At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State -- and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little...

Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who has led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last sixty years with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.

Their names are synonymous with some of English literature's most timeless and celebrated novels. The real life story of the famous Bronte sisters, however, is steeped in even greater controversy and heartbreak than the lives of their tragic characters.

Towering over his countrymen, literally and figuratively, he virtually single-handedly modernized his immense nation. From 1696 to 1725, he ruled Russia with an iron hand, and his life and legacy have captivated generation after generation ever since.

Traces the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, who developed the role of the activist first lady while her husband was president, and worked on behalf of women's rights, and human rights around the world.

"Quiara Alegria Hudes was the sharp-eyed girl on the stairs while her family danced in her grandmother's tight South Philly kitchen, "frizzy hair cut short, bangs teased into stiff clouds, sweat glistening in the summer fog, pamper-butt babies weaving between legs." Quiara was awed by her aunts and uncles and cousins, but haunted by the secrets of the family and the unspoken stories of the barrio -- even as she tried to find her own voice in the sea...

An easy-to-read biography about Martin Luther King, Jr. and how his efforts to stop racism affected society.

Briefly introduces the life of Benjamin Franklin, touching on his inventions and his contributions to the city of Philadelphia as well as to the newly formed United States of America.

A brief overview of the life of the man who was President of the United States during the difficult years of the Civil War and who issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves.

An introduction to the life of the young seventeenth-century Indian woman who befriended Captain John Smith and the English settlers of Jamestown.