Collection: Biography & Memoir

In remembrance of the 25th anniversary, this definitive account of Columbine examines the aftermath and significance of the massacre: "a staggering work of journalism" (Washington Post).

So begins a new preface, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year.

Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on the scene, and he spent ten years on this book, the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings--several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

"Excellent...amazing how much still comes as a surprise." --New York Times Book Review

"Like Capote's In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and the what of a horrifying incident to lay bare the devastating why." --People

"A staggering work of journalism." Washington Post

The heartwarming story of the world's first female president proves that change happens one person at a time.

From the acclaimed winner of the 2023 Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize

Vigdis Finnbogadóttir made history in 1980 when she became the world's first woman to be democratically elected president. Her rise to Iceland's highest office caused ripples around the world, challenging the conservative ideas of older generations and inspiring girls and women to think big.

In this acclaimed picture book by Rán Flygenring, readers are invited to join a young and imaginative writer-in-the-making, who pays an unforgettable visit to Vigdis and learns that Vigdis was also was the first single woman in Iceland to adopt a child and became a trailblazer in protecting the environment. The result is a touching story of the world becoming a better place, perfect for election year.

Winner of the Reykjavík Children's Book Award

This biography of basketball superstar Jeremy Lin is an anthem of Asian American pride that speaks to any child who feels underestimated or misunderstood. If Lin can, you can!

Have you ever been told that you CAN'T? Growing up in the Bay Area, Jeremy Lin heard that over and over again. People made fun of his size and his race and wouldn't give him a chance. But Jeremy persevered until he became the first Taiwanese American to play in the NBA. And when his big moment came, he seized it!

Jeremy's meteoric rise, dubbed "Linsanity," inspired the world and a whole generation of young Asian Americans. As author Richard Ho puts it, "Jeremy's struggles were our struggles, so his triumphs were our triumphs. He made us believe that if he could succeed, so could we."

An eminently readable chronicle of the most popular jam band in history.

A compelling and prismatic love story of one family's defiance in the face of injustice--and how their story echoes across generations.

In 1942 newlyweds Itaru and Shizuko Ina were settling into married life when the United States government upended their world. They were forcibly removed from their home and incarcerated in wartime American concentration camps solely on account of their Japanese ancestry. When the Inas, under duress, renounced their American citizenship, the War Department branded them enemy aliens and scattered their family across the U.S. interior. Born to Itaru and Shizuko during their imprisonment, psychotherapist and activist Satsuki Ina weaves their story together in this moving mosaic. Through diary entries, photographs, clandestine letters, and heart-wrenching haiku, she reveals how this intrepid young couple navigated life, love, loss, and loyalty tests in the welter of World War II-era hysteria.

The Poet and the Silk Girl illustrates through one family's saga the generational struggle of Japanese Americans who resisted racist oppression, fought for the restoration of their rights, and clung to their full humanity in the face of adversity. With psychological insight, Ina excavates the unmentionable, recovering a chronicle of resilience amidst one of the severest blows to American civil liberties. As she traces the legacies of trauma, she connects her family's ordeal to modern-day mass incarceration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Lyrical and gripping, this cautionary tale implores us to prevent the repetition of atrocity, pairing healing and protest with galvanizing power.

Lessons and inspiration from a lifetime of teaching about race and ethnic relations

When Al Camarillo grew up in Compton, California, racial segregation was the rule. His relatives were among the first Mexican immigrants to settle there--in the only neighborhood where Mexicans were allowed to live. The city's majority was then White, and Compton would shift to a predominantly Black community over Al's youth. Compton in My Soul weaves Al's personal story with histories of this now-infamous place, and illuminates a changing US society--the progress and backslides over half a century for racial equality and educational opportunity.

Entering UCLA in the mid 1960s, Camarillo was among the first students of color, one of only forty-four Mexican Americans on a campus of thousands. He became the first Mexican American in the country to earn a PhD in Chicano/Mexican American history, and established himself as a preeminent US historian with a prestigious appointment at Stanford University. In this candid and warm-hearted memoir, Camarillo offers his career as a vehicle for tracing the evolution of ethnic studies, reflecting on intergenerational struggles to achieve racial equality from the perspective at once of a participant and an historian.

Camarillo's story is a quintessential American chronicle and speaks to the best and worst of who we are as a people and as a nation. He unmasks fundamental contradictions in American life--racial injustice and interracial cooperation, inequality and equal opportunity, racial strife and racial harmony. Even as legacies of inequality still haunt American society, Camarillo writes with a message of hope for a better, more inclusive America--and the aspiration that his life's journey can inspire others as they start down their own path.

Just in time for the Summer Olympics, this 33rd book in the New York Times bestselling biography series for ages 5 to 9 features one of the greatest runners in track and field history.

Before Jesse Owens was an Olympic gold medalist, he was a poor kid in a big family. When his speed caught the eye of one of his high school teachers, he began to train seriously and his running took him all the way to the Olympics, where he was against fierce competitors and racist assumptions, breaking world records while winning medals.

This friendly, fun biography series inspired the PBS Kids TV show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. One great role model at a time, these books encourage kids to dream big.

Included in each book are:

• A timeline of key events in the hero's history
• Photos that bring the story more fully to life
• Comic-book-style illustrations that are irresistibly adorable
• Childhood moments that influenced the hero
• Facts that make great conversation-starters
• A virtue this person embodies: Jesse Owens's drive and perseverance are highlighted

You'll want to collect each book in this dynamic, informative series!

Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady. Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers--as well as fans of all ages!

This Little Golden Book about Tom Brady--the GOAT quarterback for the Patriots and Buccaneers with seven Superbowl wins--is an inspiring read-aloud for young readers.

Look for more Little Golden Book biographies:

• Jackie Robinson
• Misty Copeland
• Simone Biles

The true story of Dr. Mae Jemison, whose lifelong passions of science and dance prepared her to become a trailblazing astronaut.

Today, Dr. Mae Jemison is famous for being the first Black woman to travel into outer space. But when she was growing up, she felt torn between two passions: science and dance. It seemed like an impossible choice. There had to be some way to make room for both--and Mae found one. As an adult, she combined her gifts of scientific logic and artistic creativity and became an astronaut.

The inspiring story of a Black doctor deeply affected by the violence in his childhood that plagued his Brooklyn community who was determined to be a force for change and dedicated himself to addressing trauma and violence as public health issues

Rob Gore first encountered violence when he was beaten and robbed as a 10-year old; it was treated as an inevitable fact of life, but after another brush with violence as a teen, he began to reject that prevalent attitude. As he matured and became a doctor, he grew in his determination to find treatments for what he saw not as an unavoidable fact for most people living in vulnerable, underserved neighborhoods especially, but as a public health issue that could be addressed by early intervention and solid support, beginning in the medical community. He also became deeply involved in efforts to diversify the entire field of medicine, starting with the "front lines" in the Emergency Department.

Seeing his brother Angel and close friend Willis fall prey to the epidemic of violence with profound--and in Willis's case--deadly consequences, Rob began seriously researching the issue and went on to found an organization which is one of the models for successful approaches to reducing violence and protecting victims, who are disproportionately BIPOC, living in impoverished neighborhoods, or members of the LGBTQ+ community. Here he provides not only statistics, but stories of what he witnessed in NYC neighborhoods, in Atlanta, Chicago, Buffalo and even in medical work in Haiti and Kenya. His work with the Kings Against Violence Initiate (KAVI) and allied organizations is a blueprint for treating violence not as a police matter, but as a public health crisis, which can and should be addressed and substantially reduced. The people he introduces us to in these pages are not merely victims, but often advocates, paving the way for eliminating the epidemic of violence in our country.

Thae Yong-ho was a leading North Korean diplomat to the United Kingdom and Northern Europe--until his dramatic defection to South Korea in 2016. In this gripping tell-all, he reveals the inner workings of the North Korean regime and shares the story of his decision to leave.

Thae spent nearly three decades working under three generations of the ruling Kim dynasty after entering the foreign service as an idealistic twenty-seven-year-old "red warrior" eager to strive for the "socialist motherland." During this time, he witnessed the arbitrary and tyrannical rule of the Kim family and the enigmatic "Third Floor," a powerful group of high-ranking officials. Thae provides up-close portraits of the excesses of the North Korean elite and the depths of the cult of personality around the Kims, describing experiences such as concocting reports of Europeans celebrating the birthdays of Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il and escorting Kim Jong-un's older brother to Eric Clapton concerts in London. He also details the economic and political consequences of North Korea's pursuit of the bomb and the immiseration of the vast majority of the population.

Today a politician in South Korea who advocates unification, Thae offers a powerful plea for the families torn apart by the conflict--including his own, as his brother and sister likely now languish in prison camps. A best-seller in South Korea, Passcode to the Third Floor is an unparalleled look at North Korean politics and diplomacy, giving readers intimate access to the regime's innermost secrets.

From the acclaimed author of the "wonderfully funny and openhearted" (NPR) Drinking with Men comes a poignant, wrenching, and ultimately hopeful book--equal parts memoir and social history--that follows the author, after a series of tragic losses, to Northern Ireland, where she finds a path toward healing.

Rosie Schaap had a solid career as a journalist and a life that looked to others like nonstop fun: all drinking and dining and traveling to beautiful places--and getting paid to write about it. But under the surface she was reeling from the loss of her husband and her mother--who died just one year apart. Caring for them had claimed much of her daily life in her late thirties. Mourning them would take longer.

It wasn't until a reporting trip took her to the Northern Irish countryside that Rosie found a partner to heal with: Glenarm, a quiet, seaside village in County Antrim. That first visit made such an impression she returned to make a life. This unlikely place--in a small, tough country mainly associated with sectarian strife--gave her a measure of peace that had seemed impossible elsewhere.

Weaving personal narrative and social history, The Slow Road North is a moving and wise look at how a community can offer the key to healing. It's a portrait of a complicated place at a pivotal time--through Brexit, a historic school integration, and a pandemic--and a love letter to a village, a culture, and a country.

A memoir by one of America's most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers--who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity.

David Tatel has served nearly 30 years on America's second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where many of our most crucial cases are resolved--or teed up for the Supreme Court. He has championed equal justice for his entire adult life; decided landmark environmental and voting cases; and embodied the ideal of what a great judge should be. Yet he has been blind for the past 50 of his 80-plus years. Initially, he depended upon aides to read texts to him, and more recently, a suite of hi-tech solutions has allowed him to listen to reams of documents at high speeds. At first, he tried to hide his deteriorating vision, and for years, he denied that it had any impact on his career. Only recently, partly thanks to his first-ever guide dog, Vixen, has he come to fully accept his blindness and the role it's played in his personal and professional lives. His story of fighting for justice over many decades, with and without eyesight, is an inspiration to us all.

Meet the greatest ball players of the last 60 years!

It's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, and your team is down by three--who do you want coming up to bat? Discover the most talented players in every position on the field with Baseball Biographies for Kids! This lineup shows you what it takes to be a real MVP, with a run-down of stories, stats, and achievements of the best players in baseball--from the 1960s through today.

• Legends of the league: Learn about the players who defined the game, like Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Ichiro Suzuki.
• Key career stats: Each biography includes the player's history, as well as important info like games played, ERA, hits, and more.
• Draft your own all-star team: Fill out the included starting lineup sheet with your favorite picks for each position!

A guided program to address anxiety in children and teenagers from a prominent researcher, psychiatrist, and coach at Mayo Clinic.

Anxiety Coach is a groundbreaking program in book form, for parents of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders or obsessive compulsive disorder. When children have anxiety disorders they are very afraid, nervous, or worried about typical daily experiences that would not bother most children their age. For some kids with OCD, rather than feeling nervous or worried, they feel "grossed-out" by things or feel the need to make things "just-right." In both cases, children feel anxious or upset, even when there is nothing happening around them that would frighten or bother most other kids.

This book is the first of its kind to give parents the tools to carry out exposure therapy with their child at home. It is born from Dr. Whiteside's gold standard exposure therapy program at Mayo Clinic, which pioneers the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders, phobias and OCD with exposure therapy, by offering therapy to children and their parents. Treatment for anxiety disorders and OCD involves helping kids learn through facing their fears in a series of scenarios, showing them that they were more nervous than they really needed to be. Parents are included in exposure therapy in Dr. Whiteside's program, so they can learn what anxiety is, what exposure therapy is and how to use one to treat the other.

Dr. Whiteside wants children and their parents to leave his program knowing how to practice exposure therapy and to be able to use the skills and tools at home.This practical and supportive book will guide them in their efforts to help their children lead happy, healthy, anxiety-free lives.

Calling all Vancouver Canucks fans!

Have you been thrilled watching Quinn Hughes dominate during his rookie year? Did you laugh at the classy and hilarious way Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider handled their goaltender controversy? Did you jump out of your chair the day Vancouver drafted BOTH Sedin twins?

If you're that type of fan, you've got to pick up The Ultimate Vancouver Canucks Trivia Book!

In a series of incredible, specially themed chapters, this book will test your knowledge of the best franchise the West Coast has ever seen! Try your hand at multiple-choice scenarios, prove your knowledge with true or false questions, and grab some great little-known anecdotes to share at the bar from the "Did You Know" sections. You'll read about such interesting bits as:

- Which teams tried to deny Vancouver entry into the NHL?

- Who earned nicknames like "Suitcase," "Mr. Sensitive," and "The Sheriff"?

- Which Canucks goalie broke a 60-year old NHL tradition?

- Which Canucks forwards featured in the best and worst trades in franchise history?

- How a mistake with a spinning roulette wheel redefined the Canucks' team?

Once you start reading, you'll zip through pages of fascinating Canucks info faster than Pavel Bure speeding down the wing!

This book is a must for any true Vancouver Canucks fan, and makes a great gift for family members or friends who love the team. Grab one now and start re-living the days of Kirk McLean, Trevor Linden, and all your favorite players. Don't hesitate...pick one up today!