Showing titles in History & Culture

Ophelia DeVore boldly overcame tragedy and hardship to become the first Black model in the United States of America. She possessed grace, finesse, intelligence, natural beauty, and courage. Being the first black graduate of the Vogue Modeling School, she eventually became a powerful business mogul, an exuberant entrepreneur, and a respected leader in her field. Her story is unique because she redefined "beauty" in America. Throughout her life, she sought to prove to the world beauty could be found in every shade of color.

Colt Clemmons is an agent in a specialized division within the Bureau of Investigation - one that hunts down not just mobsters, but also monsters. For reasons that are kept top secret, Colt is the only person who can resist a siren's voice. But he's never had a chance to test this ability. The last siren left in the world mysteriously disappeared years ago. Then one night, with a single word, she reveals herself. It seems too good to be true. And it is. Because nothing about this siren-her past, her powers, or her purpose - is what it seems....

Savannah is lucky. The daughter of upper-class African-American parents in Washington DC in 1919, she lives luxuriously, with an elite education and her pick of the young men in her set. But lately the structure of her society - the croquet games, the Sunday teas, the pretentiousness - has felt suffocating. When she meets a young man from the working class named Lloyd, Savannah has a chance to see how the “other half” lives. Saddened by their situation, she is motivated to make a true difference.

August 18, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibited states and the US government from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex. This book reveals how the 70-year-long fight for women's suffrage was hard-won by leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, and others.

In 16th-century England, two teenage best friends find themselves on an exciting journey from the country to the Queen's court in the hope of being named ladies-in-waiting. But Sybille and Rose soon discover they aren't the only girls who have their sights set on attending Her Majesty. The girls must compete against worldly and cunning opponents, among them mean-girl Avis and her entourage of back-stabbing co-horts, tipping the balance in their already-tenuous friendship.

Since the revolution-turned-civil war in Syria began in 2011, over 500,000 civilians have been killed and more than 12 million Syrians have been displaced. Rania Abouzeid, one of the foremost journalists on the topic, follows two pairs of sisters from opposite sides of the conflict to give listeners a firsthand glimpse of the turmoil and devastation this strife has wrought.

Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction era raised a new question to those in power in the US: Should African Americans, so many of them former slaves, be granted the right to vote? In this vivid portrait of the systematic suppression of the African-American vote, critically acclaimed author Lawrence Goldstone traces the injustices of the post-Reconstruction era through the eyes of incredible individuals, both heroic and barbaric, and examines the legal cases that made the Supreme Court a partner of white supremacists in the rise of Jim Crow.

Led by Athan's father, the revolutionary Safire have launched a secret assault upon the last royal kingdom in the South, hoping to depose the king and seize a powerful foothold on the continent. Athan proves a star pilot among their ranks, struggling to justify the violence his family has unleashed as he fights his way to the capital - where, unbeknownst to him, Aurelia has lived since the war's onset.

Black Americans who have shaped their country and beyond: We are familiar with a handful of African Americans who are mentioned in American history books, but there are also countless others who do not get recognized in mainstream media. Their actions may not have appeared to shake the world, but their contributions to shifting American culture were just as groundbreaking.

Two of Elizabeth Wein's most mesmerising and inspirational tales for young adults, Firebird and White Eagles have been compiled together for the first time in this powerful audiobook. White Eagles: summer 1939. With Europe on the brink of war, 18-year-old Kristina Tomiak has been called up to join the White Eagles, Poland's valiant air force. Firebird: Nastia is no traitor. She is a fearless pilot, the daughter of revolutionaries, and now, as the Second World War descends on Russia, she must fight to defend the glorious Motherland.

A powerful, impactful, eye-opening journey that explores through the Civil Rights Movement in 1950s-1960s America in spare and evocative verse. In stunning verse, Erica Martin's debut poetry collection walks readers through the Civil Rights Movement—from the well-documented events that shaped...

From the founder of The Cramm, a news outlet by and for the incredible Gen Z activists who are already shaping our global future (really!), this book is a dive into the history that's made the world what it is today. You can take a stand for justice. You can raise your voice to make a difference...

Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse. In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria were captured and...

From the author of The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets and The Borden Murders comes the absorbing and compulsively readable story of Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins who were the sensation of the US sideshow circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. On February 5, 1908, Kate Skinner...

For fans of Fever 1793 comes the story of a young woman paving her own path and falling in love during the Great Plague of 1348, from the award-winning creator of What the Night Sings. Edyth grew up in a quiet village with a loving family, before losing everything she holds dear in the blink of...

An accessible, exciting biography of the most powerful woman in the USA. First . . . student commencement speaker at Wellesley First . . . woman to become full partner at Rose Law Firm First . . . Lady of the United States First . . . First Lady to hold a postgraduate degree First . . . First...

Filled with anecdotes and portraits of unique characters from the era, this fascinating audiobook by an award-winning author looks at the rise and fall of the disastrous social experiment known as Prohibition. It began with the best of intentions. Worried about the effects of alcohol on American...

The fascinating and topical nonfiction story of how one gun changed American courtrooms, streets, and homes, told for a YA audience by award-winning author Karen Blumenthal John Taliaferro Thompson had a mission: to develop a lightweight, fast-firing weapon that would help Americans win on the...

From award-winning author Karen Blumenthal, comes a deep and passionate look at the riveting history of the fight for reproductive rights in the United States. Tracing the path to the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade and the continuing battle for women's rights, Blumenthal examines, in a...

*"Rivaling the nonfiction works of Steve Sheinkin and Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat....Even readers who don't appreciate sports will find this story a page-turner." --School Library Connection (starred review) "An insightful, gripping account of basketball and bias." --Kirkus...