Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South. Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her poem, "Still I Rise," Angelou was able to lift herself out of her situation and flourish. She moved to California and became the first black and first female streetcar operator before following her interest in dance. She became a professional performer in her twenties and...

As the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama has worked to better the lives of people in America and in countries around the world. However, her inspirational story began much earlier than that, as she worked hard to graduate from Harvard Law School and become a prominent lawyer. Readers can learn a lot from Obama's life story, which they explore through engaging main text, fact-filled sidebars, and photographs of Obama interacting with...

"Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and...

Describes the lives and careers and the tennis stars and sisters, discussing their Grand Slam wins, Olympic success, trend-setting, and rivalry.

"Behold the power of women! These are the inspirational real-life stories of female superstar athletes Serena and Venus Williams, Simone Biles, Carli Lloyd, and more -- role models all. For sports fans, aspiring athletes and readers of sports biographies. Growing up in a crime-plagued, gang-infested neighborhood, Venus and Serena Williams were led to believe their environment was not a place where dreams could come true. It took a relentless determination,...

Short biographies of ten Black women from Canada and the United States, ranging from 1793 to the present. Anti-slavery activists, business women, community organizers, and educators; they were, and are, leaders committed to uplifting their communities.

"Almost 100 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, Sojourner Truth was mistreated by a streetcar conductor. She took him to court--and won! Before she was Sojourner Truth, she was known simply as Belle. Born a slave in New York sometime around 1797, she was later sold and separated from her family. Even after she escaped from slavery, she knew her work was not yet done. She changed her name and traveled, inspiring everyone she met...

Learn how Katherine Johnson broke barriers as a female African American mathematician.

Presents the life and accomplishments of the activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horrors of lynching who set out to better the lives of African-Americans long before the Civil Rights Movement.