1 Pass It On

2 Alexandra Deford Alexandra Deford, a precious and precocious girl, was just eight years old when she died in 1980 following a battle against the debilitating effects of cystic fibrosis, the number-one genetic killer of children. Her poignant and uplifting story touched the hearts of millions when it was first published and then made into a memorable television movie. A new introduction contains information on the latest cystic fibrosis research, and a touching postscript reveals how the Deford family came to terms with the loss of Alex. Whenever he speaks, sportswriter Frank Deford knows people will bring articles for him to sign. But what makes him happiest is when someone attends a sports- oriented lecture and brings a copy of Alex: The Life of a Child for him to sign. "Invariably, and happily, there's usually someone at each appearance who either brings that book or wants to talk about their connection to cystic fibrosis." Deford says. "It's tremendously gratifying to me. Rarely does a week go by that I don't get a letter about that book. People leave things at her grave. They really do. I have people tell me that she changed their lives. It's terribly dramatic, but they literally say that. I heard from a woman who became a pediatric nurse after reading the book. Hearing from people like that means more to me than anything."

3 Marian Anderson My Lord, What a Morning is a gentle and engrossing memoir, abounding with the tender and inspiring stories of Marian Anderson's life in her own modest words. From her humble but proud beginnings in south Philadelphia to international vocal renown, the legendary contralto writes of triumph and adversity, of being grounded in faith and surrounded by family, and of the music that shaped her career.

4 Abigail Adams Adams's life story and of women's roles in the creation of the republic In this vivid new biography of Abigail Adams, the most illustrious woman of the founding era, Bancroft Award-winning historian Woody Holton offers a sweeping reinterpretation of Adams's life story and of women's roles in the creation of the republic. Using previously overlooked documents from numerous archives, Abigail Adams shows that the wife of the second president of the United States was far more charismatic and influential than historians have realized. One of the finest writers of her age, Adams passionately campaigned for women's education, denounced sex discrimination, and matched wits not only with her brilliant husband, John, but with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. When male Patriots ignored her famous appeal to "Remember the Ladies," she accomplished her own personal declaration of independence: Defying centuries of legislation that assigned married women's property to their husbands, she amassed a fortune in her own name Adams's life story encapsulates the history of the founding era, for she defined herself in relation to the people she loved or hated (she was never neutral), a cast of characters that included her mother and sisters; Benjamin Franklin and James Lovell, her husband's bawdy congressional colleagues; Phoebe Abdee, her father's former slave; her financially naïve husband her son John Quincy. At once epic and intimate, Abigail Adams, sheds light on a complicated, fascinating woman, one of the most beloved figures of American history.

5 Melba Patillo Beals One of the nine black teenagers who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957 here recounts that traumatic year with drama and detail. Beals, who is now a communications consultant, relies on her own diary from that era and notes made by her English teacher mother--as well as dubiously recreated dialogue--to tell not only of the ugly harassment she was subjected to but also of the impressive dignity of a 15-year-old forced to grow up fast. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus set the tone of the time by resisting integration until a federal judge ordered it. Although Beals was assigned a federal soldier for protection, the young integrationist was still attacked and prevented from engaging in school activities. She recalls stalwart black friends like Minniejean, who was suspended, and a white classmate who surreptitiously kept her informed of the segregationists' tactics. Beals looks back on her Little Rock experiences as ``ultimately a positive force'' that shaped her life.

6 Walt Disney Walt Disney is an American hero--the creator of Mickey Mouse, and a man who changed the face of American culture. After years of research, with the full cooperation of the Disney family and access to private papers and letters, Bob Thomas produced the definitive biography of the man behind the legend--the unschooled cartoonist from Kansas City who went bankrupt on his first movie venture but became the genius who produced unmatched works of animation. Complete with a rare collection of photographs, Bob Thomas' biography is a fascinating and inspirational work that captures the spirit of Walt Disney.

7 Claudette Colvin "When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.'" - Claudette Colvin. On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle , the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South. Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

8 Beverly Cleary Generations of children have grown up with Henry Huggins, Ramona Quimby, and all of their friends, families, and assorted pets. For everyone who has enjoyed the pranks and schemes, embarrassing moments, and all of the other poignant and colorful images of childhood brought to life in Beverly Cleary books, here is the fascinating true story of the remarkable woman who created them.

9 Victor Cruz "It may seem like I came out of the blue. But, my road was long, windy, full of hurdles, and even some dead ends. I lost family. I lost friends. I even lost my way. When I reached what felt like rock bottom, I realized I had a responsibility to everyone who believed in me and to kids, like me, who just needed a chance and something to believe in."--from the epilogue of Out of the Blue. Victor Cruz, the Super Bowl-winning and record-breaking wide receiver, is best known for his explosive plays and salsa touchdown celebrations. While his meteoric rise in the NFL looked like the result of a magical year, it was actually a lifetime in the making. Raised in Paterson, New Jersey's gritty Fourth Ward, Cruz overcame numerous setbacks through hard work, perseverance, and the support of his loving family--from his grandmother who gave him his signature dance moves; to his late father, a former firefighter, who introduced him to football and taught him how to play; to his hard-working, single mother who never let him give up in the face of a challenge. They all helped to keep him on the right path, as did his coaches, but Cruz's journey was never easy. There were family tragedies, academic struggles, injuries, and more. In this inspiring, never-before-seen account, Cruz pays tribute to the people and places that made him the man he is today, recounts his most defining moments, and illustrates how his hardships ultimately unleashed his impenetrable will to win.. Out of the Blue is a candid and moving reflection of an overlooked and undersized athlete with an uncommon last name in American football that was determined to beat the odds and earn his chance to succeed.

10 Alex Morgan Get inspired to be your best--in sports and in life--with this uplifting memoir from star soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan that includes eight pages of full-color photos as well as book jacket that doubles as a poster! As a talented and successful female athlete, Alex Morgan is a role model to thousands of girls who want to be their best, not just in soccer, but in other sports and in life. The story of her path to success, from playing in the 2011 Women's World Cup, to winning gold in the 2012 London Olympics, to ranking as one of the National Team's top scorers, will inspire everyone who reads it. From her beginnings with the American Youth Soccer Organization to her key role in the 2015 Women's World Cup, Alex shares the details that made her who she is today: a fantastic role model and athlete who proudly rocks a pink headband.

11 Amelia Earhart This definitive biography of aviation legend Amelia Earhart delivers a brilliantly researched report on Earhart's life--from her tomboy childhood and early fascination with flying, her peculiar business/matrimonial relationship with publisher G.P. Putnam to her consuming quest for aviation fame.

12 Esther Grace Earl A collection of the journals, fiction, letters, and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Photographs and essays by family and friends will help to tell Esther's story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars to her.

13 Pat Tillman Recounts the life and accomplishments of Pat Tillman, who left professional football to join the Army in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks and was killed in a combat situation in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.

14 Brooke Ellison Brooke Ellison was the victim of an automobile accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down when she was eleven years old. Written with her mother, Jean, her closest companion, Brooke's story starts on the day that changed her life. This inspiring story is not just about one person, but about the heroics of a family.

15 Marie Sklodowska CurieMarie Sklodowska Curie (1867–1934) was the first woman scientist to win worldwide acclaim and was, indeed, one of the great scientists of the twentieth century. Written by Curie’s daughter, the renowned international activist Eve Curie, this biography chronicles Curie’s legendary achievements in science, including her pioneering efforts in the study of radioactivity and her two Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. It also spotlights her remarkable life, from her childhood in Poland, to her storybook Parisian marriage to fellow scientist Pierre Curie, to her tragic death from the very radium that brought her fame.

16 Miep Gies Miep Gies was born Hermine Santrouschitz in Vienna. Austria on February 15, After World War I, Austrians were suffering from a food shortage and she was sent to Leiden, the Netherlands, as part of a relief program to help malnourished children. In 1933, she heard about an opening as an office assistant for Otto Frank. She took the job and became good friends with Otto Frank and his family. The German occupation of the Netherlands began in May Having lived in Germany, Otto Frank knew the situation would only get worse and in the spring of 1942, he called Gies into his office and told her of his plan to hide his family and four other Jews in a secret annex. From July 6, 1942, until August 4, 1944, she and others brought them food, supplies, and news of the outside world. After the Gestapo raided the annex and sent the people in hiding to concentration camps, she found Anne Frank's diary in the debris and hid it in a desk drawer until after the war, hoping to return it to its young author. Upon learning that Anne Frank died at Bergen-Belsen, she gave the diary to Otto Frank and he published it in After the book was published, she devoted the rest of her life to keeping the memory of Anne Frank alive by travelling to dozens of countries, giving speeches at schools and always responding personally to letters from children. She received the Raoul Wallenberg Award for bravery in 1990 and the Order of Merit from Germany in In Israel, the Yad Vashem memorial pays tribute to her as a member of the Righteous among Nations, a list of non- Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust

17 Temple Grandin In this innovative book, Dr. Temple Grandin gets down to the REAL issues of autism, the ones parents, teachers, and individuals on the spectrum face every day. Temple offers helpful do's and don'ts, practical strategies, and try- it-now tips, all based on her "insider" perspective and a great deal of research. These are just some of the specific topics Temple delves into: How and Why People with Autism Think Differently, Economical Early Intervention Programs that Work, How Sensory Sensitivities Affect Learning, Behaviors Caused by a Disability vs. Just Bad Behaviors, Teaching People with Autism to Live in an Unpredictable World, Alternative Medicine vs. Conventional Medicine, Employment Ideas for Adults with Autism, And many more!.

18 Dr. Jane Goodall World-renowned primatologist, conservationist, and humanitarian Dr. Jane Goodall's account of her life among the wild chimpanzees of Gombe is one of the most enthralling stories of animal behavior ever written. Her adventure began when the famous anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey suggested that a long- term study of chimpanzees in the wild might shed light on the behavior of our closest living relatives. Accompanied by only her mother and her African assistants, she set up camp in the remote Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania. For months the project seemed hopeless; out in the forest from dawn until dark, she had but fleeting glimpses of frightened animals. But gradually she won their trust and was able to record previously unknown behavior, such as the use--and even the making-- of tools, until then believed to be an exclusive skill of man. As she came to know the chimps as individuals, she began to understand their complicated social hierarchy and observed many extraordinary behaviors, which have forever changed our understanding of the profound connection between humans and chimpanzees.

19 Mia Hamm For the more than seven million girls--from knobby-kneed tykes to high school and college stars--who are tearing across the country chasing a soccer ball and dreams of glory, there is one name that eclipses all others, male or female: Mia Hamm. With her cheetah like acceleration and lightning-bolt shot, Hamm broke nearly every record in her sport, while galvanizing a whole generation of fans and players. Go for the Goal is not only the inspiring story of how a tiny suburban sprite became a global terror with a ball (and the world) at her feet--it's also a step-by- step or dribble-by-dribble guide for any kid with the all-American dream of making the team and becoming a champion. Filled with personal anecdotes and fully illustrated with both action and instructional photographs, Go for the Goal shows readers exactly how to master the silky skills and techniques that made Hamm and her teammates the finest women's soccer team in the world.

20 Harry Houdini Houdini was a man of magic and mystery. He was also a pilot, an author, an actor, and a rabid opponent of the Spiritualist movement. He was impatient of charlatans and imitators and loving to his family. He had an impressive ego. If any of these facts are new to you, then Houdini: A Life Worth Reading is the perfect primer on the man who was, by the end of his life, known only as Houdini.

21 Harry Houdini Harry Houdini died more than eighty years ago and yet he still fascinates people and is an icon for those who are interested in illusions and escape artistry. Just like in his tricks, he was not always what he seemed. Was he a fake or a genius? Was he who is said he was?

22 Michael Oher The football star made famous in the hit film The Blind Side reflects on how far he has come from the circumstances of his youth. Michael Oher is the young man at the center of the true story depicted in The Blind Side movie (and book) that swept up awards and accolades. Though the odds were heavily stacked against him, Michael had a burning desire deep within his soul to break out of the Memphis inner-city ghetto and into a world of opportunity. While many people are now familiar with Oher's amazing journey, this is the first time he shares his account of his story in his own words, revealing his thoughts and feelings with details that only he knows, and offering his point of view on how anyone can achieve a better life. Looking back on how he went from being a homeless child in Memphis to playing in the NFL, Michael talks about the goals he had for himself in order to break out of the cycle of poverty, addiction, and hopelessness that trapped his family for so long. He recounts poignant stories growing up in the projects and running from child services and foster care over and over again in search of some familiarity. Eventually he grasped onto football as his ticket out of the madness and worked hard to make his dream into a reality. But Oher also knew he would not be successful alone. With his adoptive family, the Touhys, and other influential people in mind, he describes the absolute necessity of seeking out positive role models and good friends who share the same values to achieve one's dreams. Sharing untold stories of heartache, determination, courage, and love, I Beat the Odds is an incredibly rousing tale of one young man's quest to achieve the American dream.

23 Bill Gates The cofounder of Microsoft, Bill Gates helped transform society by ushering in the era of ubiquitous personal computing. This book examines the life and achievements of this standout American inventor and philanthropist. * Provides a balanced and unbiased account of Bill Gates that includes his own writings as well as criticisms of Gates's management style that allows readers to reach their own conclusions * Documents Gates's philanthropic activities and commitment to dispersing some of his accumulated wealth to help those in need worldwide

24 Steve Jobs "Your time is limited have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." Steve Jobs from the start, his path was never predictable. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption at birth, dropped out of college after one semester, and at the age of twenty, created Apple in his parents' garage with his friend Steve Wozniack. Then came the core and hallmark of his genius--his exacting moderation for perfection, his counterculture life approach, and his level of taste and style that pushed all boundaries.

25 Dr. Paul Farmer Tracy Kidder's critically acclaimed adult nonfiction work, Mountains Beyond Mountains has been adapted for young people by Michael French. In this young adult edition, readers are introduced to Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard-educated doctor with a self-proclaimed mission to transform healthcare on a global scale. Farmer focuses his attention on some of the world's most impoverished people and uses unconventional ways in which to provide healthcare, to achieve real results and save lives.

26 Aung San Suu Kyi For the last two decades of Burma's brutal and traumatic history, Aung San Suu Kyi - winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize - has been the inspirational leader of attempts to restore democracy to her country. In these pieces, begun soon after her first release from house arrest (she has since been re-arrested and remains to this day a prisoner of conscience), she paints a vivid, distributing, yet fundamentally optimistic picture of her native land. Furiously dedicated to the cause of freedom, Aung San Suu Kyi evokes with sensuality and vividness Burma's seasons and scenery, customs and festivities. She celebrates the courageous army officers, academics and actors who have supported the National League for Democracy, often at great personal risk; she describes the inspirational pilgrimage to the Buddhist abbot of Thamanya; and most of all she reveals with shocking frankness the impact of political decisions on the lives of ordinary people

27 Jason Lester In 2008, Jason Lester became the first person with a disability to finish the Ultraman World Championship alongside able-bodied competitors. With the use of only three limbs, Jason competed in one of the most demanding endurance races in the world, swimming 6.2 miles, biking miles, and running 52.4 miles to the finish line. Jason has completed over seventy triathlons, biathlons, marathons, Ironmans, and Ultramans. In 2009, he became the first male triathlete to win an ESPY Award and the fifteenth athlete in the history of Ultraman to complete both the Ultraman World Championship and Ultraman Canada in the same year. Yet Jason Lester's life as an athlete almost never happened. When a speeding car ran a red light, a bike ride to the local video store nearly became Jason's last, sending him 130 feet into the air and ultimately to the hospital with twenty broken bones. The pain was intense and long rehabilitation grueling, compounded by the sudden death of his father (his best friend and mentor) and the realization that his right arm was paralyzed. Only twelve years old and struggling to heal amid the grief, Jason miraculously found the strength to fight his way back. Without the use of his arm, he refused to give up the sports he'd grown to love, recommitting himself to life and ultimately surpassing goals that few dared to set. Running on Faith reveals how to develop the mind-set of a true competitor and includes riveting stories of the precarious and often unforeseen conditions encountered on the race path--jellyfish-infested waters, suffocating heat, and blinding sheets of rain. With passion, dedication, and strength of purpose, Jason shares his experience facing extreme challenges head-on, gleaning insight from each trial.

28 Martin Luther King, Jr. The dramatic yet brief life of the best-known leader of the civil rights movement is vividly explored. Jakoubek grounds the clear and accessible narrative in the history of African- Americans and skillfully weaves in contemporary accounts of King's activities and the movement's major events. King's own speeches and writings are extensively used to deepen the reader's understanding of and respect for the man. No mere hagiography, Jakoubek does not ignore allegations of King's sexual improprieties or gloss over infighting among the movement's black leaders.

29 Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrated Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson is the director and editor of the Martin Luther King Papers Project; with thousands of King's essays, notes, letters, speeches, and sermons at his disposal, Carson has organized King's writings into a posthumous autobiography. In an early student essay, King prophetically penned: "We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance.... We cannot have a nation orderly and sound with one group so ground down and thwarted that it is almost forced into unsocial attitudes and crime." Such statements, made throughout King's career, are skillfully woven together into a coherent narrative of the quest for social justice. The autobiography delves, for example, into the philosophical training King received at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, where he consolidated the teachings of Afro-American theologian Benjamin Mays with the philosophies of Locke, Rousseau, Gandhi, and Thoreau. Through King's voice, the reader intimately shares in his trials and triumphs, including the Montgomery Boycott, the 1963 "I Have a Dream Speech," the Selma March, and the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. In one of his last speeches, King reminded his audience that "in the final analysis, God does not judge us by the separate incidents or the separate mistakes that we make, but by the total bent of our lives." Carson's skillful editing has created an original argument in King's favor that draws directly from the source, illuminating the circumstances of King's life without deifying his person.

30 Nelson Mandela A riveting biography of the man who has been in the forefront of the struggle against apartheid. Covers his tumultuous political career, his 27-year imprisonment and historic release in 1990, and his new role as a key leader in South African politics.

31 Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. The foster son of a Thembu chief, Mandela was raised in the traditional, tribal culture of his ancestors, but at an early age learned the modern, inescapable reality of what came to be called apartheid, one of the most powerful and effective systems of oppression ever conceived. In classically elegant and engrossing prose, he tells of his early years as an impoverished student and law clerk in Johannesburg, of his slow political awakening, and of his pivotal role in the rebirth of a stagnant ANC and the formation of its Youth League in the 1950s. He describes the struggle to reconcile his political activity with his devotion to his family, the anguished breakup of his first marriage, and the painful separations from his children. He brings vividly to life the escalating political warfare in the fifties between the ANC and the government, culminating in his dramatic escapades as an underground leader and the notorious Rivonia Trial of 1964, at which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Here counts the surprisingly eventful twenty-seven years in prison and the complex, delicate negotiations that led both to his freedom and to the beginning of the end of apartheid.

32 Nelson Mandela Fifteen articles chronicle the life of South African president Nelson Mandela, describing his early years in rural Transkei, his fight against apartheid and his nearly three decades in prison, and his presidential policies and AIDS activism. Also includes documents, discussion questions, and an annotated Web site list.

33 Jack Mandelbaum Award-winning author Andrea Warren presents a life-changing story of a young boy's struggle for survival in a Nazi-run concentration camp. In this Robert F. Silbert Honor Book, narrated in the voice of Holocaust survivor Jack Mandelbaum, readers will glimpse the dark reality of life during the Holocaust, and how one boy made it out alive. When twelve-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is separated from his family and shipped off to the Blechhammer concentration camp, his life becomes a never-ending nightmare. With minimal food to eat and harsh living conditions threatening his health, Jack manages to survive by thinking of his family.

34 Kaffir Boy The classic story of life in Apartheid South Africa. Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa's most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university. This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do -- he escaped to tell about it.

35 Sonora Carver Sonora Carver was an American entertainer, most notable as one of the first female horse divers. Carver answered an ad placed by "Doc" William Frank Carver in for a diving girl and soon earned a place in circus history. Her job was to mount a running horse as it reached the top of a forty-foot (sometimes sixty-foot) tower and sail down along the animal's back as it plunged into a deep pool of water directly below. Sonora was a sensation and soon became the lead diving girl for Doc Carver's act as they traveled the country. In 1931, Sonora was blinded, a retinal detachment, due to hitting the water off-balance with her eyes open. While diving her horse, Red Lips, on New Jersey's Steel Pier, the act's permanent home since After her accident Sonora continued to dive horses until 1942.

36 Louis Zamperini In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

37 Jesse Owens From the ESPN national correspondent and author of the New York Times bestseller Cinderella Man comes the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of a defining moment in sports and world history. In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying and a storm troopers goose-stepping, an African-American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four Olympic gold medals and single- handedly crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. The story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 games is that of a high-profile athlete giving a performance that transcends sports. But it is also the intimate and complex tale of the courage of one remarkable man. Drawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and exhaustive archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Nazi Germany to weave this dramatic tale. From the start, American participation in the 1936 games was controversial. A boycott was afoot, based on reports of Nazi hostility to Jews, but was thwarted by the president of the American Olympic Committee, who dismissed the actions of the Third Reich as irrelevant. At the games themselves the subplots and intrigue continued: Owens was befriended by a German rival, broad jumper Luz Long, who, legend has it, helped Owens win the gold medal at his own expense. Two Jewish sprinters were denied the chance to compete for the United States at the last possible moment, most likely out of misguided deference to the Nazi hosts. And a myth was born that Hitler had snubbed Owens by failing to congratulate him. With his trademark incisive reporting and rich storytelling gifts, Schaap reveals what really transpired over those tense, exhilarating few weeks some seventy years ago. In the end, Triumph is a triumph.

38 Richard Phillips A Captain's Duty tells the life-and-death drama of the Vermont native who was held captive on a tiny lifeboat off Somalia's anarchic, gun-plagued shores. A story of adventure and courage, it provides the intimate details of this high-seas hostage-taking--the unbearable heat, the death threats, the mock executions, and the escape attempt. When the pirates boarded his ship, Captain Phillips put his experience into action, doing everything he could to safeguard his crew. And when he was held captive by the pirates, he marshaled all his resources to ensure his own survival, withstanding intense physical hardship and an escalating battle of wills with the pirates. This was it: the moment where training meets instinct and where character is everything. Richard Phillips was ready.

39 Jeff King Known as the Winningest Musher in the World, Jeff King remains one of the top mushers in the history of sled dog sports. Since his first race in 1979, King and his well-trained teams of Alaska huskies have racked up many thousands of training miles and trail hours. The result: win after win after win, crossing the finish line first in more than a dozen major races, including the two internationally known giants: the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. In the process, King has also racked up thirty years of first-person stories that offer a glimpse into the heart of a champion, the rugged Alaskan lifestyle, and the charismatic world of dogs.

40 Jordan Romero Jordan Romero climbed Mount Everest at age thirteen-and he didn't stop there. In this inspiring young adult memoir, he tells how he achieved such great heights. On May 22, 2010, at the age of thirteen, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. At fifteen, he became the youngest person to reach the summits of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. In this energizing memoir for young adults, Jordan, now seventeen, recounts his experience, which started as a spark of an idea at the age of nine and, many years of training and hard work later, turned into a dream come true.

41 Theodore Roosevelt The story of TR, a New York aristocrat and prominent Republican whose strong will and likeable, robust personality combined to get him elected to two terms as president of the United States. After holding various important positions, including secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, and vice president of the United States, he became president in Rancher, writer, conservationist, and leader of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt led an exciting life that Meltzer makes jump off the pages. Includes sources, a bibliography, and an index.

42 Theodore Roosevelt Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as “a masterpiece” (John A. Gable, Newsday), it is the winner of the Los Angeles Times 1981 Book Prize for Biography and the National Book Award for Biography. Written by David McCullough, the author of Truman, this is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised.

43 J.K. Rowling This is the definitive biography of the world’s most famous writer. J.K. Rowling's meteoric rise to worldwide superstardom and bestseller status is now the stuff of tabloid legend – how, as a single mother, she would spend hours in a cafe in Edinburgh, nursing a single coffee and a glass of water while she wrote the first Harry Potter novel that would bring her fame and fortune. Creator of the most famous and best-loved character in contemporary fiction, J.K. Rowling is also the author of her own escape from an unhappy marriage and a depressing existence on the verge of destitution. The acclaimed celebrity biographer Sean Smith goes behind the headlines and hype to trace the life story of this phenomenal woman who has brought joy and inspiration to millions of readers around the world. He also reveals many of the sources and origins of the books drawn from her early life.

44 Nick Vujicic What Would Your Life be Like if Anything Were Possible? Born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic overcame his disabilities to live an independent, rich, fulfilling, and "ridiculously good" life while serving as a role model for anyone seeking true happiness. Now an internationally successful motivational speaker, Nick eagerly spreads his central message: the most important goal is to find your life's purpose and to never give up, despite whatever difficulties or seemingly impossible odds stand in your way. Nick tells the story of his physical disabilities and the emotional battle he endured while learning to deal with them as a child, teen, and young adult. "For the longest, loneliest time, I wondered if there was anyone on earth like me , and whether there was any purpose to my life other than pain and humiliation." Nick shares how his faith in God has been his major source of strength, and he explains that once he found a sense of purpose--inspiring others to better their lives and the world around them--he found the confidence to build a rewarding and productive life without limits. Let Nick inspire you to start living your own life without limits. Includes a Life Without Limits Personal Action Plan to help anyone determine their unique path to a successful life.

45 Malala Yousafzai When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons. I AM MALALA will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

46 Miracle on Ice Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered perhaps the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their "Miracle on Ice" has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. It is a legacy of hope, hard work, and homegrown triumph. It is a chronicle of everyday heroes who just wanted to play hockey happily ever after. It is still unbelievable. The Boys of Winter is an evocative account of the improbable American adventure in Lake Placid, New York. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews, Wayne Coffey explores the untold stories of the U.S. upstarts, their Soviet opponents, and the forces that brought them together. Plagued by the Iran hostage crisis, persistent economic woes, and the ongoing Cold War, the United States battled a pervasive sense of gloom in And then came the Olympics. Traditionally a playground for the Russian hockey juggernaut and its ever- growing collection of gold medals, an Olympic ice rink seemed an unlikely setting for a Cold War upset. The Russians were experienced professional champions, state-reared and state-supported. The Americans were mostly college kids who had their majors and their stipends and their dreams, a squad that coach Herb Brooks had molded into a team in six months. It was men vs. boys, champions vs. amateurs, communism vs. capitalism. Coffey casts a fresh eye on this seminal sports event in The Boys of Winter, crafting an intimate look at the team and giving readers an ice-level view of the boys who captivated a country. He details the unusual chemistry of the Americans--formulated by a fiercely determined Brooks-- and he seamlessly weaves portraits of the players with the fluid, fast-paced action of the 1980 game itself. Coffey also traces the paths of the players and coaches since that time, examining how the events in Lake Placid affected and directed their lives and investigating what happens after one conquers the world. But Coffey not only reveals the anatomy of an underdog, he probes the shocked disbelief of the unlikely losers and how it felt to be taken down by such an overlooked opponent. After all, the greatest American sports moment of the century was a Russian calamity, perhaps even more unimaginable in Moscow than in Minnesota or Massachusetts. Coffey deftly balances the joyous American saga with the perspective of the astonished silver medalists. Told with warmth and an uncanny eye for detail, The Boys of Winter is an intimate, perceptive portrayal of one Friday night in Lake Placid and the enduring power of the extraordinary.

47 Olympic Rowing Team 1936 For readers of Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit and Unbroken , the dramatic story of the American rowing team that stunned the world at Hitler's Berlin Olympics Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together--a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism. Drawing on the boys' own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times--the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant.

48 Wayne Gretzky After breaking or tying more than sixty records in hockey, it's no wonder that Wayne Gretzky is known as "The Great One." Born in Brantford, Ontario, on January 26, 1961, in a nation obsessed with the sport, he threw himself into the game practically from the time he first laced up a pair of skates. When he retired from the NHL in 1999, he had led several teams to Stanley Cup victories, competed in the Olympics, and changed the way hockey was played forever. Known for his love for family and as a truly decent human being, Wayne Gretzky is revealed as more than a sports legend in this easy-to-read biography

49 Harry Houdini Who was this man who could walk through brick walls and, with a snap of his fingers, vanish elephants? In these pages you will meet the astonishing Houdini--magician, ghost chaser, daredevil, pioneer aviator, and king of escape artists. No jail cell or straitjacket could hold him! He shucked off handcuffs as easily as gloves. In this fresh, witty biography of the most famous bamboozler since Merlin, Sid Fleischman, a former professional magician, enriches his warm homage with insider information and unmaskings. Did Houdini really pick the jailhouse lock to let a fellow circus performer escape? Were his secrets really buried with him? Was he a bum magician, as some rivals claimed? How did he manage to be born in two cities, in two countries, on two continents at the same instant? Here are the stories of how a knockabout kid named Ehrich Weiss, the son of an impoverished rabbi, presto-changoed himself into the legendary Harry Houdini. Here, too, are rare photographs never before seen by the general reader!