8th Grade Biographies

YA B ARN Sheinkin, Steve. The notorious Benedict Arnold: a true story of adventure, heroism, and bravery. New York, Roaring Brook Press, 2010. Summary: Introduces readers to the real Benedict Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Traces Arnold's rise to fame in the American military, outlining the factors that drove him to turn against his nation and become a traitor for the British.

YA B BIL Biles, Simone. Courage to soar : a body in motion, a life in balance. Grand Rapids, Mich, Zondervan, 2016. Summary: "Simone takes you through the events, challenges, and trials that carried her from an early childhood in foster care to a coveted spot on the 2016 Olympic team"--Provided by publisher.

YA B BON McCormick, Patricia. The plot to kill Hitler: Dietrich Bonhoeffer : pastor, spy, unlikely hero. New York, NY, Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2016. Summary: A biography of pastor, activist, and spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer with emphasis on his participation in a plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

YA B BOO Swanson, James L. Chasing Lincoln's killer. New York, Scholastic Press, 2009. Summary: Comprehensively examines the assassination of Abraham Lincoln using rare archival material, manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters. Discusses the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and provides a day-by-day account of the chase to find Booth and his accomplices.

YA B BOR Bornstein, Michael. Survivors club: the true story of a very young prisoner of Auschwitz. New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017. Summary: "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"--Provided by publisher.

YA B FRA Frank, Anne. The diary of a young girl. New York, Bantam Books, 1952. Summary: A thirteen-year-old Dutch-Jewish girl records her impressions of the two years she and seven others spent hiding from the Nazis before they were discovered and taken to concentration camps. Includes entries previously omitted.

YA B GEO Brooks, Philip. King George III : America's enemy. New York, Franklin Watts, 2009. Summary: A biography of Great Britain's King George III, discussing the lengths he went to in his efforts to keep the American colonies from gaining independence.

YA B HAM Hamilton, Bethany. Soul surfer: a true story of faith, family, and fighting to get back on the board. New York, Pocket Books/MTV Books, 2004. Summary: Bethany Hamilton shares the story of her lifelong love of surfing, and tells how she was able to recover and return to competition with the help of her family, friends, and faith after losing her arm in a shark attack at the age of thirteen.

YA B HEN Price, Sean. Henry VIII : royal beheader. New York, Franklin Watts, 2009. Summary: Presents the biography of Henry VIII, second monarch of the House of Tudor, who was married six times, unified Wales and England, and was known for executing people with beheadings, including two of his wives.

YA B HER Hernandez, Laurie. I got this: to gold and beyond. New York, NY, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017. Summary: Gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez shares details about her life, covering her childhood, training, family, success, and more.

YA B JEN Jennings, Jazz. Being Jazz : my life as a (transgender) teen. New York, Ember, 2017. Summary: An autobiography of Jazz Jennings in which she shares her experiences of transitioning for male to female and becoming an advocate for transgender youth.

YA B JOBS Blumenthal, Karen. Steve Jobs: the man who thought different : a biography. New York, Feiwel & Friends, 2012. Summary: Chronicles the life and accomplishments of Apple mogul Steve Jobs, discussing his ideas, and describing how he has influenced life in the twenty-first century.

YA B KRO Krosoczka, Jarrett. Hey, kiddo. New York, NY, Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic, 2018. Summary: In graphic novel format author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka discusses growing up in a family grappling with addiction.

B LEG LeGrand, Eric. Believe : the victorious story of Eric LeGrand. New York, HarperCollins, 2012. Summary: Eric LeGrand reflects on his life, discussing his childhood, family, success in high school and college sports, football injury which resulted in paralysis, rehabilitation, and more.

YA B LEY Leyson, Leon. The boy on the wooden box: how the impossible became possible-- on Schindler's list : a memoir. New York, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. Summary: Leon Leyson describes growing up in Poland, being forced from home to ghetto to concentration camps by the Nazis, and being saved by Oskar Schindler.

YA B LUK Lukasiak, Chloe. Girl on pointe : Chloe's guide to taking on the world. New York, Bloomsbury, 2018. Summary: Dancer Chloe Lukasiak shares details about her life and offers advice on friendship, self-doubt, goals, and more.

YA B MAH Mah, Adeline Yen. Chinese Cinderella : the true story of an unwanted daughter. New York, Delacorte Press, 1999. Summary: The author tells the story of her painful childhood in China where she lived until the age of fourteen with her father, stepmother, and siblings, all of whom considered her bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her.

YA B OHE Lewis, Michael. The blind side: evolution of a game. New York, Norton, 2007. Summary: Details the life of University of Mississippi football player Michael Oher, who was raised by a crack addicted mother and adopted at the age of sixteen by a wealthy family, and explores the rising importance and salary of the offensive left tackle in the game of football.

YA B PAR Blumenthal, Karen. Bonnie and Clyde: the making of a legend. New York, N.Y, Viking, 2018. Summary: "Traces Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow's wild path from dirt-poor Dallas teens to their astonishingly violent end and the complicated legacy that survives them both"--Provided by publisher.

YA B PAU Paulsen, Gary. How Angel Peterson got his name: and other outrageous tales about extreme sports. New York, Wendy Lamb Books, 2003. Summary: Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

YA B PAU Paulsen, Gary. My life in dog years. New York, N.Y, Delacorte Press, 1998. Summary: The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Philippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.

YA B PEL Pelzer, David J. A child called "It": one child's courage to survive. Deerfield Beach, Fla, Health Communications, 1995. Summary: David Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in the history of California, tells the story of how he survived his mother's brutality and triumphed over his past.

B ROB Rappaport, Doreen. 42 is not just a number : the odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American hero. Somerville, Massachusetts, Candlewick Press, 2017. Summary: "A look at the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in major league baseball, and became an American hero."--Publisher.

YA B SEN Mazzeo, Tilar J. Irena's children. New York, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2016. Summary: Tells the story of Irena Sendler, a courageous Polish woman who saved 2,500 Jewish children in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

YA B SPI Spinelli, Jerry. Knots in my yo-yo string: the autobiography of a kid. New York, Knopf, 1998. Summary: This Italian-American Newbery Medalist presents a humorous account of his childhood and youth in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

YA B THO Sheinkin, Steve. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football team. New York, N.Y, Roaring Brook Press, 2017. Summary: "A great American sport and Native American history come together in this true story of how Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner created the legendary Carlisle Indians football team"

YA B TYP Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Terrible typhoid Mary: a true story of the deadliest cook in America. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. Summary: Tells the story of early-twentieth-century Irish-American cook Mary Mallon, who was immortalized as "Typhoid Mary" after a sanitary engineer traced a 1904 typhoid fever outbreak back to her Long Island kitchen.

YA B WIE Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York, Hill and Wang, 2006. Summary: Presents a true account of the author's experiences as a Jewish boy in a Nazi concentration camp.

YA B WOO Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown girl dreaming. New York, Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), 2014. Summary: "The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South"--Provided by publisher.

YA B YAS Stelson, Caren Barzelay. Sachiko: a Nagasaki bomb survivor's story. Minneapolis, Carolrhoda Books, 2016. Summary: "Shares the true story of a young girl who survived the atomic bomb and chronicles her long journey to find peace."--Publisher.

YA B YOU Yousafzai, Malala. I am Malala: how one girl who stood up for education and changed the world. New York, Little, Brown and Co, 2016. Summary: Malala Yousafzai's describes her fight for education for girls under Taliban rule, the support she received from her parents to pursue an education, and how the Taliban retaliated against her by trying to kill her.

YA B ZAM Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken : an Olympian's journey from airman to castaway to captive. New York, Delacorte Press, 2014. Summary: A biography of Olympic runner and World War II bombardier, Louis Zamperini, who had been rambunctious in childhood before succeeding in track and eventually serving in the military, which led to a trial in which he was forced to find a way to survive in the open ocean after being shot down.

YA B ZIE Ziegler, Maddie. The Maddie diaries. New York, Gallery Books, 2017. Summary: "Teen dance prodigy, breakout Dance Moms star, and judge on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation presents her uplifting coming-of-age memoir about following her dreams and working hard to achieve success in both the dance world and in life"--Provided by publisher.