biography

"You may have read about Cesar Chavez's leadership in organizing the well-known Delano Grape Strike and Boycott of the 1960s. But did you know it began as a strike led by Larry Itliong? He was a Filipino labor organizer who had also been working with grape pickers in California at the time. With key biographical information and related historical events, this . . . book will uncover Itliong's story and show how it connects to Chavez's story"--Provided by publisher.

This empowering biography of America's first congresswoman shows how, from a very early age, she was a take-charge girl, becoming an activist who campaigned for women's voting rights to change the laws that failed to protect children.

"Hershey's milk chocolate is the quintessential American chocolate bar. But in Milton Hershey's time, chocolate was mostly a special treat for the very wealthy. Milton grew up poor and was no stranger to going hungry. When he got a job washing dishes in an ice cream parlor, he realized how happy sweets made people--and how much he liked making people happy. Over the course of his career, Hershey failed to make many businesses profitable, yet ultimately cracked the formula on milk chocolate. Here was a chocolate that was delicious, didn't spoil, and could be sold at an affordable price in communities across America and the world. And here was a business that could provide good lives in a welcoming town and an education for those who couldn't afford it. Perfect for the chocolate lover, inventor, and science-experiment-obsessed childhood reader, this biography shows that perseverance and persistence can lead to sweet success"--Provided by publisher.

"On June 1, 1937, famous pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off in their small plane. Earhart's goal was to make a record-breaking flight around the world. On the last part of the flight, they approached Howland Island to refuel. Before they could land, radio communication from Earhart stopped, and the plane disappeared. Search efforts turned up few clues. What happened to Earhart and Noonan? Explore the theories and learn why their disappearance has become one of history's greatest mysteries"--Provided by publisher.

"In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted to discriminating against women on its faculty, forcing institutions across the country to confront a problem they had long ignored: the need for more women at the top levels of science. Written by the journalist who broke the story for The Boston Globe, The Exceptions is the untold story of how sixteen highly accomplished women on the MIT faculty came together to do the work that triggered the historic admission"--Provided by the publisher.

"Andrea Chapela, one of Granta's Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists of 2021, breaks down literary and scientific conventions in this prize-winning collection of experimental essays exploring the properties and poetics of glass, mirrors, and light as a means of understanding the self. In powerful, formally inventive essays, The Visible Unseen disrupts the purported cultural divide between arts and science. As both a chemist and an award-winning author, Chapela zeros in on the literary metaphors buried in the facts and figures of her scientific observations. Through questioning scientific conundrums that lie beyond the limits of human perception, she winds up putting herself under the microscope as well. While considering the technical definition of glass as a liquid or a solid, Chapela stumbles upon a framework for understanding the in-between-ness of her own life. Turning her focus toward mirrors, she finds metaphors for our cultural obsessions with self-image in the physics and chemistry of reflection. And as she compiles a history of the scientific study of light, she comes to her final conclusion: that the purpose of description-be it scientific or literary-can never be to define reality, only to confirm our perception of it. Lyrical, introspective, and methodical, The Visible Unseen constructs a startling new perspective from which to examine ourselves and the ways we create meaning.".

"Shaquille O'Neal discovered his love of basketball while spending time in an afterschool program called the Boys & Girls Club of America. Standing over six feet tall by the time he turned eleven years old, Shaq--as he is affectionately known--continued to practice the game and stunned the country with his phenomenal skills. From leading his high-school team to its first-ever state title to becoming the first pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and going on to win four NBA championships, Shaq proved that he could dominate almost any player. But the fifteen-time All Star who played for six teams throughout his nineteen-year NBA career isn't just a force on the court, he is also an actor, television host, musician, and businessman who is always ready to crack a joke or bust a dance move. Find out more in this book"--Provided by publisher.

Solomon Northup tells of his life as a free man in 1808 and of his kidnapping in 1841 followed by twelve years of being a slave.

Memoir of the author, the youngest and first black mayor of Stockton, California, discussing his experiences growing up in the city, being raised by a single mother while his father was incarcerated, receiving a scholarship to Stanford, interning during the Obama administration, and returning to his hometown to serve in public office.

A memoir tracing the author's struggle to establish her own identity and independence after she and her family make their way to America from Puerto Rico when she was thirteen.