NCW Libraries

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.

Gary Soto writes that when he was five "what I knew best was at ground level." In this lively collection of short essays, Soto takes his reader to a ground-level perspective, resreating in vivid detail the sights, sounds, smells, and textures he knew growing up in his Fresno, California, neighborhood. The "things" of his boyhood tie it all together: his Buddha "splotched with gold," the taps of his shoes and the "engines of sparks that lived beneath...

For over thirty years, generations of readers have thrilled to James Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of being a vet in rural Yorkshire are very different than the sterile setting of veterinary school. Herriot recounts the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary...

A free verse biography of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, featuring over 300 pages of black-and-white watercolor illustrations.

"The true story of the relationship between brothers Theo and Vincent van Gogh"-- The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Heiligman draws on the letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime to weave a tale of two lives intertwined as Theo supported Vincent's struggles to...

Throughout his life, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson has needed to overcome many obstacles: his father leaving the family, being considered stupid by his classmates in grade school, growing up in inner-city Detroit, and having a violent temper. But Dr. Carson didn't let his circumstances control him and instead discovered eight principles that helped shape his future ... Dr. Carson unpacks the eight important parts of Thinking Big: Talent,...

Picture a ballerina in a tutu and toe shoes. What does she look like?'As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious thirteen-year-old to become a ground­breaking ballerina. When she discovered ballet, Misty was living in a shabby motel room, struggling...

When war erupts between the States in 1861, President Lincoln makes an impassioned plea for volunteers. Determined not to remain on the sidelines, young Emma Edmonds poses as a man and enlists in the Union Army, becoming a cunning master of disguise, risking discovery and death behind Confederate lines. Illustrations. In 1861, when war erupted between the States, President Lincoln made an impassioned plea for volunteers. Determined not to remain...

What does the outspoken and unfiltered Phil Robertson think? Duck Dynasty's controversial patriarch will let you know as he shares his Philosophy on life, which can be summed up in five short words: love God, love your neighbor. Phil pulls no punches and leaves little for interpretation as he candidly reveals his views on faith, family, forgiveness, social media, and of course the hot-button topics of gun control, government, and everything in between....

"From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes the ... story of Janusz Korczak, the heroic Polish Jewish doctor who devoted his life to children, perishing with them in the Holocaust"--Provided by publisher.