John Adams: Reluctant Patriot Of The Revolution


Leonard Falkner
    

Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High


Melba Pattillo Beals - 1994
    Board of Education.Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob’s rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.

George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides


Rosalyn Schanzer - 2004
    Rosalyn Schanzer's engaging and wonderfully illustrated book brings to life both sides of the American Revolution. The narrative introduces anew the two enemies, both named George: George Washington, the man who freed the American colonies from the British, and George III, the British king who lost them. Two leaders on different sides of the Atlantic, yet with more in common than we sometimes acknowledge. We are lead through their story, and the story of their times, and see both sides of the arguments that divided the colonies from the Kingdom. Was King George a "Royal Brute" as American patriots claimed? Or was he, as others believed, "the father of the people?" Was George Washington a scurrilous traitor, as all the king's supporters claimed? Or should we remember and celebrate him as "the father of his country?" Who was right? History teaches us that there are two sides to every story. Rosalyn Schanzer's book is an accessible account of one the most vital periods in American history. It is also a timeless lesson in seeing history from different points of view. The author spent two years researching books, paintings, cartoons, and descriptions of Revolutionary times. She uses art, text, and first-hand accounts to illustrate how history should never be reduced to simplistic conflicts between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Her illustrations, and her engaging quote bubbles, bring the Revolution to life again, and allow the characters of the period to speak for themselves. Through its lively text, detailed illustrations, and fully authenticated quotes, George vs. George shines fresh light on both sides of the story of our country's formative years.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind


William Kamkwamba - 2015
    William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William's windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land. Retold for a younger audience, this exciting memoir shows how, even in a desperate situation, one boy's brilliant idea can light up the world. Complete with photographs, illustrations, and an epilogue that will bring readers up to date on William's story, this is the perfect edition to read and share with the whole family.

The Brendan Voyage: A Leather Boat Tracks the Discovery of America by the Irish Sailor Saints


Tim Severin - 1978
    Brendan, award-winning adventure writer Tim Severin painstakingly researched and built a boat identical to the leather curragh that carried Brendan on his epic voyage. He found a centuries-old, family-run tannery to prepare the ox hides in the medieval way; he undertook an exhaustive search for skilled harness makers (the only people who would know how to stitch the three-quarter-inch-thick hides together); he located one of the last pieces of Irish-grown timber tall enough to make the mainmast. But his courage and resourcefulness were truly tested on the open seas, including one heart-pounding episode when he and his crew repaired a dangerous tear in the leather hull by hanging over the side--their heads sometimes submerged under the freezing waves--to restitch the leather. A modern classic in the tradition of Kon-Tiki, The Brendan Voyage seamlessly blends high adventure and historical relevance. It has been translated into twenty-seven languages since its original publication in 1978.With a new Introduction by Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

Madam How and Lady Why


Charles Kingsley - 1870
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels


Richard Halliburton - 1937
    The Exciting Travels in the New World and Old of America's foremost adventurer-Fully illustrated with maps and photographs, 2 in 1 book.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science


John Fleischman - 2004
    Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science.At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked, and the new Phineas was crude and unpredictable.His case astonished doctors in his day and still fascinates doctors today. What happened and what didn’t happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.

There's a Sheep in My Bathtub


Brian Hogan - 2007
    Brian and Louise meet during their college days at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo and embark on a pursuit of a calling to the nations that propels them from the Navajo Nation's painted desert in Arizona to the wild steppes of Central Asia. Along their way five children join the cross-cultural roller coaster. Disarmingly honest and charmingly humorous, their tale will thrill you and bring tears to your eyes. An intensely personal memoir, this book still manages to pack a powerful dose of missionary insight and Biblical principles for seeing the Church explode into life among peoples that have never even heard of Jesus. Get comfortable. You will not be able to put it down.From the very first page this book jerks you irretrievably into the outrageous, the uproarious and the impossible to imagine. It has got to be one of the most absolutely fascinating tales to ever prove that the truth is stranger than fiction. Nevertheless, it throbs with a sobering and relentless sense of calling and purpose that is truly inspiring. --- the late Dr. Ralph D. Winter, Founder, U.S. Center for World MissionI wept, laughed and was stirred by this book. I love a good story, and this is a really good one! You won't be able to put it down! --- Floyd McClung., author of Living on the Devil's DoorstepBrian Hogan's apostolic passion shines through with an incredible combination of raw honesty and witty humor. A gripping real-life parable unfolds that will have you laughing, weeping and rejoicing at the amazing testimony of God's grace and power revealed through ordinary people facing extra-ordinary obstacles. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as it not only tells an amazing story, but also becomes a discipleship tool that reveals to us a whole new paradigm of church and missions. --- David Broodryk, Kingdom People Network, South AfricaIf you want a radically cross-cultural journey without leaving your favorite easy chair - this book is your ticket. If you desire to plant churches that reproduce among the least reached - this is your training manual wrapped up in a most delightful, brawny and instructive story-box! I laughed - I cried - and wrestled through the realities of what it means to leave the easy chair and watch God prove Himself faithful - accomplishing His dreams for a people through one ordinary and obedient family. Brian Hogan is courageous, practical and real. Focused in the same direction for many years, he is a pioneer, church planter, mentor and model. His journey is a challenge to all those who want to be used by God. Brian's thinking will stretch and grow you; his passion and lifestyle will confront every comfortable corner of your life. There's a Sheep in my Bathtub will be top on the reading list for those I train. --- Carol Davis, director of LeafLine InitiativesBrian Hogan's Erdenet-story had been told to me a number of times as a real and astonishing exception and a true, powerful secret. I am thrilled to see it in print. Brian experienced church history in the making in 1993-1996. May his insights multiply like an epidemic and grip an entire new generation of an apostolic people, so that this planet will never remain the same. --- Wolfgang Simson, author of Houses that Change the World & The Starfish Manifesto

Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman


Dorothy Sterling - 1954
    Escape seemed impossible--certainly dangerous. Yet Harriet did escape North, by the secret route called the Underground Railroad. Harriet didn't forget her people. Again and again she risked her life to lead them on the same secret, dangerous journey.

God Spoke Tibetan: The Epic Story Of The Men Who Gave The Bible To Tibet, The Forbidden Land


Allan Maberly - 1977
    This fugitive, settling in a "Shangri-la" valley of Kashmir, helps launch the first attempts to translate the Bible. But the task proves formidable beyond anyone's imagination, as a sequence of heartbreaking setbacks blocks the translators's efforts. Not only are there language barriers, but also war and revolution, a Himalayan thunderstorm, the heat of India's plains, and a roaring avalanche from a mountain cliff.The setting for this improbable, but well-documented narrative is an exotic land surrounded by the world's highest mountains. It is a country whose people practice Buddhism heavily mixed with demon worship; where polyandry (plurality of husbands) is practiced; where, until the Chinese invasion, a succession of Dalai Lamas where both worshiped and assassinated.The translation of a Bible hardly sounds like an exciting event, but this one is different. You will not only be entertained, but inspired with a sense of power of the Word of life, the Book that "is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.""God Spoke Tibetan" will stir all those who love the Holy Scriptures and rejoice in its triumphant witness to the farthest points on the globe.

George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist


Janet Benge - 2001
    Bushwhackers! She pulled her baby close to her chest and stood rooted to the dirt floor in fear. A man stumbled through her doorway. "We got us one, boys!" he yelled, waving his rifle in the air and dragging his captives into the cold night.Once a kidnapped slave baby, George Washington Carver found freeom in learning everything he could about the world around him. Overcoming poverty and racism, George became a brilliamt scientist and a gifted professor who dedicated his expertise to helping black farmers escape the devastating grip of poverty.George's scientific creativity knew no limits. His ingenious experimentation with peanuts and other plants helped rescue the failing Southern economy. Stilll remembered for his far-reaching and diverse achievements, Dr. Carver generously shared his talent simply for the reward of helping others.

Rocket Boys


Homer Hickam - 1998
    I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we built our rockets, but those were mine."So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia - a hard-scrabble little mining company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high school football and where the future was regarded with more fear than hope. Looking back after a distinguished NASA career, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking readers into the life of the little mining town of Coalwood and the boys who would come to embody its dreams. In 1957 a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik shoot across the Appalachian sky and soon found his future in the stars. 'Sonny' and a handful of his friends, Roy Lee Cook, Sherman O'Dell and Quentin Wilson were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives forever.Step by step, with the help (and occasional hindrance) of a collection of unforgettable characters, the boys learn not only how to turn scrap into sophisticated rockets that fly miles into the sky, but how to sustain their dreams as they dared to imagine a life beyond its borders in a town that the postwar boom was passing by.A powerful story of growing up and of getting out, of a mother's love and a father's fears, Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys proves, like Angela's Ashes and Russell Baker's Growing Up before it, that the right storyteller and the right story can touch readers' hearts and enchant their souls.A uniquely endearing book with universal themes of class, family, coming of age, and the thrill of discovery, Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys is evocative, vivid storytelling at its most magical.In 1999, Rocket Boys was made into a Hollywood movie named October Sky starring Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the 'October sky'. Homer Hickam stated that "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys" so Universal Pictures changed the title to be more inviting to a wider audience. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky in order to capitalize on interest in the movie.

Exploring Creation with Biology


Jay L. Wile - 1998
    It is recommended that the student take this course during the same year that he or she is taking Algebra 1. Exploring Creation With Biology is a college-prep biology course that provides a detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology. Heavily emphasizing the vocabulary of biology, it provides the student with a strong background in the scientific method, the five-kingdom classification scheme, microscopy, biochemistry, cellular biology, molecular and Mendelian genetics, evolution, dissection, and ecosystems. It also provides a complete survey of the five kingdoms in Creation. Please note that this course does not contain a discussion of human anatomy and physiology. Most college biology professors do not consider it to be a part of a solid, college-prep biology course. Human anatomy and physiology is such a detailed subject that it merits an entire high school course (Please see Human Body, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made). Students who take and understand this course will be very well-prepared for a tough university biology course. The student text contains all student material, on-your-own questions and solutions, laboratory exercises, and chapter study guides. Color illustrations and diagrams."

Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo


Zlata Filipović - 1993
    It begins as the day-today record of the life of a typical eleven-year-old girl, preoccupied by piano lessons and birthday parties. But as war engulfs Sarajevo, Zlata Filipovic becomes a witness to food shortages, the deaths of friends, and learns to wait out bombardments in a neighbor’s cellar. Yet throughout she remains courageous and observant. The result is a book that has the power to move and instruct readers a world away.