Biography – Autobiography- Memoir

Lion Lights: My Invention That Made Peace With Lions

Richard Turere’s own story: Richard grew up in Kenya as a Maasai boy, herding his family’s cattle, which represented their wealth and livelihood. Richard’s challenge was to protect their cattle from the lions who prowled the night just outside the barrier of acacia branches that surrounded the farm’s boma, or stockade. Though not well-educated, 12-year-old Richard loved tinkering with electronics. Using salvaged components, spending $10, he surrounded the boma with blinking lights, and the system works; it keeps lions away. His invention, Lion Lights, is now used in Africa, Asia, and South America to protect farm animals from predators.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XVII, Issue 2.

Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind The World’s Favorite Snack

A Picture Book Biography Of Ignacio (nacho) Anaya, A Waiter At The Victory Club In Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, And The Events Surrounding The Creation, In 1940, Of The Globally-popular Tortilla Chip, Cheese, And Jalapeño Pepper Snack That Bears His Name — Nachos.

Barefoot Dreams Of Petra Luna

Based on a true story, the tale of one girl’s perilous journey to cross the U.S. border and lead her family to safety during the Mexican Revolution.

From Here

Refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee.

Once I Was You

“There is no such thing as an illegal human being or an illegal immigrant.” Maria Hinojosa is an Emmy award-winning journalist and was the first Latina to found a national independent non-profit newsroom in the United States. But before all that, she was a girl with big hair and even bigger dreams. Born in Mexico and raised in the vibrant neighborhood of Hyde Park, Chicago, Maria was always looking for ways to better understand the world around her-and where she fit into it. Here, she combines stories from her life, beginning with her family’s indelible experience of immigration all the way through the first time she heard her own voice on national radio, with truths about the United States’ long and complicated relationship with immigrants. Funny, frank, and wise, Maria’s story is one you will want to read again and again, and her voice will inspire you to find your own.

Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American

Jasminne Mendez didn’t speak English when she started kindergarten, and her young, white teacher thought the girl was deaf because in Louisiana, you were either Black or white. She had no idea that a Black girl could be a Spanish speaker. In this memoir for teens about growing up Afro Latina in the Deep South, Jasminne writes about feeling torn between her Dominican, Spanish speaking culture at home and the American, English speaking one around her. She desperately wanted to fit in, to be seen as American, and she realized early on that language mattered. Learning to read and write English well was the road to acceptance. Mendez shares typical childhood experiences such as having an imaginary friend, boys and puberty, but she also exposes the anti-Black racism within her own family and the conflict created by her family’s conservative traditions.

The Brontes: The Fantastically Feminist (And Totally True) Story Of The Astonishing Authors

Meet the incredible Brontë family: Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë are no ordinary children. Growing up on the wild, lonely moors of Yorkshire, they have nothing to entertain them but their imaginations and each other. So they invent extraordinary imaginery worlds, full of wars and love stories, soldiers, heroes and villains, ruled over by powerful women. As they grow up, the Brontës discover that the real world isn’t such a great place to be a girl. But they are so determined that their voices be heard, they overcome almost unbeatable odds to be bestselling authors.

The Bird In Me Flies

What do you do when it feels impossible to live up to everything expected of you? When the only person who understands you disappears? When you are young and long for something that seems out of reach?Berta dreams of being an artist, but as a girl growing up in a small Swedish farming village in the 1920s, she has little hope. She finds solace in nature, and in drawing and shaping birds from clay for her mother, the only person who seems to truly understand her. When her mother succumbs to tuberculosis, Berta feels alone, in despair and even more burdened by all the work on the farm. Can she find the courage to defy her father and the social conventions of her time, and fly free?This beautifully illustrated novel in verse, inspired by the paintings, letters and diaries of Swedish artist Berta Hansson (1910-1994), is a universal story of grief, longing and following your dreams. Includes an afterword by journalist Alexandra Sundqvist.

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.