Biography – Autobiography- Memoir

Mexikid

Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito, his legendary crime-fighting, grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution! But that doesn’t mean Pedro is excited at the news that Abuelito is coming to live with their family. After all, Pedro has 8 brothers and sisters and the house is crowded enough! Still, Pedro piles into the Winnebago with his family for a road trip to Mexico to bring Abuelito home, and what follows is the trip of a lifetime, one filled with laughs and heartache. Along the way, Pedro finally connects with his abuelito and learns what it means to grow up and find his grito.

Featured in Volume XVI, Issue 3 of WOW Review.

Forest Keeper

Indian Jadav Payeng has proven that each and every one of us can make a difference. As a boy, he began planting trees on a sandbank in the state of Assam. Nobody believed that he would succeed in doing so. But since 1979, a forest the size of Central Park has emerged, offering a home to countless animals and plants. It was not until 2007 that a photographer accidentally discovered the forest and made Payeng known to the world beyond India.

Eighteen Vats Of Water

Xian wishes to be a legendary Chinese calligrapher like his father, but struggles to focus. Following in his father’s footsteps, he uses eighteen large vats of water to visualize his progress: when all the vats have turned black with ink from his brush, Xian will have practiced enough to achieve greatness. However, Xian soon learns that rote practice is not enough. To be truly great, he’ll need to observe nature and capture the spirit of his subjects on the page.

Finding My Dance

“In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage”–

Where Butterflies Fill The Sky: A Story Of Immigration, Family, And Finding Home

An evocative picture book that tells the true story of the author’s immigration from Kuwait to the United States.

Jovita Wore Pants: The Story Of A Mexican Freedom Fighter

Jovita didn’t want to cook and clean like her sisters, and she especially didn’t want to wear the skirts her abuela gave her. She wanted to race her brothers and climb the tallest mesquite trees in Rancho Palos Blancos, ride horses, and wear pants! When her father and brothers joined the Cristeros War to fight for the right to practice religion, she wanted to help. She wasn’t allowed to fight, but that didn’t stop her from observing how her father strategized and familiarizing herself with the terrain. When tragedy struck, she did the only thing that felt right to her–cut her hair, donned a pair of pants, and continued the fight, commanding a battalion who followed her without question. Jovita Wore Pants is the story of a trailblazing revolutionary who fought for her freedom, told by her great niece, bestselling author Aida Salazar, and illustrated by Molly Mendoza.

Heroines, Rescuers, Rabbis, Spies: Unsung Women Of The Holocaust

Discover nine ordinary women who took extraordinary measures to save lives during the Holocaust, resisting terror and torture while undercover or in hiding, in concentration camps, in forests, and in exile.

Arthur Who Wrote Sherlock (Who Wrote Classics)

What if you wrote a story about a detective, and he became the most famous detective ever? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Or . . . would it? Arthur has always loved stories. Even as he grew up poor, endured hardships at school and experienced danger on the high seas, Arthur was always thrilled and inspired by stories. Eventually, he writes his own, and after many years of struggle as a writer, he finally finds success with a series of mystery stories starring his genius detective, Sherlock Holmes. But is it possible for a character to become too successful? Too popular? And if that happens to Arthur, will he really throw his greatest literary creation . . . over a cliff?!

Movements & Moments

An ambitious feminist anthology chronicling Indigenous rebellions around the world

Inuunira

In this harrowing survival story, Brian Koonoo takes off on a hunting trip in Canada’s Arctic. After his snowmobile breaks down, his GPS loses signal, and his camping fuel runs low, he is left alone to survive for seven days. Inuunira is an Inuktitut term that means “how I’m alive,” and this account shows exactly how Brian managed to stay alive. He experiences close encounters with planes, blizzards, and hunger, all while much of his gear is lost. Walking 60 kilometres in search of safety, he uses the knowledge his father and Elders taught him—modern and traditional means of navigation, finding water, making shelters, and keeping his spirits up—to continue on.