Kategoria BISAC: Juvenile Nonfiction >> Biography & Autobiography - Women

"In the Koran, the first thing God said to Muhammad was 'Read.'"*
--Alia Muhammad Baker

Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library--along with the thirty thousand books within it--will be destroyed forever.

In a war-stricken country where civilians--especially women--have little power, this true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the...

Few people have had as great an impact on the modern environmental movement as has the great writer and scientist Rachel Carson. This readable and up-to-date biography traces the famous environmentalist's development as a writer from earliest childhood through the publication of her best-known work "Silent Spring" (1962). Although Carson is now remembered almost exclusively for "Silent Spring," which exposed the dangers of pesticides, this book was preceded by three best-sellers about the ocean environment: "Under the Sea-Wind" (1941), "The Edge of the Sea" (1955), and "The Sea Around Us"...

An astute politician, dedicated feminist, and champion of the rights of minorities, Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most powerful women in 20th-century America. In an age when proper ladies were expected to supervise the household, dine with the right people, and entertain elegantly, she established careers as a teacher, social worker, and reformer, started a furniture factory, and became a successful journalist. Forming a unique political alliance with her husband, she played a key role in the Democratic party and shaped many of the programs of the New Deal. She later became an official...

Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Green Belt Movement, grew up in the highlands of Kenya, where fig trees cloaked the hills, fish filled the streams, and the people tended their bountiful gardens. But over many years, as more and more land was cleared, Kenya was transformed. When Wangari returned home from college in America, she found the village gardens dry, the people malnourished, and the trees gone. How could she alone bring back the trees and restore the gardens and the people?

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, says:...

Of course they did, and with page after page of superbly researched information and thoughtfully detailed illustrations, acclaimed novelist and picture-book author Laurie Halse Anderson and charismatic illustrator Matt Faulkner prove the case in this entertaining, informative, and long overdue homage to those independent dames

Before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor took her seat in our nation's highest court, she was just a little girl in the South Bronx. Justice Sotomayor didn't have a lot growing up, but she had what she needed -- her mother's love, a will to learn, and her own determination. With bravery she became the person she wanted to be. With hard work she succeeded. With little sunlight and only a modest plot from which to...

The Order of Canada, the country's highest honour, is awarded to those who have made a distinct contribution to Canadian life. The late Jean Lumb received the Order of Canada, among other awards, for her role in changing Canada's immigration laws that separated Chinese families, and for her contribution in saving Chinatowns across Canada. Through her dedication to helping others, Jean Lumb truly made a difference to life in Canada.

Spirit of the Dragon is well-illustrated with photographs of Jean Lumb in the company of her family and important people in her life, including John...

This fun and inspiring collection of influential stories provides forty-six illustrated examples of strong, independent female role models, all of whom first impacted the world as teenagers or younger. Originally published in two volumes over a decade ago, this fully updated and expanded edition of Girls Who Rocked the World spans a variety of achievements, interests, and backgrounds, from Harriet Tubman and...