Nonfiction Biography

Daniel Stashower, the two-time Edgar award-winning author of The Beautiful Cigar Girl, uncovers the riveting true story of the "Baltimore Plot", an audacious conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War. In February of 1861, just days before he assumed the presidency, Abraham Lincoln faced a "clear and fully-matured" threat of assassination as he traveled by train from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration. Over a period of 13 days the legendary detective Allan Pinkerton worked feverishly to detect and thwart the plot, assisted by a captivating young widow named Kate Warne.

American women are so close to winning the right to vote. They've been fighting for more than 70 years and need approval from just one more state. But suffragists face opposition from every side, including the "Antis" - women who don't want women to have the right to vote. It's more than a fight over politics; it's a debate over the role of women and girls in society, and whether they should be considered equal to men and boys.

In this Lean In-style inspirational memoir, 12-year-old Jesselyn Silva offers a ringside seat to girl power and what it takes to win in the ring and in life: punch by punch. My Corner of the Ring shows kids what it means to be true to yourself and stick with your dreams even when facing adversity and ridicule. Supported by her single dad, Jesselyn (JessZilla in the ring) first donned her boxing gloves at seven years of age, making her one of very few female boxers in the country.

At the age of 14, Francisco Jiménez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for 20 hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice.

In a typical school year, every kid has one or two things go wrong. But for Jordan, there’s a lot going wrong all the time. By keeping his cool (some of the time), banging on the drums (a lot), and keeping his sense of humor (all the time), Jordan’s going to try to make it through the year...and grow up to write a book about it!

Into a memoir that is gripping, funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable, Walter Dean Myers richly weaves the details of his Harlem childhood in the 1940s and 1950s: a loving home life with his adopted parents, Bible school, street games, and the vitality of his neighborhood. Although Walter spent much of his time either getting into trouble or on the basketball court, secretly he was a voracious reader and an aspiring writer.

Do you ever wonder if your heart is a reliable guide? If you do, then this story will speak to you. Money can't teach a person how love starts, what makes it tick, and how not to wreck it. For many people love comes as naturally as breathing. Kami Corban, 21, isn't in that group. She has to sweat and strive and read the manual twice.

See him? That little tramp twitching a postage stamp of a mustache, politely lifting his bowler hat, and leaning on a bamboo cane with the confidence of a gentleman? A slapstick comedian, he blazed forth as the brightest movie star in the Hollywood heavens. Everyone knew Charlie - Charlie Chaplin.

The youngest daughter of an eccentric engineer and a musical theater fanatic, Helen Brown grew up in the New Zealand coastal town of New Plymouth in a crumbling castle overrun by nature, and overshadowed by nearby, beautiful Mount Taranaki. It's 1966, the Pacific islands are being used for atomic bomb testing, and her parents and siblings are swept up in their own lives. Twelve years old, struggling in school, and facing eye surgery-for the second time-Helen feels lonely and lost . . .

The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author - a woman very much ahead of her time - including her time spent on the glorious island of Skiathos. Nancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the '40s, '50s and '60s. Hilarious, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel...twice.

From a talented emerging writer comes a brave, honest, unforgettable memoir about mental illness, which breaks the silence and shatters the taboos to give hope to all those struggling to find their way through. One day Sophie Hardcastle realised the joy she’d always known had disappeared. She was constantly tired, with no energy, no motivation and no sense of enjoyment for surfing, friends, conversations, movies, parties, family - for anything. Her hours became empty.

Christmas is eagerly awaited by Lulu, a young girl living in a small Wisconsin town during the Great Depression. Anticipation is transformed into anxiety when Daddy loses his job, doubts about Santa flicker, and that Shirley Temple doll seems further away than ever. Mama reveals her own brutal Christmas as an orphan, adding new worries. But it's Lulu's deep faith and vibrant hope that keeps her looking forward to each new day and the glorious gift of Christmas.

As part of an elite team of Marines, Craig Grossi was sent on his most dangerous assignment to the Sangin District of Afghanistan. He expected to face harsh conditions and violence from Taliban fighters.

The untold story of five women who fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s - and won.

Meet Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, once just a girl growing up in The Bronx, New York, with her brother and Puerto Rican-born parents. From a young age, her mother emphasized the value of education. Sonia would eventually graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University, receive a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, and later begin working as an assistant district attorney for New York County. Throughout her decades-long career, Sonia Sotomayor has been driven by her commitment to justice, inspiring young people to follow their dreams and strive to make them reality.

Conoce a la magistrada de la Corte Suprema Sonia Sotomayor—que una vez fue simplemente una niña criándose en el Bronx, Nueva York, con su hermano y sus padres puertorriqueños. Desde temprana edad, su madre le inculcó el valor de la educación y, con el tiempo, Sonia se graduaría summa cum laude de la Universidad de Princeton, recibiría un doctorado en Derecho de la Universidad de Yale y comenzaría a trabajar como asistente de fiscal de distrito del Condado de Nueva York.

Conoce a Ellen Ochoa, antes solo una niña de Los Ángeles, California. La nieta de inmigrantes de México, Ellen siguió la carrera de física en su juventud, y alcanzo recibir una maestría y doctorado en ingeniería eléctrica de Stanford University. En el 1993, Ellen se convirtió en la primera astronauta Latina en el espacio. Ya retirada, Ellen ha trabajado como directora del Johnson Space Center, defensora por las mujeres y otras minorías en los campos STEM, y fue incluida en el Salón de la Fama de Astronautas.

Meet Ellen Ochoa, once just a girl from Los Angeles, California. The granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, Ellen would pursue a career in physics at a young age, and go on to earn master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. In 1993, Ellen became the first Latina in space. As a retired astronaut, she’s served as director of the Johnson Space Center, become an advocate for women and minorities in STEM fields, and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Una de las activistas chilenas más influyentes a nivel global, Julieta Martínez, creadora de la plataforma Tremendas, nos explica en este emocionante ensayo autobiográfico por qué a los diez años salió a la calle a protestar, por qué encontró en el activismo una razón de ser, por qué está convencida de que el mundo puede mejorar y por qué no se deja apabullar frente a las injusticias—como la desigualdad de género— y calamidades—como el cambio climático- a las que asisten las nuevas generaciones.

Over half of all the visual artists working today are women, but the paintings and sculptures shown in many galleries and museums tell a different story because they're usually the work of men. In this audiobook, Kate Pankhurst, descendent of Emmeline Pankhurst, tells the fascinating stories of some of history's most talented female artists.