Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

Little Ree trades in her city days for a country way of life when she moves with her family to her grandparents' ranch. She's excited to ride horses, swim in the pond, and help Grandma cook for everyone. But on her first day, she finds that living on a ranch can be tough. She has to get up at the crack of dawn, learn to herd cows, and make sure her horse, Pepper, doesn't eat everything in sight. And that's all before breakfast!

"Apples, ho!" This delectable tale is a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Daddy has uprooted the family to move to Oregon—but not without his babies—apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries! Will Daddy's precious plants persevere? This tall tale is loosely based on a real-life fruit pioneer who brought his fruit trees along on the Oregon Trail.

After working as spies to aid the Colonies and delivering a message to General George Washington himself, twins Ambrose and John Clark find themselves volunteering for another mission to help the newly forming United States. This time, the boys step up to help transport much-needed gunpowder to the patriots, and end up in an even more dangerous situation—trying to man one of the first submarines. But the biggest challenge may be finding a way to free their imprisoned older brother.

In 1939 the Nazis invade Lodz, Poland, forcing four-year-old Syvia Perlmutter and 270,000 other Jews into a ghetto surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by armed men. Scared and confused, Syvia and the others have no idea how terrible their lives will soon be.

George Henry Alexander is a huge fan of baseball. His favorite team is the New York Yankees and his favorite player is Babe Ruth. George plays baseball during his free time and he listens to the games on the radio with his dad. Everywhere he goes, he carries his Babe Ruth baseball card. On his birthday, George's parents surprise him with two tickets to watch the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees - his first real game!

Patrick McDonnell tells the story of the young Jane Goodall and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals", until one day she finds that her dream has come true.

Abraham Lincoln had to run the country, win the war and look after his family. When he was asked to honor the soldiers who died in the great battle of Gettysburg, he made time to say a few words about them too.

It's the day before the big parade. Alta can think about only one thing: Wilma Rudolph, three-time Olympic gold medalist. She'll be riding on a float tomorrow. See, Alta is the quickest kid in Clarksville, Tennessee, just like Wilma once was. It doesn't matter that Alta's shoes have holes because Wilma came from hard times, too. But what happens when a new girl with shiny new shoes comes along and challenges Alta to a race? Will she still be the quickest kid?

Your Own, Sylvia draws on Plath’s writing and extensive non-fiction sources, chronicling Hemphill’s interpretation of Plath’s life from infancy to her death by suicide at age 30. The poems are arranged chronologically and each conveys an experience in Plath’s life told via the voice and perspective of family members, friends, doctors, fellow writers, etc. - as interpreted by Hemphill. Each poem is accompanied by an addendum that further explains the factual circumstances of that poem’s subject.

A young man with musical talents named Johann wandered the streets of Germany hoping for a chance to join the orchestra. But without a decent suit of clothes, Johann had very little hope of being heard. Thanks to the kindness of two strangers, and two fish heads, Johann got his chance! Learn more about the story of famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the heart of Jim Crow, Dovey Johnson Roundtree felt the sting of inequality at an early age and made a point to speak up for justice. She was one of the first Black women to break the racial and gender barriers in the US Army when women were barely allowed to serve; a fierce attorney in the segregated courtrooms of Washington, DC; and a minister in Black churches, where women had never before had the chance to speak.

Sam Kerr has only been playing soccer for a few months and now her team is playing in the finals! She can’t believe it! But when her best friend, Dylan, is appointed team captain, Sam is worried that his shyness might get in the way. Together with her other bestie, Indi, they must find a way to help him overcome his nerves. Meanwhile, Sam has become friends with her new neighbors Jake and Will. But strange things start happening: she loses her new water bottle, her soccer boots go missing, and her dog, Penny, disappears from the garden.

Junko is bad at athletics. Really bad. She struggles in gym class and on short hikes. Other students laugh because they think she is small and weak. In fourth grade, her teacher Watanabe-Sensei takes her class on a trip to a mountain. It's bigger than any Junko's ever seen, and she's determined to make it to the top. After the trip, Junko becomes a mountaineer in body and spirit.

The 2006 World Cup is around the corner and thirteen-year-old Sam Kerr is pumped! Even though the games are being played on the other side of the world, Sam and her best friend, Dylan, are planning to get up early to watch the games live on TV. They couldn’t be more excited! But there’s more for Sam to get excited about when she’s invited to trial for a rep soccer team. The coach of the team has seen Sam play and is blown away by how good she is. Sam gets into the team so now she has to juggle training with the Knights AND with her new rep team.

This Splash Read collection includes eight historical fiction short stories about S.T.E.M. pioneers. The stories are "Mary Jackson Builds a Wind Tunnel", "Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Crushes Smallpox", "Caroline and William Herschel Explore the Stars", "George Dantzig and the Unsolvable Problem", "Albert Einstein Teaches Himself Math", "Neil Armstrong and Popsicle Sticks", "Arthur Fry Invents Post-It Notes", and "Notch Learns to Code".

When she grew up, she became Harriet Tubman, the courageous and heroic woman who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. But she was just a little girl for a while - and this is her story. Minty, short for Araminta, was a feisty and headstrong young slave whose rebellious spirit often got her into trouble. She told stories to her doll, released animals from traps, and above all, dreamed of running away. When her father began to teach her the skills necessary for escape, she listened carefully and learned....

Jeska doesn't know why her mother keeps the curtains drawn so tightly every day. And what exactly is she trying to drown out when she floods the house with Mozart? What are they hiding from? When Jeska's grandmother accidentally calls her by a stranger's name, she seizes her first clue to uncovering her family's past, and hopefully to all that's gone unsaid. With the help of an old family photo album, her father's encyclopedia collection, and the unquestioning friendship of a stray cat, the silence begins to melt into frightening clarity.

For Carrie and her best friend, Zora, Eatonville - America’s first incorporated Black township - has been an idyllic place to live out their childhoods. But when a lynch mob crosses the town’s border to pursue a fugitive and a grave robbery resuscitates the ugly sins of the past, the safe ground beneath them seems to shift.

"I looked up the word "scandal" in my dictionary last night. No wonder there has been such a fuss." It's December 11th 1936 and 10 year old Lilibet hears of some news that will change her and her family's life forever. She decides to keep a secret diary chronicling these extraordinary events. Will she fulfil her destiny, and also remember which the main course fork is and which the dessert fork is? Can Lilibet's younger sister Margaret end her mischievous ways, and become a worthy member of the League of Ovaltineys?

Italy, the late 80s. Leda is a bookish 10-year-old tomboy. Her life turns upside down when shady Nico moves to the North from Sicily. Determined not to let the bully ruin her life, Leda is dragged through a tornado of adventures that will transform both kids in the face of first crushes, weird adults, and family drama... This humorous and insightful coming of age tale will show you the Italy you never imagined, an exhilarating mix of sensuality, religion, and superstition set against the gorgeous backdrop of the serene countryside, the Alps, and the enchanting Island of Sardinia.