Summer time is a great time for young people to relax and sit down and read a book. Below are five of my favorite biographies and two autobiographies for teenagers ages 12 and older.  These books can be found in online bookstores online  libraries.

 

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During WW II and the Librarian who Made a Difference

By Joanne Oppenheim

Published by Scholastic Nonfiction

In the early 1940’s, Clara Breed was the children’s librarian at the San Diego Public Library. This is the moving story of the correspondence between Breed and her young Japanese American friends who were internees during World War II.

 

 

 

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery

By Steve Sheinkin

Published by Flash Point

Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America’s most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. Arnold was reckless, heroic, and driven. The Notorious Benedict Arnold is the winner of the 2011 Boston Globe – Horn Book Award for Nonfiction.

[Sheinkin is a fabulous author who always tells a good tale. I recommend all his books.]

 

Parallel Journeys

By Eleanor H. Ayer

Published by Aladdin

This is a gripping tale of Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck. They were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. She was a young German Jew. He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth. Their lives took radically different courses: Helen’s to the Auschwitz extermination camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth.

 

 

 

Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life Hardcover 

By Catherine Reff

Published by Clarion Books

Catherine Reef’s inspiring and insightful dual biography tells the story of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. They lived nontraditional, controversial, rebellious, and politically unpredictable lives but are best remembered for their provocative paintings and their deep love for each other.

 

 

 

The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia (Autobiography)

By Ester Hautzig

Published by Harper Collins

For five years, Ester and her family lived in exile in Siberia.  They weeded potato fields and worked in the mines, struggling to find food and clothing to survive. Her family had been arrested by the Russians who called them “capitalists — enemies of the people.” They were forced to leave their home in Vilna, Poland and herded into crowded cattle cars and sent into exile.

 

 

 

How I Came to Be a Writer 

By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Published by Aladdin

How I Came to be a Writer is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s story about her writing, from her first work in kindergarten to her most recent books. The book includes samples of her writing and shows the inner workings of the writing process, from the spark of an idea to a book’s actual publication. Naylor has written more than 80 books for children and adults including  Eddie, Incorporated and The Solomon System.

 

 

 

Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue

By Kathryn J. Atwood

Published by Chicago Review Press

Women Heroes of World War II contains twenty-six captivating and suspenseful stories about women resistance fighters. Noor Inayat Kahn was the first female radio operator sent into occupied France and sent crucial messages back to the Allies. Johtje Vos, a Dutch housewife, hid Jews in her home and repeatedly outsmarted the Nazi Gestapo. Hannie Schaft , a law student, became involved in sabotage, weapons transfers, and assassinations.

Happy Reading!