Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography

by William Anderson

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Book Description
From her pioneer days on the prairie to her golden years with her husband, Almanzo, and their daughter, Rose, Laura Ingalls Wilder has become a friend to all who have read about her adventures. This behind-the-scenes account chronicles the real events in Laura's life that inspired her to write her stories and also describes her life after the last Little House book ends.

About the Author

William Anderson is an award-winning historian and author whose interest in the “Little House” books began in elementary school. Much of his research for this book was conducted on-site at the locales of the Ingalls and Wilder homes. He has been active in the preservation and operation of the Wilder sites in De Smet, South Dakota, and Mansfield, Missouri, and edits the newsletter, Laura Ingalls Wilder Lore.

Among Mr. Anderson’s other writings about the people and places of the “Little House” books are LAURA INGALLS WILDER COUNTRY, A LITTLE HOUSE SAMPLER, PRAIRIE GIRL, and LAURA’S ALBUM.

Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy

The Fradins present a complex woman whose ideas are enduring and particularly timely in our day.

Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy

by Dennis Brindell Fradin, Judith Bloom Fradin

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Book Description
Most people know Jane Addams (1860-1935) as the force behind Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in the United States. She was also an ardent suffragist and civil rights activist, co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union. But it was her work as a pacifist that put her in the international spotlight. Although many people labeled her “unpatriotic” for her pacifist activities, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 and, at the time of her death, Jane Addams was one of the most respected and admired women in the world. In this well-researched and inspiring account, acclaimed husband-and-wife team, Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, draw upon hundreds of historical documents and archival photographs to create a revealing portrait of the woman whose very way of life made her an American icon.

About the Author
Dennis Brindell Fradin is the author of many books for young readers, including the well-received SAMUEL ADAMS: THE FATHER OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE and, with coauthor and wife Judith Bloom Fradin, IDA B. WELLS: MOTHER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Claudette Colvin, Jane Addams Honor Book

“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

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))
by Phillip M Hoose

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Book Description
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.

Review
“Phil Hoose’s profile of the remarkable Claudette Colvin is MUST reading for anyone still imbued with hope. She is a lighthouse in a stormy sea.”  — Studs Terkel, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Good War

“Today, thanks to Hoose, a new generation of girls and boys can add Claudette Colvin to their list of heroines.”  — Christian Science Monitor

“This inspiring title shows the incredible difference that a single young person can make.”  — Starred, Booklist

“Smoothly weaves excerpts from Hoose’s extensive interviews with Colvin and his own supplementary commentary.” —Starred, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Hoose makes the moments in Montgomery come alive, whether it’s about Claudette’s neighborhood, her attorneys, her pastor or all the different individuals in the civil rights movement who paths she crossed . . . . An engrossing read.” —Chicago Tribune

About the Author
PHILLIP HOOSE’s distinguished nonfiction includes the National Book Award Finalist We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History and The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction. He lives in Portland, Maine.