survival show. Scottie didn't make it easy on herself. Like many late-stage trans women, Scottie had made one helluva guy; succeeding as a husband of 25 years.

Go West! Ein autobiografischer Blick auf eine Band, die mühelos und widerspruchsfrei ganz unterschiedliche Gruppen von Fans miteinander vereint: von Intellektuellen, die sie als ambitionierte Konzeptkünstler bewundern, über Familien bis hin zur schwulen Partyszene. Kristof Magnusson nahm zum ersten Mal Popmusik im späten Grundschulalter wahr - und da waren die Pet Shop Boys für ihn der Inbegriff der Popmusik schlechthin. Später prägten sie seine musikalische Sozialisation in den Teenagerjahren und begleiteten seine Anfänge als Autor während der Studienzeit.

As the car approached the long, steep driveway, I was suddenly overcome by panic. I had never had much of a normal family life before. But now as the new foster home approached larger than life through the windshield, I realized for the first time that I was an orphan. Maybe not in the traditional sense of the word, but being given up by my father to live with some family was all I needed to be convinced that I was not wanted.

The JT LeRoy scandal is a story of our times. In January 2006, the New York Times unmasked Savannah Knoop as the face of the mysterious author JT LeRoy. A media frenzy ensued as JT's fans, mentors, and readers came to terms with the fact that the gay male-ex-truck stop prostitute turned literary wunderkind was really a girl from San Francisco whose sister-in-law wrote the books.

Mikey is a Romany Gypsy and grew up living in a caravan on sites across the UK. He adored his family and the rich and vibrant Romany culture he'd inherited. Eventually though he was forced to make a heartbreaking decision - to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere to finally belong. But Mikey quickly discovers that life in the outside world isn't all he expected.

What if you were born with a lie? Why was your birth certificate falsified? Was that even legal? So they sent you, a San Francisco kid, up north to your grandparents. Maybe you were adopted by loving people. But you have a real life to live. No one can take that away from you. This is a boy’s life that is scarily similar to the film This Boy’s Life starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Ellen Barkin. Except this life was not a novel. This really happened.