Book picks similar to
Level the Playing Field: The Past, Present, and Future of Women's Pro Sports by Kristina Rutherford
non-fiction
sports
nonfiction
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Flowers for Sarajevo
John McCutcheon - 2017
Drasko helps his father sell flowers in Sarajevo, but when war threatens and his father is called to the battlefront, Drasko must take over the flower stall. One morning the boys familiar routine is shattered when a mortar shell hits the bakery, killing twenty-two people. The next day, a cellist from the Sarajevo Opera Orchestra goes to the crater and plays the most beautiful music that Drasko can imagine. Inspired, he looks for ways to ease the sorrow of those around him. Based on real events of the Bosnian War.
Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom
Teresa Robeson - 2019
When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, most girls did not attend school; no one considered them as smart as boys. But her parents felt differently. Giving her a name meaning “Courageous Hero,” they encouraged her love of learning and science. This engaging biography follows Wu Chien Shiung as she battles sexism and racism to become what Newsweek magazine called the “Queen of Physics” for her work on beta decay. Along the way, she earned the admiration of famous scientists like Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer and became the first woman hired as an instructor by Princeton University, the first woman elected President of the American Physical Society, the first scientist to have an asteroid named after her when she was still alive, and many other honors.
Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind
Cynthia Grady - 2018
Before they are moved, Breed asks the children to write her letters and gives them books to take with them. Through the three years of their internment, the children correspond with Miss Breed, sharing their stories, providing feedback on books, and creating a record of their experiences. Using excerpts from children's letters held at the Japanese American National Museum, author Cynthia Grady presents a difficult subject with honesty and hope." A beautiful picture book for sharing and discussing with older children as well as the primary audience" -- Booklist STARRED REVIEW "A touching tribute to a woman who deserves recognition" -- Kirkus Reviews"[An] affecting introduction to a distressing chapter in U.S. history and a brave librarian who inspired hope" -- Publisher's Weekly
Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People
S.D. Nelson - 2015
D. Nelson Sitting Bull (c. 1831–1890) was one of the greatest Lakota/Sioux warriors and chiefs who ever lived. He was eventually named war chief, leader of the entire Sioux nation—a title never before bestowed on anyone. As a leader, Sitting Bull resisted the United States government’s attempt to move the Lakota/Sioux to reservations for more than twenty-five years. From Sitting Bull’s childhood—killing his first buffalo at age ten—to being named war chief, to leading his people against the U.S. Army, and to his surrender, Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People brings the story of the great chief to light. Sitting Bull was instrumental in the war against the invasive wasichus (White Man) and was at the forefront of the combat, including the Battles of Killdeer Mountain and the Little Bighorn. He and Crazy Horse were the last Lakota/Sioux to surrender their people to the U.S. government and resort to living on a reservation. Award-winning author and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe S. D. Nelson intersperses archival images with his own artwork, inspired by the ledger-art drawings of the nineteenth-century Lakota. Through the art and riveting story, Nelson conveys how Sitting Bull clung to his belief that the Lakota were a free people meant to live, hunt, and die on the Great Plains.
Adventures to School: Real-Life Journeys of Students from Around the World
Miranda Paul - 2018
Take a peek inside this book and see how they reach their destinations!Children all around the world go to school. Whether they're from Japan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, or the United States, all students have the desire to learn about the world and shape the future. In Bhutan, children walk for three hours to make it to school, and in Pakistan, children travel by rickshaw. Some children in China must climb a heaven ladder, while children in Nepal must walk over a wire bridge. The treks of these students are unique, extraordinary, and even dangerous, and they signify the common determination, perseverance, and sense of adventure shared by young people around the world.Read along as students from thirteen different nations embark on their journeys to get to school in the morning, and learn about the diverse landscapes and cultures of these countries along the way!
Jazz
Walter Dean Myers - 2000
From bebop to New Orleans, from ragtime to boogie, and every style in between, Jazz takes readers on a musical journey from jazz's beginnings to the present day. Created by a celebrated father-son team, Jazz is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a Kirkus Best Children's Books Editor's Choice.In addition to its colorful and lyrical celebration, the book includes a brief introductory essay about the history and form of jazz, as well as a timeline and glossary of jazz terms.Coretta Scott King Award Honor for illustrationALA Notable Children's BookLee Bennett Hopkins Poetry AwardPublishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of the YearKirkus Reviews Editor's ChoiceBooklist Editor's ChoiceBooklist Top Ten in Black HistoryBook Link's Best New Books for the ClassroomGolden Kite Award: Picture Book Text
Love in the Library
Maggie Tokuda-Hall - 2022
But to fall in love in a place like Minidoka, a place built to make people feel like they weren’t human—that was miraculous.After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tama is sent to live in a War Relocation Center in the desert. All Japanese Americans from the West Coast—elderly people, children, babies—now live in prison camps like Minidoka. To be who she is has become a crime, it seems, and Tama doesn’t know when or if she will ever leave. Trying not to think of the life she once had, she works in the camp’s tiny library, taking solace in pages bursting with color and light, love and fairness. And she isn’t the only one. George waits each morning by the door, his arms piled with books checked out the day before. As their friendship grows, Tama wonders: Can anyone possibly read so much? Is she the reason George comes to the library every day? Beautifully illustrated and complete with an afterword, back matter, and a photo of the real Tama and George—the author’s grandparents—Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s elegant love story for readers of all ages sheds light on a shameful chapter of American history.
At the Same Moment, Around the World
Clotilde Perrin - 2011
Strong back matter empowers readers to learn about the history of timekeeping and time zones, and to explore where each of the characters lives on the world map. A distinctive educational tool, this picture book's warm, unique illustrations also make it a joy to read aloud and admire.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
Tanya Lee Stone - 2009
They defied the prejudices of the time. And they blazed a trail for generations of women to follow.What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.
The Matchbox Diary
Paul Fleischman - 2013
Then I’ll tell you its story." When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather’s diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write — the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn’t enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game.
Mary, Who Wrote Frankenstein
Linda Bailey - 2018
Mary is one such dreamer, a little girl who learns to read by tracing the letters on her mother's tombstone and whose only escape from her strict father and overbearing stepmother is through the stories she reads and imagines. Unhappy at home, she seeks independence, and at the age of seventeen runs away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, another dreamer. She travels to Europe and surrounds herself with more poets and writers, including Lord Byron and John Polidori. On a stormy summer evening, Byron suggests a contest to see who can create the best ghost story. After nine months of daydreaming, 21-year-old Mary Shelley's terrifying tale is published, a novel that goes on to become a very well-known monster story.
The Story of Ruby Bridges
Robert Coles - 1995
Because even if they say those bad things, They don't know what they're doing."This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little girl standing alone in the face of racism.
Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song
Kathryn Erskine - 2017
Mama Africa, as they called her, raised her voice to help combat these injustices at jazz clubs in Johannesburg; in exile, at a rally beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and before the United Nations.