Creative Minds Biography
Format
Format
User Rating
User Rating
Release Date
Release Date
Date Added
Date Added
Language
Language
ebook
(0)
I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight
A Story about John Paul Jones
by Elaine Marie Alphin
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
The Father of the U.S. Navy, John Paul Jones spent most of his lifetime trying to prove his ideas about naval tactics and training. Born in Scotland, he chose a life of adventure as a sea captain. He commanded cargo ships before settling in America and becoming an officer in the newly formed Continental Navy. Through persistence, training, and sheer nerve, Jones fought against the formidable British Navy and helped America win its freedom.
ebook
(2)
The Road to Seneca Falls
A Story about Elizabeth Cady Stanton
by Gwenyth Swain
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
When Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a little girl in the early 1800's, she realized that most people seemed to think that boys were better than girls. As Stanton grew up, she saw that women had fewer opportunities than men. With this in mind, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her longtime friend Lucretia Mott organized the nation's first women's rights convention, which took place in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.
ebook
(1)
Natural Writer
A Story about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
by Judith Cook
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings dreamt of becoming a famous writer from the time that she was a young girl. After several years of searching for adventure and success, Marjorie finally found inspiration in the wild country of central Florida. While living there, she produced several popular works of fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize - winning novel The Yearling.
ebook
(2)
President of the Underground Railroad
A Story about Levi Coffin
by Gwenyth Swain
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Growing up in a Quaker family in the South in 1830, Levi Coffin did not support slavery, but he was exposed to its atrocities. Convinced that every person deserved to be free, Levi began helping slaves escape to the North along the Underground Railroad, and during the following 40 years he was able to help over 3,000 people find freedom.
ebook
(3)
A Pocketful of Goobers
A Story about George Washington Carver
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
There wasn't anything that George Washington Carver couldn't grow. He took the common goober--today's peanut--and created hundreds of useful products from it, turning goobers into a very profitable staple for the South. At the same time, this very special man passed on to everyone who knew him the importance of following one's own dreams.
ebook
(5)
Rooftop Astronomer
A Story about Maria Mitchell
by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
It was a clear autumn night in 1847. Maria Mitchell stood on the roof of her parents' house on the island of Nantucket, focusing her telescope on a faraway star. Suddenly she realized that the faint, blurry light wasn't a star at all-it was a comet! Maria Mitchell's discovery changed her life. She became famous as the first acknowledged woman astronomer in the United States. During her many travels, Maria came to realize that most women did not have the same opportunities as men. She thought that women should be encouraged to be anything they wanted to be. This was a lesson she taught her students as an astronomy professor at Vassar College and a message she stressed as the president of the Association for the Advancement of Women. From the rooftops of Nantucket to the great observatories of Europe, Stephanie Sammartino McPherson skillfully chronicles the life of this outstanding woman.
ebook
(0)
The Wizard of Sound
A Story about Thomas Edison
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
In 1877 a young man developed a way to reproduce sounds so they could be heard again and again. This young man, Thomas Edison, has since been heralded as one of the world's greatest inventors. This inspiring biography details the creation of Edison's favorite invention, the phonograph. Young readers will also discover that Edison did not allow his handicap (he was hard of hearing) to slow him down.
ebook
(1)
A Fairy-Tale Life
A Story about Hans Christian Anderson
by Joann Johansen Burch
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Young Hans Christian knew how life should be--just like a fairy tale. But, while he was growing up in Odense, Denmark, his life didn't seem much like a fairy tale. Although everyone was telling him to stop daydreaming and find a job in a trade, he found fame writing fairy tales like "The Little Mermaid," "Princess on the Pea," and "The Emperor's New Clothes." A Fairy-Tale Life tells the story of Hands Christian Andersen, the world's best-loved teller of tales.
ebook
(0)
Sisters Against Slavery
A Story about Sarah and Angelina Grimké
by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Sisters against Slavery recounts the lives of Sarah Grimke and Angelica Grimke Weld. These daughters of wealthy Southern planters and slave owners renounced slavery in the 1830's. Through their writings and through a series of lectures delivered in the North, the sisters became famous for their views on slavery and women's rights. Although the sisters were active as speakers and essayists for a relatively short time in the 1830's and 1840's, they reached tens of thousands of people, influenced American views on slavery, and were an inspiration to women's rights leaders for decades to come.
ebook
(0)
Tales for Hard Times
A Story about Charles Dickens
by David R. Collins
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
As a small boy, Charles Dickens worked in a dark, musty London warehouse, pasting labels onto pots of boot polish. He tried not to listen to his grumbling stomach or the rats squeaking on the stairs. His dream was to escape that misery one day and become a fine, educated gentleman. Through his gift for writing, that day did come for Dickens. But he never forgot what it was like to be poor. He wrote stories about London's lower classes--tales that made people laugh, cry, and work to improve their social conditions. By the time of his death, Charles Dickens had become one of the most popular English writers ever. Step into nineteenth-century London and the life of Charles Dickens in this exciting book. David R. Collins's exciting biography and David Mataya's powerful illustrations bring this master storyteller to life.
ebook
(0)
Mark T-W-A-I-N!
A Story about Samuel Clemens
by David R. Collins
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Samuel Clemens grew up in a child's paradise--Hannibal, Missouri. There, mischief added humor to everyday events as Sam encountered the folks who would one day reappear as Huck Finn, Aunt Polly, and Becky Thatcher in his books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At eighteen, Sam left Hannibal to seek his fortune. He became a newspaperman and story writer. Then, always a restless spirit, he tried his hand as a steamboat pilot (where he took a liking to the riverboat call "mark twain"), a soldier, and a gold prospector. All the while, Sam collected tales to tell on stage and recount in his many books. David Collins invites readers into the fabulously exciting, endlessly entertaining world of "America's Greatest Humorist"--the beloved Mark Twain.
ebook
(5)
Frontier Surgeons
A Story about the Mayo Brothers
by Emily Crofford
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
In the 1870's, surgery was a crude affair performed on the patient's kitchen table. In the frontier town of Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. W. W. Mayo brought his young sons, Will and Charlie, to assist him with operations. Fifty years later, Rochester became a medical mecca as the Mayo brothers were established as world-class surgeons. With a firm belief in sharing information and learning from others, the Mayo brothers proved the benefits of cooperation in a jealously competitive field, and accomplished more than any single colleague of their time. Emily Crofford gives a vivid account of the Mayo's' meteoric rise to fame and their contributions as pioneers on the frontier of modern surgery.
ebook
(3)
Say It With Music
A Story about Irving Berlin
by Tom Streissguth
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
As a boy, Israel Baline had to work after school to help his poor immigrant family. He sold newspapers on street corners to help his family survive. He loved to sing to pass the time, and sometimes listeners tossed an extra penny or two at his feet. No one who heard him could have guessed that he would someday become known as Irving Berlin, the best-loved songwriter in the land. The composer of "God Bless America," "White Christmas," and many other well-known tunes began his musical career on the streets and in the seedy cafes of New York City's Lower East Side. Author Tom Streissguth tells Berlin's remarkable story in lively prose that captures the spirit of the long-gone days of ragtime, vaudeville, and Broadway glory.
ebook
(1)
The Back of Beyond
A Story about Lewis and Clark
by Andy Russell Bowen
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
In 1803, Meriwether Lewis was offered the chance of a lifetime. The president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, asked him to lead an expedition across North America, through the Louisiana Territory and Oregon Country to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis jumped at the opportunity and called on his friend William Clark to share in the command of the exploration. The two men organized a small unit of volunteers they called the Corps of Discovery. They had little idea of what dangers lay ahead in the mysterious lands. Would they be attacked by wild animals? Could they survive winter's harsh weather? On May 21, 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition embarked on one of the greatest adventures of all time. they would change the country forever, as they traveled into the Back of Beyond.
ebook
(1)
Civil Rights Pioneer
A Story about Mary Church Terrell
by Gwenyth Swain
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Mary Church Terrell grew up after the Civil War with many opportunities. Although she received an excellent education and had a distinguished teaching career, Mary grew up African American in a segregated country. There were opportunities she did not have. Always determined, she joined the fight for equal rights. By lecturing, picketing, and writing she made her voice be heard and helped to end segregation.
ebook
(2)
Beyond Little Women
A Story about Louisa May Alcott
by Susan Bivin Aller
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
More than a century after Louisa May Alcott wrote them, classics such as Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys continue to be read and treasured by readers around the world. Alcott began writing as a young girl and dreamed of becoming a rich and famous author. Despite supporting her entire family with the proceeds from her writings, she was able to achieve her dreams and became one of the best-known and admired writers of her time.
ebook
(1)
Discovering Nature's Laws
A Story about Isaac Newton
by Laura Purdie Salas
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Sir Isaac Newton changed the world with his many discoveries and inventions about mathematics, science, optics, and physics. Although he was brilliant, Newton felt no need to publish his ideas or to inform his fellow scientists of the amazing discoveries he made. Because of this, his discoveries were often disputed. Despite the controversy that often surrounded him, Newton made astounding advances in his efforts to understand how nature worked. His legacy lives on through inventions such as microscopes, eyeglasses, telescopes, and cameras.
ebook
(3)
Maker of Machines
A Story about Eli Whitney
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Eli Whitney's love of inventing and pondering new ideas made him one of America's greatest inventors. Best known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the most important American inventions of the century, he changed cotton production forever. A few years later, Whitney invented machines to make muskets that were identical. The first mass-manufacturing business in the country, his musket factory revolutionized the way Americans made things.
ebook
(1)
Liberty or Death
A Story about Patrick Henry
by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
"Give me liberty, or give me death!" A passionate speaker, Patrick Henry mesmerized and motivated audiences with his powerful words. Henry believed that Britain had stolen America's freedom, and he was determined to prevent this injustice. Using his skills as a lawyer and politician, he inspired his fellow colonists to prepare for a war against Britain--and helped to create a new nation.
ebook
(1)
To The Point
A Story about E. B. White
by David R. Collins
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
E. B. White first recognized the magic in words when he was very young. As a child, some of his happiest hours were spent finding just the right words to describe his feelings and experiences. After graduating from college, he took a job with a new magazine called The New Yorker. The magazine's readers soon began to look forward to the poetry and essays written by E. B. White. His writing was clear and lively with no wasted words, and it could make people laugh as easily as it could make them cry. In 1936, White and his family moved to a little farm near the coast of Maine, complete with sheep, chickens, and pigs. It was there that E. B. White wrote Charlotte's Web, perhaps one of the most beloved children's books ever written.
ebook
(0)
Musical Genius
A Story about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
by Barbara Allman
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
A musical prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began playing the piano and composing when he was just three years old. Able to play multiple instruments, among them the piano and violin, Mozart spent much of his youth touring European courts with his family. From the time he was three until his death just thirty-two years later, he produced a huge volume of musical works. Among them the famed operas The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Giovanni.
ebook
(1)
Dance of the Swan
A Story about Anna Pavlova
by Barbara Allman
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1881, Anna Pavlova grew up dreaming of becoming a prima ballerina. Throughout her lifetime, Anna inspired and encouraged people around the world with her exceptionally graceful and expressive dance. Believing that expressing beauty is essential to the human spirit, Anna strove to help audiences discover the soaring beauty that could uplift their spirits.
ebook
(8)
Walking the Road to Freedom
A Story about Sojourner Truth
by Jeri Ferris
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in New York in 1797 or 1798. She never knew for sure which year she was born or even whether it was summer or winter. By the time she was a young woman, Sojourner knew she could no longer live as a slave, and with the help of Quakers, she escaped to freedom. She then began her long struggle to reunite her family and to free other slaves.
ebook
(1)
Writer of the Plains
A Story about Willa Cather
by Tom Streissguth
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
From the time she was a young child, Willa Cather had a gift with words and she loved stories. As a child on the Nebraska prairie, she heard many stories from her neighbors, many of them immigrants, and she never forgot them. She begun to write stories of her own, and even after she became a successful journalist, she made time for them. Her great novels of the prairie, such as O Pioneers! and My Antonia, established her as one of the finest writers of all time. In Writer of the Plains, author Tom Streissguth paints a clear and interesting portrait of this complex and independent woman.
ebook
(0)
The Workers' Detective
A Story about Dr. Alice Hamilton
by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Dr. Alice Hamilton's accomplishments were many, but one in particular changed her life forever. Working as a social worker in the Chicago slums, Alice noticed that lead factory workers were pale and thin, and some had trouble moving their wrists and hands. Setting out to investigate the cause of their ailments, Alice pioneered a new branch of medicine--industrial medicine. As a doctor, social worker, and fighter for peace, Alice single-handedly changed the world. Because of her many American workers lived longer, healthier lives.
ebook
(2)
Voice of Freedom
A Story about Frederick Douglass
by Maryann N. Weidt
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Born a slave, Frederick Douglass grew up facing hunger, hard work, and terrible beatings. After overhearing that reading was the key to freedom, Frederick became determined to learn to read. Against all odds, he did learn and escaped from slavery. A powerful and inspirational speaker, Frederick spoke and wrote about his remarkable life and fought for the freedom and equal rights of African American men and women.
ebook
(7)
A World of Knowing
A Story about Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
by Andy Russell Bowen
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet had a sharp mind and a great determination to make a difference in the world. When Thomas met Alice Cogswell, a little girl who was deaf, he decided to go to Europe to study deaf education and became a teacher. The signs he learned developed into American Sign Language and helped his students to leave their isolation behind.
ebook
(4)
Oh, The Places He Went
A Story about Dr. Seuss
by Maryann N. Weidt
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Dr. Seuss is known as the creator of some of the most beloved children's books of all time. Journey to the fantastic world he created in this appealing story about the author/illustrator whose magical, rhyming characters have delighted children of all ages.
ebook
(1)
Fighting for Equal Rights
A Story about Susan B. Anthony
by Maryann N. Weidt
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Born a Quaker, Susan B. Anthony grew up being taught that women were equal to men. During her lifetime, she was a teacher, a newspaperwoman, and an activist. She worked to further many causes such as the temperance, the abolitionist, and women's rights movements. Although she didn't live to see her dreams of women's suffrage come true, her tireless dedication to the cause was crucial to its success.
ebook
(3)
We'll Race You, Henry
A Story about Henry Ford
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Henry Ford loved mechanical things: springs and gears, cogs and wheels, and things that clicked and ticked and turned. One hot summer day in 1876, Henry and his father were riding to Detroit in their farm wagon. Suddenly there was a huffing-puffing monster heading straight toward them. It was a road-roller, and it was lumbering down the road all by itself. That was the day Henry started thinking about horseless riding machines--and he never stopped. In We'll Race You, Henry, young readers will discover the origins of one of the most popular cars of all time--the Model T--as well as the daring side of its inventor and the early days of automobile racing.
ebook
(1)
Stateswoman to the World
A Story about Eleanor Roosevelt
by Maryann N. Weidt
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Eleanor Roosevelt is perhaps best known for her role as First Lady, wife to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But this strong-willed woman was a skilled politician in her own right, who overcame her own prejudices to fight for the rights of women, blacks and the poor. This inspiring biography tells of Eleanor Roosevelt's development from a lonely, orphaned teenager to a determined, socially conscious woman, beloved in the United States and throughout the world.
ebook
(1)
Voice of the Paiutes
A Story about Sarah Winnemucca
by Jodie Shull
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Sarah Winnemucca, a Northern Plains Indian, lived in the last half of the nineteenth century when white settlers were moving west into land the Paiutes had inhabited for thousands of years. Sarah's grandfather encouraged her to learn the ways of the white settlers, including their language. As a result, she was instrumental in negotiating benefits for her people. She traveled across the country speaking about the plight of the Paiutes. She challenged reservation agents, cooperated with the U.S. Army, and traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz and President Rutherford B. Hayes. With the help of two East Coast women, she wrote a book about Paiute life and established a school for Paiute children.
ebook
(1)
Living with the Senecas
A Story about Mary Jemison
by Susan Bivin Aller
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Mary Jemison was born in 1743 as her parents emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania. When she was fifteen years old, a group of raiding Shawnee Indians and French soldiers captured her and her family. She was the only one to survive. For seventy-five years, she lived among the Seneca Indians who adopted her. She outlived two husbands and bore eight children. She witnessed two wars and a revolution. Even though she could have returned to the white world, she chose to remain with the Seneca's and became a loyal and respected member of her tribe.
ebook
(0)
Between Two Worlds
A Story about Pearl Buck
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Growing up in China as the child of American missionaries, Pearl read and listened to stories from both the East and the West. A story, she thought, was a wonderful way to learn about people and places. Pearl had read and heard about America and her family there, but she had never met her American relatives. When, at the age of 10, she spent a year in America, Pearl came to understand that she was a part of two worlds. Between Two Worlds tells the story of how Pearl Buck worked to increase the understanding between the two worlds she knew.
ebook
(1)
Freedom Seeker
A Story about William Penn
by Gwenyth Swain
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
The son of a wealthy, repected admiral, William Penn did what was forbidden in seventeenth-century England--he openly practiced the Quaker religion. Penn dreamed of a place with freedom of religion. He asked for land in the New World and was given a colony called Pennsylvania. His success in establishing a new and just government there later became the blueprint for thirteen newly independent colonies.
ebook
(0)
Flying Against the Wind
A Story about Beryl Markham
by Andy Russell Bowen
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Born in England and raised in the bush of East Africa, Beryl Markham was an extraordinary child--and lived an extraordinary life. She learned how to train racehorses from her father and became the first woman to succeed in Kenya's competitive racing circuit. When an airplane came to Africa, Beryl learned to fly. After a few years of carrying mail and passengers, she decided to take on the Atlantic Ocean. As the first person to fly non-stop from England to North America, Beryl Markham proved that no matter what the challenge, she was not afraid to fly against the wind.
ebook
(1)
Bold Composer
A Story about Ludwig van Beethoven
by Judith Pinkerton Josephson
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Famous 19th century composer Ludwig van Beethoven composed hundreds of works in his lifetime, including the well-known Moonlight Sonata and Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 9. He remains among the most-studied and most-loved composers.
ebook
(1)
Writing for Freedom
A Story about Lydia Maria Child
by Erica Stux
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Lydia Maria Child grew up in the 1800s reading countless books. She defied the idea that girls weren't supposed to fill their minds with ideas and stories. They weren't supposed to write their own books, either, but that is exactly what Lydia Maria did. Although she gained remarkable success as a writer for children and adults, she sacrificed everything when she took up her pen against slavery. Lydia Maria believed that slavery was wrong--and she wasn't afraid to say so. As a result, her courageous words changed her life and helped change the course of American history.
ebook
(4)
Jazz Age Poet
A Story about Langston Hughes
by Veda Boyd Jones
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
The author of such poems as I, To; Sing America; and The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Langston Hughes combined his experiences and emotions with the rhythms and themes he found in jazz music to create an exciting new style of poetry. Throughout his lifetime, Hughes won many awards and honors for his various books of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, children's books, autobiographies, and magazine articles. Despite always struggling to succeed financially, Hughes never gave up trying to be a better writer, and a better man.
ebook
(0)
Words of Promise
A Story about James Weldon Johnson
by Jodie Shull
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
A teacher and principal, a lawyer, an entertainer, a diplomat, and a writer, James Weldon Johnson spent his entire life working to help African Americans gain the rights and respect they deserved. The first black chief executive of the NAACP, Johnson lived from the end of Reconstruction in the South through the exciting years of the Harlem Renaissance. He spent his life keeping the promise of equality alive, not only through his actions but through his wordsLift Every Voice and Sing. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.
ebook
(0)
A Hunger for Learning
A Story about Booker T. Washington
by Gwenyth Swain
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
When nine-year-old Booker T. Washington was finally freed from slavery, he soon discovered that freedom had a price, and that he had to work, and work hard, to make his way in the world. After years of study and struggle, Washington became a teacher at what would become the famed Tuskegee Institute. Built from the ground up by Washington, his students, and his staff, Tuskegee became one of the finest schools for black students in the nation. More than one hundred years later, it still is.
ebook
(5)
The Country Artist
A Story about Beatrix Potter
by David R. Collins
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Tea with a hedgehog and supper with a rabbit? Beatrix Potter entertained guests that most people--certainly Beatrix Potter's proper Victorian parents--would have thought belonged in a meadow, not in a London nursery. Such unlikely companions were company for lonely Beatrix, and she spent much of her time sketching and making up stories about these small creatures. Beatrix was so well acquainted with the characters of her various animal friends that when she was older it seemed natural to write and illustrate small books about their delightful adventures. Generations of children all over the world have gotten to know and love Beatrix Potter's animal friends--Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin, Peter Rabbit, and many more. David Collins's lively text and Karen Ritz's striking illustrations combine to tell the wonderful tale of this gentle, creative woman who had a special feeling not only for animals, but also for children.
ebook
(1)
Farmland Innovator
A Story about Cyrus McCormick
by Catherine A. Welch
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Cyrus McCormick patented and manufactured the reaper, an important 19th century invention that dramatically improved the efficiency of wheat farming. While McCormick did not invent the reaper solely by himself, he did refine and popularize it. His company eventually became the International Harvester Company.
ebook
(2)
Shoes for Everyone
A Story about Jan Matzeliger
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Jan Matzeliger felt anything but welcome in Philadelphia in 1873. As well as being a foreigner, Jan was half African American, which meant that most doors were closed to him. Although the Civil War had been over for nearly ten years, inequality for African Americans still persisted in its aftermath. However, Jan refused to let prejudice keep him from achieving his dream of making a shoe-lasting machine to replace the tedious, time-consuming hand sewing that held up shoe manufacturing processes in his day.
ebook
(2)
First Son and President
A Story about John Quincy Adams
by Beverly Gherman
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Americas sixth president and son of Americas second president, John Quincy Adams lived an extraordinary life. Beginning as a young boy as secretary for his father during the peace talks that ended the Revolutionary War, Adams served his country as a diplomat, state senator, secretary of state, the president, and as a representative in congress. Through his many speeches, essays, books, and written reports, Adams helped shape America. Today, he is remembered as a great statesman, a scholar, and a poet, just as he hoped he would be.
ebook
(2)
Science Fiction Pioneer
A Story about Jules Verne
by Tom Streissguth
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
When Jules Verne was born in 1828, his family had his future planned out for him. They expected him to become a lawyer, but he dreamed of writing. He started out writing more traditional poetry and plays, but then he began to create a new, unconventional kind of fiction. It combined adventure, the modern world of science and invention, and his personal view of the future. With fantastical characters, spaceships to the moon, and deep-sea submarines, his books told of things that would not actually occur for decades.
ebook
(0)
Demanding Justice
A Story about Mary Ann Shadd Cary
by Jeri Chase Ferris
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Mary Ann Shadd Cary spent her entire lifetime fighting for justice and equality for African Americans. Born a free African American in the 1820s, Cary started schools for black children and wrote books and articles. She was also the first black woman to publish a weekly newspaper and to enter law school. Never afraid of offending anyone, Cary demanded justice for herself and for her fellow African Americans.
ebook
(3)
Raggin'
A Story about Scott Joplin
by Barbara Mitchell
Part of the Creative Minds Biography series
Scott Joplin came from a music-making family in Texarkana, Texas. As a small boy, he loved the lively, rhythmic African melodies and the soft, touching spirituals that he heard his father sing. By the age of twenty, Joplin had left home to make a living as a musician. Barbara Mitchell's Raggin' is the story of this talented composer/musician who overcame prejudice and hardship to create such favorites as "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer"--music that still makes people tap their toes.