Arcadia Public Library

American gymnast Johnson is a four-time Olympic gold and silver medalist; a national--and world--champion athlete and a winner on the popular "Dancing with the Stars." This is the amazing true journey of how this young Olympian has found balance in her life.

Determination meets dance in this middle grade adaptation of the New York Times bestselling memoir by the first African-American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre history, Misty Copeland. Life in Motion is a story for all the kids who dare to be different, dream bigger, and want to break stereotypes in whatever they do.

Born into the middle of World War II, Gary Paulsen's turbulent childhood provided plenty of subject matter for his bestselling novels, and the librarians in his life gave him the inspiration and support to explore the world through books. As a soldier himself, his storytelling technique developed, and for the first time he shares his own.

"Dr. Ben Carson is known around the world for breakthroughs in neurosurgery that have brought hope where no hope existed. In 'Gifted Hands', he tells of his inspiring odyssey from his childhood in inner-city Detroit to his position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions at age thirty-three. Taking you into the operating room where he has saved countless lives, Ben Carson is a role model for anyone who attempts...

"An autobiography about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his life growing up in New York, becoming the basketball star he's known to be, and getting involved in the world around him as an activist for social change"--

Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings--named one of "The 25 most influential teens" of the year by Time--shares her very public transgender journey, as she inspires people to accept the differences in others while they embrace their own truths.

One of thousands of children who fled strife in southern Sudan, John Bul Dau survived hunger, exhaustion, and violence. His wife, Martha, endured similar hardships. In this memorable book, the two convey the best of African values while relating searing accounts of famine and war. There's warmth as well, in their humorous tales of adapting to American life. For its importance as a primary source, for its inclusion of the rarely told female perspective...

I tell Grandmother that I am seven and a half years old; still go to the Jalazone Girls' School, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA); and will soon complete the second grade. I am about to show her that I can write my name and many other words, but I stop when I remember that she has never gone to school and cannot read or write. As a child, Ibtisam Barakat wanted nothing more than to become a writer. This wasn't a common path...

"The incredible true story of Michael Bornstein--who at age 4 was one of the youngest children to be liberated from Auschwitz--and of his family"--

A biography of Dovey Johnson Roundtree--one of the first black women to break the racial and gender barriers in the US Army, and an attorney in the segregated courtrooms of Washington, D.C.