Born a slave in Virginia in 1856, Booker T. Washington rose in prominence to become black America's foremost spokesman. This is the dramatic autobiographical account of Washington's struggle to succeed and prosper in a country that refused to acknowledge his existence. From his fight for an education to his founding of the world-renowned Tuskegee Institute, Up From Slavery is one of the most significant and defining works in American literature.

"A fresh, comprehensive biography of the pioneering educator and activist who changed the way we look at children's minds, from the author of Oriana Fallaci. Born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, Maria Montessori would grow up to embody almost every trait men of her era detested in the fairer sex. She was self-confident, strong-willed, and had a fiery temper at a time when women were supposed to be soft and pliable. She studied until she became a doctor...

"This is the true story of a woman who prevailed against the most heinous accusations imaginable. Tonya Craft was an ordinary woman who was living a wonderful life. A kindergarten teacher who was passionate about her work and the mother of two fantastic children, she lived in a comfortable house and enjoyed spending the summer with her kids. But on May 30, 2008, Tonya's happy life came to a screeching halt. Two strange men appeared at her door and...

Life of African-American educator and statesman Booker T. Washington from 1901 when he published his autobiography until his death in 1915.

A portrait of the man who wrote the first U.S. dictionary traces his youth as a bookish Connecticut farm boy and his twenty-year effort to write the all-American dictionary that was published in 1828 when he was seventy years old.

A detailed biography of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher and tutor of Helen Keller, that chronicles her early life and life-long dedication to helping Helen.

"One Shot at Forever is powerful, inspirational. . . This isn't merely a book about baseball. It's a book about heart." — Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys Won
In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois, playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats, defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with...

The gang leader doesn't like poetry. But will a detention center workshop show her how to express love for her newborn daughter? A teen boy dies of a drug overdose. Will his final poem speak what he cannot say? In the middle of a career change, Mindy Hardwick volunteered to faciliate a weekly poetry workshop at a juvenile detention center. By helping the teens write poems about their lives, Mindy discovered strength and courage to grieve the loss...

"Every weekday for decades, a kind man named Mister Rogers stepped through a door in his TV house, spoke directly into the camera while he changed from street clothes into a cardigan and sneakers, and sang, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." Offering unconditional love, this soft-spoken icon was a household name for tens of millions of children, as well as their parents who grew up with this friendly neighbor themselves. Fred Rogers (1928-2003)...

A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life--and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds. What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization....