Rich descriptors establish this memoir’s compelling setting so that readers feel the African heat , the desperation of starving families seeking sustenance from dry, barren farmland, and the wind’s power to help a helpless community. Against this backdrop a small, young boy with an insatiable appetite for knowledge lets curiosity drive his desire to help his family and his village. T ...

Benjamin Banneker was born free when most blacks were still enslaved. A self-taught mathematician and astronomer, he was the author of the first published almanac written by a black man. Throughout his life Bannecker was troubled that all blacks were not free. So, in 1791, he sent a letter to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Here is the extraordinary correspondence between the two men. Full-co ...

Based on Tempe Wick's life and the tale of hiding her horse in her house during the coldest winter of the American Revolution, Rinaldi's story poignantly addresses the question of compromising one's loyalty for "victory."

Rachel Marsh is a servant in the Boston household of John Adams. But her loyalty to the Adams family is tested by her friendship with a British private who leads his soldiers in firing upon a mob of Boston citizens.

This engrossing and extensively researched account of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 examines both sides of the battle, taking a close look at the events leading up to it and providing compelling insight into the motives and operations of the brave men and women swept up in the fight. Illustrations.

When war erupts between the States in 1861, President Lincoln makes an impassioned plea for volunteers. Determined not to remain on the sidelines, young Emma Edmonds poses as a man and enlists in the Union Army, becoming a cunning master of disguise, risking discovery and death behind Confederate lines. Illustrations.

Now in paperback, this book recreates the true story of Will Knox, a 19-year-old boy who undertook the dangerous task of transporting 183 cannons from New York's Fort Ticonderoga to Boston--in the dead of winter--to help General Washington win an important battle.

This captivating, true story is full and adventure and alive with anticipation. It begs for discussion on setting a goal and working hard to achieve it. Exquisite word selection creates outstanding mental images while the story's pace enables readers to feel the character's experience, sensing the anticipation of each problem faced and the sheer joy of a goal achieved. This story also provides a g ...

More than 50 years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is the subject of this picture-book tribute to her courageous action and the events that followed.

From battling toothaches while fighting the British, to having rotten teeth removed by his dentists, readers get a tongue-in-cheek dental history of the Father of His Country, who suffered all his life with tooth problems.

This Spanish translation of the historical novel "I, Juan De Pareja" is based on the life of Juan de Pareja, the black assistant to the 17th-century Spanish painter Velazquez. Newbery Medal Book.

Text and illustration connect present day to Franklin's times and inventions. A novel and engaging look at a truly remarkable "founding father."

In 119 A.D., the Ninth Roman Legion marches north into the wilds of Britain--and disappears without a trace. Fifteen years later, Marcus Flavius Aquila, the son of the unit's commander, embarks upon a quest to recover the lost eagle standard of the Ninth.

Threatened by an unstoppable tide of invaders, the last of the Roman Auxiliaries are setting sail to leave Britain forever. But Aquila, a young legionnaire, chooses to stay behind, in order to join the fight to save his native land.

When they accidentally uncover a plot against the British emperor Carausius, a young army surgeon and his soldier cousin are caught up in a maze of intrigue that leads them into an underground organization of secret agents in the service of Rome.

When Sugar, living as an orphaned child cared for by fellow plantation workers, decides to befriend the Plantation owner's son, she is rebuked by her "family." When Chinese immigrants arrive to share the workers' responsibility, tension escalates until Sugar's determination deconstructs barriers. Just as healing begins, a dark reminder of selfish unforgiveness rears its ugly head. This time, it ta ...

From 1837 to 1838, thousands of Cherokee Indians were marched from their homelands in Georgia to exile in Arkansas by the same white men they has once befriended. The Cherokees journeyed through bitter cold and blazing heat, with little food or water. One out of every four died --- and with them died a culture that had existed for hundreds of years, a civilization that had existed for hundred of y ...

Six-year-old Ben is very small for his age, and gets along better with animals than people. One June day in 1870, Ben wanders away from his home on Hawk's Hill and disappears into the waving prairie grass. This is the story of how a shy, lonely boy survives for months in the wilds and forges a bond with a female badger. ALA Notable Book. Newbery Honor Book.