Yo solo: Biografías (On My Own Biographies)

During the Great Depression, many people had to work long hours and were barely paid enough to survive. Cesar Chavez felt this treatment was unfair and worked to secure more rights. He formed a Union and led strikes and marches that forced landowners to increase wages and improve working conditions. This account shows how Chavez inspired others, proving that it was not necessary to resort to violence to produce change.

As a successful former slave, Clara Brown used her money to help other freed slaves get a new start in life. In 1859 Clara bought her own freedom and headed west to Colorado to find her daughter, who was sold when she was just a little girl. Clara didn't find her daughter there, but she did get rich. The people she helped became her family, and she became known as "Aunt" Clara Brown.

In 1946, six-year-old Wilma Rudolph dreamed of walking and playing like other children, but a sickness called polio had damaged her left leg. Wilma spent hours each week doing painful exercises at a hospital for African American patients. The rest of the time, she was forced to wear a heavy and cumbersome leg-brace. Still, Wilma never gave up. She knew she could walk again, and if she could walk, maybe she could run. Author Victoria Sherrow tells how Wilma Rudolph's determination led her to the 1956 and 1960 Olympics where she gained fame as a champion runner. Larry Johnson's rich illustrations help to capture this true story of heroic strength and fearlessness.