Biography – Autobiography- Memoir

El Baile De Octavo Y Otros Recuerdos

Eleven-year-old Ada De Jesús was on the cusp of her teens when she moved to the United States from Puerto Rico. Hurricane Hugo had just decimated the island and her father couldn’t find a job. In Chicago, the white dress she arrived in didn’t protect her from the snow and frigid temperatures! Constantly exposed to new things, she developed a resilience that served her well. “From one place to another, like riding a bike, if you keep pedaling, you won’t fall.” Ada discovered that students in the United States were frequently disrespectful to their teachers. At school she often felt like a two-year-old as she grappled with a completely new language. In addition to navigating a different culture, she had to deal with all the issues familiar to teenage girls: the growth of body hair, pimples, menstruation and burgeoning feelings for the opposite sex. Her memories of first intimate encounters, fending off unwanted advances and fear of pregnancy will strike a chord with readers. In these short vignettes recollecting her middle-school years, Ada De Jesús shares her poignant and often funny experiences as a newcomer and an adolescent. Young readers will relate to—and laugh at—her experiences; some may take heart that they too will overcome the difficulties common at this age.

Soldier For Equality

José de la Luz Sáenz (1888–1953)—or Luz—believed in fighting for what was right. Although he was born in the United States, he and his family experienced prejudice because of their Mexican heritage. When World War I broke out, Luz volunteered to join the fight. Because of his ability to quickly learn languages, he became part of the Intelligence Office in Europe. However, despite his hard work and intellect, Luz often didn’t receive credit for his contributions. Upon his return to the US, he joined other Mexican-Americans whom he had met in the army to fight for equality. His contribution, along with others, ultimately led to the creation of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which is the oldest Latino civil rights organization. Soldier for Equality is based in part on Luz’s diary during the war. It includes a biography of Luz’s later years, an author’s note, a timeline, a bibliography, and an index.

Dancing Hands

As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too the Civil War.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 4.

Grandad Mandela

Nelson Mandela’s two great-grandchildren ask their grandmother, Mandela’s youngest daughter, 15 questions about their grandad – the global icon of peace and forgiveness who spent 27 years in prison. They learn that he was a freedom fighter who put down his weapons for the sake of peace, and who then became the President of South Africa and a Nobel Peace Prize-winner, and realise that they can continue his legacy in the world today. Seen through a child’s perspective, and authored jointly by Nelson Mandela’s great-grandchildren and daughter, this amazing story is told as never before to celebrate what would have been Nelson’s Mandela 100th birthday.

The Red Piano

A beautiful and extraordinary account of international concert pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei’s hardships and triumphs while growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, Stirring and inspiring, this picture book relates the story of a gifted young girl’s passion for the piano in a time of historic turmoil. During China’s Cultural Revolution a young girl is taken from her family and sent to a far-off labor camp. Forbidden to play the piano, she nevertheless finds a way of smuggling handwritten music into the camp and sneaking away at night to practice a piano in a secret location—until, one night, she is caught. Inspired by the amazing true story of international concert pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, this acclaimed picture book poetically relates an astonishing story of perseverance set against a cataclysmic period of history.

My Travels With Capts. Lewis And Clark, By George Shannon

A fictional journal recounting the travels–from Pittsburgh to the Pacific Ocean–of sixteen-year-old George Shannon, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery.

A Picture Book Of Lewis And Clark

An introduction to the lives of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark includes information on the exploratory expedition they led from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean in the early nineteenth century.

I Am Sacajawea, I Am York

When Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery set out in the spring of 1804, they had chosen to go on an unprecedented, extremely dangerous journey. It would be the adventure of a lifetime. Unlike others in the group, two key members did not choose to join the hazardous expedition: York, Clark’s slave, and Sacajawea, considered to be the property of Charbonneau, the expedition’s translator. The unique knowledge and skills Sacajawea and York had were essential to the success of the trip. The dual stories of these two outsiders, who earned their way into the inner core of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, shed new light on one of the most exciting and important undertakings in American history.