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 ...

Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent west on orphan trains. Warren alternates chapters about the history of the orphan trains with the story of Lee Nailling, who in 1926 rode an orphan train to Texas. Photos.

Twin brothers, sons of a plantation owner, share everything--except their different beliefs about slavery. As the political tensions rise in the South, they are caught between their passions for their causes and their love for one another. When the Civil War begins, the twins both go to war--to fight each other. Mary Stolz captures the spirit of the times in this emotionally-charged story of two b ...

In 1847 the people of Niagara Falls, New York and their neighbors in Canada wanted to build a bridge across the river that separated them. The first step was to get a line from one side to the other. Only a kite flown with great skill could do the job. Tekla White tells the story, based on real events, of young Homan Walsh and the kite he called the Union. Ralph Ramstad's illustrations beautifully ...

"Impossible!" At first folks didn't believe that the Erie Canal would ever be built. But when it was completed in 1825, people proclaimed it, "Amazing!" Cheryl Harness celebrates America's first superhighway using "words, maps, and pictures to explain the history and commerce of the canal. . . . Full of action and details of human drama, many of the colorful double-page spreads show scenes of jubi ...

Lucy's frisky little puppy, Finn, gets into one scrape after another as Lucy and her family travel westward to Oregon by wagon train in 1843.

Like other ex-slaves, Paschal and his brother, Gideon, have been promised 40 acres and maybe a mule. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives.

Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland, but Helen's fate took her to the Auschwitz extermination camp, while Alfons ranked high in the Hitler Youth. "A book to make your blood run cold."--"School Library Journal." Christopher Award winner and ALA Best Book for Young Adults. 5-page photo insert.

A biography of the modest Frenchman who, after being blinded at the age of three, went on to develop a system of raised dots on paper that enabled blind people to read and write.

Armstrong brings to life the incredible true story of the ill-fated Antarctic expedition of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the "Endurance". "Armstrong's absorbing storytelling, illustrated with dramatic black-and-white photographs, makes this an enthralling adventure".--"Publishers Weekly".

Jim Murphy's Newbery Honor Book available for the first time in paperback.The Great Fire of 1871 was one of most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourshing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully ...

Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up listening to her Pa's fascinating tales about living on the prairies, in the woods, and on the plains. When she was 65 years old, Laura began to write down her most treasured memories and tales from her youth. Children of all ages have come to love and treasure the books that resulted. Enter the fascinating world of the little girl who once lived in a little house on t ...

On a dark, cold, and rainy night in April 1777, Sybil Ludington sets out on a journey to warn American soldiers that danger is headed their way. The British are coming! They have already attacked a nearby town, and it is up to sixteen-year-old Sybil to make sure that she reaches the American soldiers before the British do. With only a large stick to defend herself, and her horse, Star, for company ...

The Great Depression hits close to home for 11-year-old Margo Bandini when the sheriff starts eviction procedures against her family. Her father has two weeks to pay the bank or they must leave their home forever. Margo is determined to find a way to help Papa save their home, in this debut novel based on the author's own experiences.

This funny, entertaining introduction to Ben Franklin and his many inventions includes the story of how he created the "magic square" -- a box of nine numbers arranged so that any line of three numbers add up to the same number, including on the diagonal! A "Step into Reading & Math(" title. Full-color illustrations.

Young Henk was hidden on the farm when Nazi soldiers came and his family was taken away. Now that the war is over, can Henk make a new life for himself in the big city?

An epidemic of fever sweeps through the streets of 1793 Philadelphia in this novel from Laurie Halse Anderson where "the plot rages like the epidemic itself" (The New York Times Book Review). During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above t

Joan was a child whose country suffered under the horrors of invasion and civil war. By 19, she was called the savior of France--and a heretic who was killed by being burned at the stake. Almost 500-years later, she was declared a saint. Full-color illustrations.