Dennis Abrams

Barbara Park created one of the most popular and beloved characters in contemporary children's books.

Barbara Park

Examines the personal lives and musical career of the three men who make up the rap group called the Beastie Boys.

Beastie Boys

Story of a female Asian-American author's life and work.

Maxine Hong Kingston

Examines the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was a trained doctor, writer, military leader and radical activist.

Ernesto Che Guevara

Gina De Angelis

Details the life of African American entertainer and actor Gregory Hines.

Gregory Hines

Georgia O'Keeffe

Known for her remarkable artwork and her mystique, Georgia O'Keeffe created evocative paintings that reflected her adopted home of New Mexico. Once a Wisconsin farm girl, she studied the classic techniques of art, only to reject them after a summer art school class helped her find her own artistic style. She then relocated to New York, breaking into its bustling art scene of the 1920s with the help of photographer Alfred Stieglitz, whom she later married. Soon, though, O'Keeffe realized her relationship with Stieglitz was both a help and hindrance to her development as an artist, and she sought to strike out on her own, finding a true home in New Mexico. Because geography greatly affected her art, the move to the Southwest brought her bold art to fruition. In Georgia O'Keeffe: Artist, read about the journey of one of America's finest artists.

Describes the life and accomplishments of the author of the "Captian Underpants," "Dumb Bunnies," and "Ricky Ricotta" books and explains how what was probably undiagnosed ADHD led him to become a cartoonist and to develop his popular characters.

David "Dav" Pilkey

Gene Adair

* Critically acclaimed biographies of history's most notable African-Americans * Straightforward and objective writing * Lavishly illustrated with photographs and memorabilia * Essential for multicultural studies

Scientist and Educator

George Washington Carver

The life and career of French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Nicolas Sarkozy

When one of her recipes calls for EVOO, cooks knowingly reach for the extra-virgin olive oil. And when she declares a dish Yum-O, those who have tried her dishes can nod in agreement. Rachael Ray grew up surrounded by great cooks in restaurants, so cooking was a natural and integral part of her life. She first began cooking at home with her mother, moved on to her own cooking demonstrations at local food markets, and finally ended up making successful cooking shows on television. But how did an untrained cook growing up in small-town upstate New York go on to become one of the Food Networks biggest stars? And perhaps most intriguingly, what role has she played in Americas ongoing food revolution? "Rachael Ray" tells the story of a woman who has made a career of encouraging others to cook, eat, and love food as much as she does. From her catalog of cookbooks to line of cookware, Ray has become a powerful force in food education.

Food Entrepreneur

Rachael Ray

Johnny Depp

Describes the life, writing career, and accomplishments of the award-winning author of "The Outsiders," "That Was Then, This Is Now," and "Rumble Fish."

S.E. Hinton

With more than 50 million followers on Twitter and an additional 92 million on Instagram, Kim Kardashian is an American phenomenon. Through ambition, drive, and a masterful use of social media, Kardashian has become a television star, successful businesswoman, and tech entrepreneur with a net worth estimated at close to 150 million dollars. Readers who think they know everything about this pop-culture giant may be surprised to learn how Kardashian turned infamy into fame to become one of the most photographed, talked about, and richest women in the world.

TV Personality and Business Mogul

Kim Kardashian

Taylor Swift

Ty Cobb's life is a fascinating study of extremes. His professional highs are astonishing: During his career, he set 123 records. His lifetime batting average of .367 has never been surpassed, and he hit over .300 for 23 straight seasons. But there was a

Ty Cobb

Chuck D

Born Shawn Carter in New York City in 1970, Jay-Z enjoys the kind of rags-to-riches success that few can only dream of. Driven by raw ambition and tremendous talent, Jay-Z started his own record company, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1995, when, as a struggling artist, he couldn't convince any music labels to give him a recording contract. On the strength of seven consecutive best-selling albums, Jay-Z quickly established himself and Roc-A-Fella as powerful forces in the music industry. Today, he is a Grammy Award-winner and the president and CEO of Def Jam Records, a multimillionaire with ventures in film, apparel, and even professional sports. This captivating new biography traces the meteoric rise of Jay-Z, exploring in full detail why he remains one of the most popular and formidable rappers around.

Jay-Z

Elisa Ludwig

Kyle Zimmer

Judy Blume is one of Americas most popular authors of books for teens and adults. Fans of her work may not be aware, however, that this successful author was a wife and a mother before she tested her writing abilities. Blumes perseverance eventually landed this keenly observant author a publishing contract. Readers have laughed at the adventures of Peter Hatcher and his brother, Fudge, in Blumes "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing," and preteen readers found the trials and tribulations of puberty eased by reading "Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret" or "Then Again, Maybe I Wont." Blumes characters convey how it truly feels to be a teenager facing doubts, fears, and anxiety about life. This new edition brings readers up to date on this active author.

Judy Blume

The Play"s The Thing: The Plays of William Shakespeare is aimed at a YA (young adult) audience as an introduction to the greatest plays ever written. Direct and personal and decidedly non-academic, each play gets its own essay, giving the reader an overview of the play with an emphasis on the relevance that the play has to the reader"s own life and concerns. As I wrote in the introduction, "The goal of this guide, then, is to turn Shakespeare from somebody you have to read into somebody that you want to read." A young man struggles with his father s unexpected death. A young couple pledges their love to each other despite their families angry disapproval. A young man rebels against his father while at the same time craving his approval. A father and his family roam across what appears to be a post-apocalyptic dystopian landscape. A Roman general kills the sons of his enemy and serves them to her baked in a pie. Two young couples escape into a forest where magic rules and nothing is quite what it seems. A group of young men decide to give up on women and dating in order to devote themselves to their studies, until a group of beautiful young women changes their minds. The latest YA novels? While they certainly sound like they can be, they re not. They re just one way of looking at some of the plays of William Shakespeare (to be precise, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Henry IV Parts I & 2, King Lear, Love s Labour s Lost) that shows that they re not just old-school classic plays they re old-school classic plays that tell stories that are relevant to my life, to your lives, and to the way we all live today. These are stories of love. Of families. Of fathers and sons. Of the rise and fall of kings. Of what it s like to grow old. Of what it s like to love someone so much it hurts. Of treachery and revenge. Of ambition. Of jealousy. Of forgiveness. Of murder. Almost every human experience you can think of is brought to life in these plays. Which is why, for more than 400 years, they have been seen as the central glory of Western literature. And that s also why the plays of William Shakespeare are, on a daily basis, performed on stages around the world. The stories he told, the characters he created, are universal. Audiences in China, in Ghana, in India, in Brazil, in every part of the world, can appreciate and love Shakespeare as much as the British and Americans.

Dennis Abrams

About

Books

Join the club