Nonfiction Biography

Pack your bags! We're headed to Cuba. On this whirlwind tour, you'll learn all about the country's landscape, culture, people, and more. We'll explore Cuba's tropical rainforests and mountain ranges and taste fried plantains. A special section introduces Cuba's capital, language, and population. Hop on board and take a fun-filled look at your world!

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.

Chelsea Clinton introduces tiny feminists, mini activists, and little kids who are ready to take on the world to 13 inspirational women who never took no for an answer, and who always, inevitably and without fail, persisted. Throughout United States history, there have always been women who have spoken out for what's right, even when they have to fight to be heard. In this audiobook, Chelsea Clinton celebrates 13 American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience.

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.

In An American Plague, Jim Murphy tells the story of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic. Bizarre medical practices of the time are discussed, as well as popular historical figures, such as George Washington and Benjamin Rush, who were involved in finding a cure for this horrific outbreak. Pat Bottino's captivating narration adds appeal to this interesting historical tale.

From the author of Ghosts in the Fog comes a story that will appeal to lovers of history, adventure, and dogs. Byrd & Igloo is the first narrative nonfiction audiobook to tell the daring adventures of legendary polar explorer and aviator Richard Byrd and his lovable dog explorer, Igloo. Byrd is known for being the first to fly a plane over the North and South Poles, while Igloo is famous for being the only dog to explore both the North and South Poles.

Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a whites-only school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

In her memoir Do You Dream in Color?, Laurie Rubin looks back on her life as an international opera singer - who happens to be blind. From her loneliness and isolation as a middle school student to her experiences skiing, Rubin offers her young listeners a life story rich in detail and inspiration drawn from everyday challenges. Beginning with her childhood in California, Rubin tells the story of her life and the amazing experiences that led her to a career as an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano.

This biography is an excellent and accessible introduction for youngsters to learn about one of the world's most influential luminaries. Helen Keller's poignant narrative is beautifully captured in this unforgettable portrait of a woman whose vision for innovation and progress changed America and the world forever.

Dans ce livre destiné aux enfants Jakob Streit nous raconte la vie de Louis Braille, de son enfance marquée par l'accident qui lui fit perdre la vue.

Rising from poverty-stricken Louisville in the 1950s, Ali became one of the world's greatest athletes. Beginning life as Cassius Clay, Ali would struggle against opponents both in and out of the ring. Segregation and racism stood as obstacles in his path, but as he climbed the boxing ranks, his social conscience grew. He refused to be pigeonholed as a stereotypical black athlete in the 1960s and changed his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam.

When I bounced the idea of An Accidental Life off Jim Browne, my financial manager with a keen understanding of the human condition, he said that all of us benefit from serendipity, from the accidental life. (We in fact met by happy accident.) He added that my life was and is typical, or perhaps a tad off the norm. Surely he's correct in that we all benefit from fortuitous events, but I think he's incorrect in saying that such events in my life are typical or normal.

Isamu Noguchi is one of the most important sculptors of all time. His Akari lamps changed the way modern buildings light their space. But before he was important, he was a kid. This is his story. Noguchi was a Japanese American artist who gave the world light. The world, however, was not always so giving in return. Growing up mixed-race, born in the United States but raised in Japan, Noguchi found himself perceived as an outsider who did not belong in either country

Emma Lilian Todd's mind was always soaring—she loved to solve problems. Lilian tinkered and fiddled with all sorts of objects, turning dreams into useful inventions. As a child, she took apart and reassembled clocks to figure out how they worked. As an adult, typing up patents at the U.S. Patent Office, Lilian built the inventions in her mind, including many designs for flying machines. However, they all seemed too impractical. Lilian knew she could design one that worked.

Opal Lee grew up as a Black girl in Texas at a time when Black and white people were kept separate and Black people had fewer opportunities than white people did. She knew that this wasn’t right, and she grew up to be a teacher and a community leader, determined to help create a better future for all people. A big part of her work and life was making Juneteenth a national holiday to mark the end of enslavement for Black Americans. She loved this day as both a celebration and as a way of teaching about the past.

Sonia Sotomayor es la primera jueza latina en la Corte Suprema en la historia de los Estados Unidos, pero su trayectoria no fue fácil. Ella tuvo que superar numerosos obstáculos y desafíos en el camino, como recibir un diagnóstico de diabetes a los siete años. Pero no dejó que eso le impidiera alcanzar su sueño e inspirar a los niños de todo el mundo a trabajar duro y tener fe en sí mismos.

Harriet Tubman, quien nació esclavizada, se convirtió en una de las conductoras más exitosas, más decidida y conocida del Ferrocarril Subterráneo. Con el amor de su familia firmemente plantado en su corazón, Harriet miró a la Estrella del Norte en busca de orientación para escapar, y su luz la ayudó a salir de la esclavitud. Su coraje le permitió ayudar a muchos otros a llegar también a tierra de libertad.

Adapted from her adult memoir, this is the autobiography of Coretta Scott King–wife of Martin Luther King, Jr., founder of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (the King Center), and twentieth-century American civil and human rights activist.

In 1818, Jeannette Power, a young French woman moved to Sicily and fell in love with the Mediterranean Sea and the Argonauta Argo octopus, the weirdest octopus on Earth. At the time, though, the only way to study a marine animal was if it was dead on land. That wasn’t good enough. Jeannette wanted to study this creature alive. She had many questions: did it create its own shell, how did it reproduce, what did it eat, and did it know she was watching? She knew that careful observation was the only way to answer her questions.

When her parents make the dangerous and illegal trek across the Mexican border in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced to live with their stern grandmother, as they wait for their parents to build the foundation of a new life. But when things don’t go quite as planned, Reyna finds herself preparing for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years: her long-absent father.