Sally Ride soared into outer space on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, the youngest astronaut and the first U.S. woman in space. Just 32 years old that year, this California girl was already an accomplished astrophysicist when NASA chose her. Since then, she has written several books introducing young readers to the subject of space exploration and encouraging them to study the sciences.
Sonia Sotomayor became a household name when President Barack Obama nominated her to the United States Supreme Court in 2009. Her confirmation made her the country's first Hispanic Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. But even before that, Sonia was an inspiration to others. Sonia Sotomayor has built a life as a jurist, activist, and mother, committed to the rights and advancement of people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.
Irena Sendler was born into a Catholic family in Poland in 1910. Throughout the German occupation in World War II, Irena worked tirelessly to help save Polands Jews from the Nazi horror. Irena saved at least 2,500 Jewish children from certain death during the Holocaust. By the time of her death in 2008, Irena had been honored by the governments of Poland and Israel, Pope John Paul II, and many of those she had rescued.
With the founding of his own newspaper, Garrison used the paper and his association with other abolitionists to advocate for the immediate and complete freeing of all slaves. Through his editorials, he became a symbol of the abolitionist movement by pointing out the hypocrisy of the countrys actions versus the ideals set out by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Harriet Tubman served as an abolitionist, emancipator of slaves, military spy, and advocate for womens rights. Tubman helped lead more than seventy slaves out of captivity and guide them to freedom along the Underground Railroad. When Civil War broke out, Tubman guided an expedition of Union soldiers on a raid in South Carolina that freed over seven hundred slaves.
John Brown joined the side of free-staters in the conflict in the Kansas Territory, fighting to have Kansas enter the Union as an anti-slavery state. History has shown that his actions and the reactions to them were among the most potent precursors of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
Sojourner Truth lived a truly remarkable life. She had the ear of President Abraham Lincoln and fellow abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Lloyd Garrison. One of the most persuasive and influential activists of her day, Truth was also an effective recruiter of African Americans into the Union army during the Civil War.
Born into slavery, Douglass became an eloquent spokesperson for both blacks and womens rights. During and after the Civil War, Douglass became a confidant of presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Douglass also argued for African Americans to be allowed to join the Union army in the fight for their own freedom.
Following the passage of a law that made it a crime to aid in the escape of slaves, Stowe lent her actions and her words to the effort to help slaves and put an end to slavery. She actively aided fugitive slaves and, with the publication of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Toms Cabin, focused the nations consciousness on the inhumanity of slavery.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Fusajiro Yamauchi and his grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi and their work building the groundbreaking company Nintendo. Readers will learn about the Yamauchis’ backgrounds and education, as well as their early careers. Also covered is a look at how Nintendo operates, other key employees, and issues the company faces, such as developing new gaming software, facing competition, and expanding into global markets.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith and their work building the groundbreaking company Pixar. Readers will learn about Catmull and Smith’s backgrounds and education, as well as their early careers. Also covered is a look at how Pixar operates and issues the company faces, such as developing new animation and computer graphics software, meeting production demands, and maintaining leadership.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith and their work building the groundbreaking company Pixar. Readers will learn about Catmull and Smith's backgrounds and education, as well as their early careers. Also covered is a look at how Pixar operates and issues the company faces, such as developing new animation and computer graphics software, meeting production demands, and maintaining leadership. Color photos, detailed maps, and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger and their work building the groundbreaking company Wikipedia. Readers will learn about Wales and Sanger's backgrounds and education, as well as their early careers. Also covered is a look at how Wikipedia operates and issues the company faces, such as establishing reliability, developing international sites, and dealing with abusive users. Color photos, detailed maps, and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable life of Steve Jobs and his work building the groundbreaking company Apple. Readers will learn about Jobs's background and education, as well as his early career and his time with NeXT Computer and Pixar. Also covered is a look at how Apple operates, its history, and its many innovations, including the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an Index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes and their work building the social networking site Facebook. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Facebook operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Bill Gates and Paul Allen and their work building the groundbreaking computer company Microsoft. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Microsoft operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and their work building the groundbreaking company Netflix. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Netflix operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita and their work building electronics and entertainment company Sony. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Sony operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Mike Ramsay and Jim Barton and their work building the company TiVo. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how TiVo operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable lives of Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Christopher "Biz" Stone and their work building the social networking Web site Twitter. Readers will learn about each founder's background and education, as well as his early career. Also covered is a look at how Twitter operates, issues the company faces, its successes, and its impact on society. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines the remarkable life of Steve Jobs. Readers will learn about Jobs's family background, childhood, education, and groundbreaking work in the computer and technology industry. Jobs's many innovations, such as the first Apple computer, the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone, are discussed as well as his time working at NeXT Computer and Pixar. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a table of contents, timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
The Joker in 2008's mega-hit movie The Dark Knight was an incredible, Oscar-worthy performance by this young and troubled actor. Tweens and teens were crazy about the film, and the world mourned when Ledger died. This book examines Ledger's brief career, background, and personal life, as well as the controversies surrounding his death. From his breakout role in the teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You to his Oscar nomination for his performance in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger's biography is bound to intrigue young movie fans.
This title chronicles the song and dance genius of the King of Pop, whose recent death reinforced the level of his global influence and stardom. While covering controversies and oddities, from the trial on molestation charges to his cosmetic surgeries to his amusement-park house Neverland, the book also details his incredible songs, videos, work habits, childhood, and groundbreaking career. Jackson's music is still popular with young people, especially with the convenience of MP3 downloads and the enthusiasm passed down from older fans.
John Lennon was one of history's most influential musicians. This title highlights Lennon's background and his role in the formation of the groundbreaking band The Beatles. Also covered in detail are Lennon's famous war protests and his 1980 assassination. Recently released Beatles CDs, and the Cirque de Soleil masterpiece Love appealed to many young people. With Beatles songs for the Rock Bandâ„¢ video game coming this fall, as well as remastered Beatles recordings, this title is a timely addition to any collection for middle and high schools and YA programs.
This legendary rapper was gunned down in Las Vegas in 1996, but not before having multi-platinum releases and a promising acting career. A prime example of the line rappers walk between street credibility and their art, Tupac pushed the East-West rap feud both as a real fight and as a tool to influence media coverage of his career. Tupac's raps were part traditional social protest and part gritty descriptions of street life in urban neighborhoods.
