Interesting Biographies booklist: Piscataway Public Library Children's Services

Juv=Juvenile Section of the Library; B=Biography
Juv B Andrews; Kennedy; Grades 4+
Dragon Bones and Dinosaur Eggs: A Photo biography of Explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, by Ann Bausum. Was he the real life model for Indiana Jones? He could have been, with all that he's done! From discovering the first ever-complete nest of dinosaur eggs, to evading death from animals, weather, or people at least 10 times, Andrews has certainly earned the title of adventurer/explorer.

Juv B Cleopatra; Kennedy/Westergard/ Grades 3-6
Cleopatra, by Diane Stanley. Learn about the famous Egyptian woman who became queen by 18, enthralled Julius Caesar with her intelligence and personality, and raised an army all in her abbreviated life.

Juv B Cole; Kennedy; Grades 2-5
On the Bus with Joanna Cole: A Creative Autobiography, by Joanna Cole with Wendy Saul. Ever wonder how author Joanna Cole writes her "Magic School Bus" books? The interesting process is uncovered here, as well as information about Cole's other books, thoughts, and life.

Juv B De Paola; Kennedy; Grades 1-3
26 Fairmont Avenue; On My Own; Here We All Are; Things Will Never be the Same, by Tomie De Paola. Before Tomie De Paola was a famous children's book author, he was a regular child like you, growing up in an Italian family in the 1940s. Share in these stories of his childhood experiences, from surviving a hurricane, getting a new baby sister, and watching "Snow White"--the scariest movie he had ever seen!

Juv B Earle; Westergard; Grades 3-4
Meet my Grandmother: She's a Deep-Sea Explorer, by Lisa Tucker McElroy. Do you think it would be cool to go behind the scenes at an aquarium and touch the animals? Lucky Russell Mead gets to do just this when he goes to work with his grandmother, a professional deep-sea explorer.

Juv B Ederle; Kennedy; Grades 2-4
America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle, by David Adler. Trudy Ederle loved to swim, and she was determined to be the best. By the time she turned nineteen, Trudy had set twenty-nine US and world records. But what she planned to do next has never been done by a woman. She would tackle the most difficult swim of all time: the twenty-one miles of cold, choppy water that separate England from France, known as the English Channel.

Juv B Gibson; Kennedy; Grades 1-3
Coming Home: A Story of Josh Gibson, Baseball's Greatest Home Run Hitter, by Nanette Mellage. A young boy listens to his grandfather tell the story of the "greatest hitter he ever saw," a young man who hit the ball out of Yankee Stadium in 1930--a feat that has never been equaled before or since. Grandfather isn't talking about Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, though. He is talking about Josh Gibson, who because of his skin color never received the fame that others did, but was worthy of it, nonetheless.

Juv B Glover; Kennedy/Westergard; Grades 5+
Savion! My Life in Tap, by Savion Glover & Bruce Weber. Interested in dancing? Meet Savion Glover, a hip professional tap dancer who has worked with dance greats like Gregory Hines and Sammy-Davis Jr, and is the Tony Award-winning choreographer of the show Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk

Juv B Jemison; Kennedy/Westergard/Bookmobile; Grades 4+
Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from my Life, by Dr. Mae Jemison. As a young girl, Mae Jemison knew she wanted to travel to space and refused to be discouraged. Through a lifelong dedication to her dream, she eventually made history when she blasted into orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor, becoming the first woman of color to go into space.

Juv B Jordan; Kennedy; Grades 1-3
Salt in his Shoes, by Deloris Jordan. Michael Jordan wasn't always the superstar basketball player he is today. As his mother tells, he was once a young boy who thought he would never be tall enough to be a good basketball player.

Juv B Lincoln; Kennedy; Grades 1-4
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers, by Karen Winnick. You've probably seen many pictures of Abraham Lincoln with a beard on his face. But you probably haven't heard this true story of an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bedell who wrote Lincoln a letter telling him how he would look much better if he grew a beard! Could her letters be the reason Lincoln grew his whiskers?

Juv B Mandelbaum; Kennedy; Grades 5+
Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps, by Andrea Warren. Living happily in Poland, twelve-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is hardly aware that he is Jewish. Then Hitler comes to power. Forced to work for the Nazis, then torn from his family as they are herded into a concentration camp, Jack fights to survive. But, each day is a struggle to get enough food, stay clean, avoid physical harm, and keep his spirits alive.

Juv B Michelangelo; Kennedy/Westergard; Grades 3-6
Michelangelo, by Diane Stanley. Do you think it would be difficult to paint a picture on a ceiling? Well, Michelangelo did it, spending four years standing on a scaffolding to complete the job of painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Italy. Find out more about this skilled artist, who largely considered himself a failure despite his famous work.

Juv B Olmsted; Kennedy; Grades 3-6
Parks for the People: A Story about Frederick Law Olmsted, by Julie Dunlap. Have you ever been to and enjoyed Central Park in New York? If so, you have Mr. Olmsted to thank. In the late 1800s, he and partner Calvert Vaux entered the park design contest, and their winning plan became the famous Central Park.

Juv B Ramsey; Kennedy; Grades 2-4
Alice Ramsey's Grand Adventure, by Don Brown. Imagine driving into a new town with your only directions being "turn left at the red barn with the yellow silo." These directions might be okay--unless the farmer happened to paint the silo blue! These are the conditions--no road signs, unpaved roads, and a car whose top speed was 42 miles an hour--in which 22-year-old Alice Ramsey drove from New York to San Francisco in 1909, becoming the first woman to drive across country.

Juv B Revere; Kennedy/Westergard/Bookmobile/ Grades 1-3
A Picture Book of Paul Revere, by David Adler. If you've ever heard the saying "The British are coming," and wondered where it came from, your answer is here. Revere's famous midnight ride is featured, as well as his participation in the Boston Massacre, and more.

Juv B Spielberg; Kennedy; Grades 4-6
Steven Spielberg: Crazy for Movies, by Susan Goldman Rubin. Ever wonder how the movies "E.T." or "Jurassic Park" were made? Get an insiders look here as Spielberg describes the making of and ideas behind his movies, as well as what inspires him to direct movies in general.

Juv B Stanton; Kennedy/Westergard/Bookmobile; Grades 3-6
You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz. "If only you'd been a boy," said Lizzie Stanton's father when she won a prize for Latin as a young girl. But Lizzie didn't want to be a boy. She wanted girls to count as much as boys did, and tried for just that when she grew up, becoming one of the most famous women associated with the fight for women's suffrage.

Juv B Starr; Kennedy; Grades 4-6
Belle Starr and the Wild West, by Corinne Naden & Rose Blue. Thought only men became outlaws in the Wild West? Think again! In the late 1800s, Belle Starr was known as the Bandit Queen for rumors of committing arson, robberies, and even murder!

Juv B Stance; Kennedy; Grades 2-3
Buffalo Soldiers: The Story of Emanuel Stance, by Robert Miller. The Wild West needed to be tamed, and Emanuel Stance and his fellow African-American "buffalo soldiers" (named so because their hair resembled that of a buffalo's) were just the soldiers for the job. 19-year-old Stance went on to become the first African-American to win the Medal of Honor.

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