Showing titles in Biographies

As a semi-famous internet creator, Josh Sundquist knows what it's like to chase fame, but he also knows that more fame usually means more stress. So he set out on a pseudo-scientific investigation to find out if there is any way for fame and happiness to overlap.

Obamas Erinnerungen aus der Kindheit und als junger Mann - erzählt für die neue Generation. Die fesselnde Auseinandersetzung Barack Obamas mit seiner Herkunft und zugleich das beeindruckende Porträt eines jungen Schwarzen Mannes, der sich und der Welt Fragen nach Selbstfindung, Menschlichkeit und Zugehörigkeit stellt. Obama wächst in bescheidenen Verhältnissen auf, doch er ist entschlossen, ein Leben voller Sinn und Wahrhaftigkeit zu führen. Als er in der Schule wegen seiner Hautfarbe diskriminiert wird, weckt das seinen Ehrgeiz.

Rose Zar was 19 years old when the Nazis invaded her native Poland. Her father urged her to save herself by hiding “in the mouth of the wolf” - or within the enemy itself. She managed to obtain false papers, secretly changing her identity and surviving the Holocaust as a maid and nanny for a Nazi SS colonel.

Jimmy, known by his friends as Meathead, wants to be a good kid...he really does. But his friends are wild and lead him into serious trouble. Stealing, fighting slingshot battles, and lying to girls, Meathead hilariously struggles to be honest while enduring growing pains and dealing with a terrible loss. Set in the suburbs in the late '70s, even Meathead starts to understand what it takes to grow up and be a good man.

As a youth, when you're told that your mom should have crossed her legs and broke your neck when she was giving birth to you, you have a tendency to believe that your existence is a mistake. When you are told that you don't deserve to breathe the same air as normal people, you naturally feel worthless and powerless. Ironically though, after a life of murder, prison, and other survival-induced traumas that resulted in blood and sirens, you come to learn that true power comes from knowing of, not believing in, the things that you cannot see.

At only eight months old, identical twin sisters Ariel and Zan Henley were diagnosed with Crouzon syndrome — a rare condition where the bones in the head fuse prematurely. They were the first twins known to survive it. Growing up, Ariel and her sister endured numerous medical procedures to keep them alive. Doctors expanded the twins’ skulls and broke bones to make room for their growing organs. After each surgery, the sisters felt like strangers to each other, unable to recognize themselves in the mirror.

Augusta Savage was arguably the most influential American artist of the 1930s. A gifted sculptor, Savage was commissioned to create a portrait bust of W.E.B. Du Bois for the New York Public Library. She flourished during the Harlem Renaissance, and became a teacher to an entire generation of African American artists, including Jacob Lawrence, and would go on to be nationally recognized as one of the featured artists at the 1939 World’s Fair. She was the first-ever recorded Black gallerist, and worked to advance equal rights in the arts. And yet popular history has forgotten her name.

Essays of bullying, heartbreak, racism, and confidence, Ashley taps into her own past and shares those stories that made her who she is today as she seamlessly weaves in parallel experiences that both she and Mrs. Obama have faced in their separate childhoods as well as their adult lives. Open, searing, and honest, these are stories listeners will feel seen with. listeners who are growing and learning as they move forward through life's triumphs and pitfalls will undoubtedly gravitate to and find comfort within its audio.

Jaime Richards has spent most of her life in Pakistan, and returning to Australia seems like another planet compared to the country she has left behind. Here in Australia, boys try to kiss her, men wear shorts, and everyone says 'cool' all the time. How will she ever know the right things to say or do or wear? After all, this is meant to be her own culture. This is a story of living beyond borders and discovering the gift of adapting to new cultures, especially one’s own.

At age 16, most high schoolers are trying to navigate college applications, Friday night football games, and SAT scores. But for Jess Kimball, age 16 meant graduating high school and moving abroad, alone. Her decision to focus on running a business instead of going to college is one that she had no regrets about - except for her curiosity about college life. At age 19, Jess decided to audit classes at Dartmouth College; an experience that would change her life. What resulted was the social experience of college, minus the debt and anxiety - a pseudo-college experience.

Punching Bag is the compelling true story of a high school career defined by poverty and punctuated by outbreaks of domestic abuse. Rex Ogle, who brilliantly mapped his experience of hunger in Free Lunch, here describes his struggle to survive; reflects on his complex, often paradoxical relationship with his passionate, fierce mother; and charts the trajectory of his stepdad’s anger. Hovering over Rex’s story is the talismanic presence of his unborn baby sister.

Journalist Diana Kapp has crisscrossed this country writing for and about empowered girls, girls who expect to be leaders, founders, and inventors. This book takes it a step further. It says to girls: While you’re striving to be CEOs and world leaders, consider solving the biggest challenge of our lifetime, too - because you can do both at the same time, and here are 34 women doing just that.

In Sweet Shot, Dr. Vernon Wendt reveals the secret behind the motivation of one of basketball’s greatest long-range shooter of all time. Discover with Sugar a greater purpose for your gifts than personal glory. Sweet Shot will inspire you to chase after your dreams, revisit past, or discarded dreams, and dream even more dreams - to dare to be great like Sugar, and keep on shooting until you realize the sweet shot of discovering God's purpose for your dreams.

Through a series of heart-breaking and poignant letters, come explore the 20-year journey of a child longing for the love of his mentally ill mother while facing seemingly insurmountable odds. Witness Manny's transformation in this coming of age story of a forgotten and disfigured child, born into spirit-crushing poverty in Houston, Texas, and thrust into adulthood all too soon. Crying out to the world for understanding and forgiveness, Manny battles the silent and treacherous enemy of mental illness in his mother's often erratic and sometimes terrifying behavior.

It's 1972, and 12-year-old GJ Philip lives most of the time on the wharves of Wellington, NZ, afraid to go home where his schizophrenic father rules with an iron fist. But GJ carves a life of sorts from the rough-and-tumble world of pubs and railway stations in New Zealand's Capital City, selling fish and sleeping in railway carriages, part of a band of Naenae street urchins that find shelter on the public transport network. GJ joins the Wellington Surfcasting and Angling Club to find acceptance in society and recognition among his fishing peers.

I moved from Malibu, California, to Abilene, Texas...on purpose. I was always told as a kid to chase my dreams, and if I did, I could be anything I wanted to be. But then I actually did it...and things got really weird from there. Follow along on my journey from a college graduate to a working adult and all the twists and turns that came along with it. Perfect for the soon-to-be high school or college graduate, Answering the Call proves that great things can happen to you, but often-times, in ways you would never expect.

Uma das coisas mais complexas da vida é a luta para aceitar-se. Todos os dias, travamos uma batalha contra nós mesmas, nossos desejos, nossa sexualidade e nosso corpo. Nunca é o suficiente, sempre falta algo. Por Todas Nós surge como um ombro amigo e solidário, mostrando que não estamos sozinhas em nossos sofrimentos diários e precisamos questionar tudo aquilo que a sociedade impõe - sem julgamentos nem padrões preconcebidos.

Life can seem rough for a young man growing up. There are lessons to be learned, experiences to be had, and emotions to be tested. Not all of which will have a positive outcome. Take a journey back to a time before Amazon, smartphones, and streaming media dared exist. A time known as the early 1990s. It may seem simple today, but to someone who has lived it, the world surrounding a teenage-know-nothing could be turbulent and confusing. Patience and optimism must be found somewhere, and somehow, along the way.

Some seemingly preordained lives end up elsewhere entirely when a person manages to break the mold. Mary's mold was broken from the outside. When the unthinkable happened in her traditional southern family, Mary's quiet childhood was transformed into a journey of discovery amidst the world around her and of all the potential that lay within her.

There is nothing more normal than feeling fear, and there is nothing wrong with fear. Too often, we let it drive us away from our greatness instead of viewing it as an indicator that what we are doing is important. Fear can make us run away from challenges instead of meeting them head on. Fear can stop us from pursuing our dreams. But here's the thing: Fear and progress can co-exist. We can be scared and be great anyway!