Choose to Matter: Being Courageously and Fabulously YOU


Julie Foudy - 2017
    This book is a roadmap to unleash that courageous YOU and have you singing your dreams out loud. Along with sharing stories from her playing days and personal experiences, Julie taps into the wisdom of other incredible female leaders including "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts, soccer stars Mia Hamm and Alex Morgan, and Facebook superwoman and Lean In founder Sheryl Sandberg. In her Leadership Academy, Julie encourages young women to find the leader that exists in all of them, whatever their personality or vocal chord strength might be. Complete with fun exercises and activities, Choose to Matter guides readers in all aspects of their lives. Julie believes every young woman has the power to be a leader who makes a positive impact. And it all starts by choosing to matter. So go ahead, start now. Because you can.

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club


Phillip Hoose - 2015
    Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage, infuriating the Germans, who eventually had the boys tracked down and arrested. But their efforts were not in vain: the boys' exploits and eventual imprisonment helped spark a full-blown Danish resistance. Interweaving his own narrative with the recollections of Knud himself, here is Phillip Hoose's inspiring story of these young war heroes.This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole


Carolyn Cinami Decristofano - 2012
    Paintings by Michael Carroll, coupled with real telescopic images, help readers visualize the facts and ideas presented in the text, such as how light bends, and what a supernova looks like.A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A HOLE is an excellent introduction to an extremely complex scientific concept. Back matter includes a timeline which sums up important findings discussed throughout, while the glossary and index provide a quick point of reference for readers. Children and adults alike will learn a ton of spacey facts in this far-out book that’s sure to excite even the youngest of astrophiles.

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers


Tanya Lee Stone - 2013
    Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II.World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, the injustice of discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Enlisted black men are segregated from white soldiers and regularly relegated to service duties. At Fort Benning, Georgia, First Sergeant Walter Morris’s men serve as guards at The Parachute School, while the white soldiers prepare to be paratroopers. Morris knows that for his men to be treated like soldiers, they have to train and act like them, but would the military elite and politicians recognize the potential of these men as well as their passion for serving their country? Tanya Lee Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military through the history of the Triple Nickles, America’s first black paratroopers, who fought in a little-known attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of Morris, "proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability."From Courage Has No ColorWhat did it take to be a paratrooper in World War II? Specialized training, extreme physical fitness, courage, and — until the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the Triple Nickles) was formed — white skin.It is 1943. Americans are overseas fighting World War II to help keep the world safe from Adolf Hitler’s tyranny, safe from injustice, safe from discrimination. Yet right here at home, people with white skin have rights that people with black skin do not.What is courage? What is strength? Perhaps it is being ready to fight for your nation even when your nation isn’t ready to fight for you.

Top 50 Villains (Horrible Histories)


Terry Deary - 2016
    From gangs of gangsters to maniacs who massacre, meet the biggest baddies in history and discover how they tortured and terrified their way to the top. Find out whose savage speciality was nostril-splitting, which evil emperor served up guts in gold dishes, whose axe-murdering antics were turned into a ballet and much more. It's all you need to know about villains - all the gore and more!

The Story of the Statue of Liberty


Betsy Maestro - 1986
    "Written for the youngest audience...the text is very simple yet manages to convey all the major events in Liberty's creation....The full-color watercolors show amazing detail and are extremely rich."--Horn Book.

The Unstoppable Ramona and Beezus (Beezus and Ramona, #5-8)


Beverly Cleary - 2010
    Four fantastic books about these much-loved sisters in one bumper editionBeezus and Ramona are sisters, and sisters are supposed to love each other - right? Wrong! Ramona thinks she's being helpful but as far as Beezus is concerned, she's just an embarrassing and annoying little pest.The Unstoppable Beezus and Ramona contains the second four Beezus and Ramona books in one edition.

From Victim to Hero: The Untold Story of Steven Stayner


Jim Laughter - 2010
    Steven’s story inspires and exemplifies the goodness and strength within the human spirit. The trauma experienced by the family is shared, giving insight of the impact on the marriage, children, and friends. Whether in abuse or abduction, From Victim to Hero portrays the grooming, lying and strategies used by predators to convince and coerce their victims into compliance. This book reiterates the three principles victims must realize – 1. Nobody has the right to hurt you. 2. It’s not your fault. 3. You don’t have the right to hurt others. Buy this book. Share it with your children. Keep them safe.Ed Smart (father of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart)President, Surviving Parents CoalitionIn this book, From Victim to Hero, Jim Laughter expresses Steven’s heart and brings to light the extraordinary spirit of a young man that endangered himself because he believed rescuing Timmy White was the right thing to do.Diane L Brown, Founder/DirectorSafety Kids, Inc.

Mia Hamm: On the Field with...


Matt Christopher - 1998
    At the top of the sport's list of star players is Mia Hamm. Her speed, aggressive play, and ability to "read the field" have sparked every team she's ever played on. At the University of North Carolina, she helped the Tar Heels capture four NCAA championships. Her continually stellar performances with the United States national team led them to win two out of three Women's World Cups, first in 1991 and again in 1999. And as a member of the 1996 gold medal-winning Olympic team, she played an outstanding final game on a sprained ankle. The holder of the world record for most goals scored in a career, she is the hero of thousands of soccer fans worldwide. Readers will devour every detail of this insightful biography of the best women's soccer player in the world. Get an up-close look at this superstar athlete with Matt Christopher, the number one sports series for kids. For more information on the Matt Christopher Sports Bio Bookshelf, please turn to the last pages of this book.

Harry Potter - The Ultimate Quiz Book


Chris Peacock - 2011
    From questions even a muggle should know all the way through to trivia that would test Dumbledore himself, this is a fantastic way to enjoy the wizarding world even more. This version has been specially formatted for Kindle by Andrews UK.

Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty


Tonya Bolden - 2013
    Filled with little-known facts and fascinating details, it includes excerpts from historical sources, archival images, and new research that debunks myths about the Emancipation Proclamation and its causes. Complete with a timeline, glossary, and bibliography, "Emancipation Proclamation" is an engrossing new historical resource from award-winning children's book author Tonya Bolden.

Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Man-Of-War


Stephen Biesty - 1990
    -- School Library Journal

The Secret Project


Jonah Winter - 2017
    They work hard, surrounded by top security and sworn to secrecy, until finally they take their creation far out into the desert to test it, and afterward the world will never be the same.

The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon


Carla Killough McClafferty - 2010
    . . there was an expression of his face that no painter had succeeded in taking."--London's New Monthly Magazine in 1790 George Washington's face has been painted, printed, and engraved more than a billion times since his birth in 1732. And yet even in his lifetime, no picture seemed to capture the likeness of the man who is now the most iconic of all our presidents. Worse still, people today often see this founding father as the "old and grumpy" Washington on the dollar bill. In 2005 a team of historians, scientists, and artisans at Mount Vernon set out to change the image of our first president. They studied paintings and sculptures, pored over Washington's letters to his tailors and noted other people's comments about his appearance, even closely examined the many sets of dentures that had been created for Washington. Researchers tapped into skills as diverse as 18th-century leatherworking and cutting-edge computer programming to assemble truer likenesses. Their painstaking research and exacting processes helped create three full-body representations of Washington as he was at key moments in his life. And all along the way, the team gained new insight into a man who was anything but "old and grumpy." Join award-winning author Carla Killough McClafferty as she unveils the statues of the three Georges and rediscovers the man who became the face of a new nation.

Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation


Candy J. Cooper - 2020
    As part of a plan to save money, government officials decided that Flint would temporarily switch its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Within months, many residents broke out in rashes. Then it got worse: children stopped growing. Some people were hospitalized with mysterious illnesses; others died. Citizens of Flint protested that the water was dangerous. Despite what seemed so apparent from the murky, foul-smelling liquid pouring from the city’s faucets, officials refused to listen. They treated the people of Flint as the problem, not the water, which was actually poisoning thousands.Through interviews with residents and intensive research into legal records and news accounts, journalist Candy J. Cooper, assisted by writer-editor Marc Aronson, reveals the true story of Flint. Poisoned Water shows not just how the crisis unfolded in 2014, but also the history of racism and segregation that led up to it, the beliefs and attitudes that fueled it, and how the people of Flint fought—and are still fighting—for clean water and healthy lives.