Young Adult Biography

The Compton Cowboys are a group who grew up in the city where Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams were raised; a city portrayed in the media as ground zero for gang violence. But in 1988, with the creation of the Compton Junior Posse, a youth program set on a horse ranch in the middle of Compton, these men and women found a safe space.

Author Stephen Young - a seaman on the battleship Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor - recounts his terrifying experience with incredible realism.

This book tells the stories of girls and boys from around the world and the challenges they have faced and overcome. It features over 29 tales of amazing young girls and boys who have achieved the unimaginable - from surviving a plane crash in the jungle to striking against climate change. There are tales of triumphing over illness and injury, and of overcoming bullying. Entries include Greta Thunberg, Boyan Slat and Phiona Mutesi, to name a few.

Twelve-year-old Gitanjali Rao, appalled by the tragedy in Flint, Michigan, found a cheaper, more effective way to test for lead in drinking water. Four undocumented teenagers from an underfunded high school in Phoenix built an underwater robot from spare parts. At fifteen, William Kamkwamba used materials from junkyards near his home in Malawi to build a windmill to generate electricity and pump water for his village. Science educator and professor Fred Estes explores the motivation, challenges, and lives of these teen scientists and explains the science behind each invention.

Recruited by the US Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as codebreakers during World War II. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, best-selling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

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.

This young readers’ edition from New York Times best-selling author and Fox News anchor Bret Baier dives into the first of the secret World War II meetings between President Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, which would shape the world for decades to come.

From award-winning author Tonya Bolden comes a biography of the first Black woman elected to the US House of Representatives and the first Black woman to run for president with a major political party: Shirley Chisholm. Before there was Barack Obama, before there was Kamala Harris, there was Fighting Shirley Chisholm.

Jimmy, known by his friends as Meathead, wants to be a good kid...he really does. But his friends are wild and lead him into serious trouble. Stealing, fighting slingshot battles, and lying to girls, Meathead hilariously struggles to be honest while enduring growing pains and dealing with a terrible loss. Set in the suburbs in the late '70s, even Meathead starts to understand what it takes to grow up and be a good man.

Lionel Messi is a great soccer player with FC Barcelona and the Argentina team. He has established records for goals scored and won individual awards, leading him to become one of the best players in the world. Lionel has helped lead his teams to great victories.

Girls of color have always been on the front lines of the fight for equal rights—to vote, to learn, to live—even when they are the last to benefit from the outcomes of their work. In Don’t Wait, journalist Sonali Kohli follows 3 teenagers’ efforts to make their communities safer, healthier places.

Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is perhaps the most well known of the autobiographies that exist. Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give listeners historical context.

At age 16, most high schoolers are trying to navigate college applications, Friday night football games, and SAT scores. But for Jess Kimball, age 16 meant graduating high school and moving abroad, alone. Her decision to focus on running a business instead of going to college is one that she had no regrets about - except for her curiosity about college life. At age 19, Jess decided to audit classes at Dartmouth College; an experience that would change her life. What resulted was the social experience of college, minus the debt and anxiety - a pseudo-college experience.

One of the great thinkers of all time, Thomas Jefferson helped shape America in its early years, and his ideas continue to inspire us today. His amazing contributions include not only writing the Declaration of Independence, but his actions as the United States' third President, as well as his influence as a scientist, inventor, farming pioneer, and educator. The engrossing life of this founding father is fully captured in this richly detailed biography.

In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on—to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in.

Oprah Winfrey has been called the Queen of All Media for good reason: during her more than 30-year career, she has left an indelible mark on radio, television, film, theater, magazines, and books. One of the most influential people today, Oprah is also a committed humanitarian.

Could any story be more inspiring than that of Joan of Arc, the courageous maiden who fought for the glory of France and God? Guided by what she firmly believed were visions of saints, this young Frenchwoman - still just 16 years old - led her people in battle against the British occupiers. Though she proved victorious in war, Joan ultimately became a martyr when some of her own countrymen betrayed her to the English.

Almost anything scares young Eleanor: mice, the dark, and a host of imaginary dangers. But she learns to hide her feelings - her father disapproves of fear, and she longs only to please him. She knows she will always disappoint her beautiful, socialite mother, because Eleanor is painfully shy and plain.

As a young debutante in Manhattan, she spends her days teaching needy children and touring crowded tenements.

Vivimos un momento en el que vemos por doquier muestras de rechazo a los migrantes, acciones duras para controlarlos, planes de construir muros cada vez más altos cuando desde siempre, desde que en algún lugar de África nuestra especie se puso sobre dos pies, hemos estado en movimiento. La migración de los seres humanos es tan antigua como nosotros mismos. Este libro incluye 51 historias de personas extraordinarias que cambiaron el mundo desde un país que no era el suyo. Y a pesar de las dificultades, todos ellos son un orgullo para los países donde encontraron la oportunidad de realizar sus sueños.

What Makes Us Girls examines the topic of self-worth through a modern cultural lens. Using examples from the author's life experience and the life experiences of a variety of other girls, What Makes Us Girls analyzes seven of the most common issues that result in a destructive sense of self-worth: comparison, rejection, bullying, inauthenticity, purposelessness, betrayal, and guilt.