Education Biography

Born in the picturesque town of Taxco, Mexico, Julissa Arce was left behind for months at a time with her two sisters, a nanny, and her grandma while her parents worked tirelessly in America in hopes of building a home and providing a better life for their children. That is, until her parents brought Julissa to Texas to live with them. From then on, Julissa secretly lived as an undocumented immigrant, went on to become a scholarship winner and an honors college graduate, and climbed the ladder to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs.

Louis Freeh led the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1993 to 2001, through some of the most tumultuous times in its long history. This is the story of a life in law enforcement and of one man's determined struggle to strengthen and reform the FBI while ensuring its freedom from political interference.

In 1964, as a 22-year-old Ohio State graduate with working-class Cleveland roots and a family to support, Len Downie landed an internship with the Washington Post. He would become a pioneering investigative reporter, news editor, foreign correspondent, and managing editor, before succeeding the legendary Ben Bradlee as executive editor.

Children will benefit from Dharmachari Nagaraja's appealing combination of warmth, wisdom, wit and playfulness in this third book from the At Bedtime series. Growing up in the modern world, our children can often feel distracted, stressed and anxious. The ancient wisdom of Buddhism, with its emphasis on peace, compassion and mindfulness, is the ideal basis for helping any child face the challenges of daily life with increased confidence and calm.

Filled with practical tips and helpful advice, Dear Ally is a treasure for aspiring writers at any stage of their careers. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at how books get made, from idea to publication, and gives you insight into the writing processes of some of the biggest and most talented YA authors writing today.

Learn about the lives and daring deeds of spies during World War II.

Best selling author Amir Aczel ( God's Equation) delves into the riddle of infinity, religion and science with "mad" mathematician Georg Cantor, in what Booklist calls "an indispensable book for anyone interested in the darker side of intellectual progress."

A decade ago, then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton chronicled her quest, both deeply personal and, in the truest sense, public, to help make our society into the kind of "village" that enables children to become smart, able, resilient adults. For more than 35 years, Senator Clinton has made children her passion and her cause.

When the very modern character of Nancy Drew first appeared in 1930, no one had a clue that she would remain a star for the next century! To this day, Nancy is still the main character in new TV shows, movies, and books. What makes her so interesting to so many generations of readers? Nancy can do it all! She's a daring teenage girl who solves mysteries, expertly drives her famous blue car, cooks like a gourmet chef, swims like a pro, and more! Since her first appearance, the prodigy detective has inspired young readers to believe that they can do it all, too.

After five and a half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, naval aviator John McCain returned home a changed man. Regaining his health and flight-eligibility status, he resumed his military career, commanding carrier pilots and serving as the navy’s liaison to what is sometimes ironically called the world’s most exclusive club, the United States Senate. Accompanying Senators John Tower and Henry “Scoop” Jackson on international trips, McCain began his political education in the company of two masters, leaders whose standards he would strive to maintain upon his election to the U.S. Congress.

Kim Barker is not your typical, impassive foreign correspondent—she is candid, self-deprecating, laugh-out-loud funny. At first an awkward newbie in Afghanistan, she grows into a wisecracking, seasoned reporter with grave concerns about our ability to win hearts and minds in the region. In The Taliban Shuffle, Barker offers an insider’s account of the “forgotten war” in Afghanistan and Pakistan, chronicling the years after America’s initial routing of the Taliban, when we failed to finish the job.

We never know when violence might be visited upon us - at home, in the workplace, at school - anywhere. Crime, sexual assaults, threats to our children, and terrorist attacks are all part of the global landscape. There are concrete measures anyone can take to mitigate danger and if necessary, to fight like a sociopath to defeat a sociopath.

In 1956, one year before federal troops escorted the Little Rock 9 into Central High School, 14-year-old Jo Ann Allen was one of 12 African American students who broke the color barrier and integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee. At first things went smoothly for the Clinton 12, but then outside agitators interfered, pitting the townspeople against one another. Uneasiness turned into anger, and even the Clinton Twelve themselves wondered if the easier thing to do would be to go back to their old school.

In this startling group memoir, four friends - Black and White, gay and straight, immigrant and American-born - use Toni Morrison’s novels as a springboard for intimate and revealing conversations about the problems of everyday racism and living whole in times of uncertainty. Tackling everything from first love and Soul Train to police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, the authors take up what it means to read challenging literature collaboratively and to learn in public as an act of individual reckoning and social resistance.

The success of an autobiography can be measured by many different aspects. Some works are of merit for entertainment purposes alone. Many Hollywood celebrities find an audience for their life's story due to their willingness to share closely held secrets and peculiarities. We are drawn in because of the salacious promise of a glimpse into a life more glamorous or unusual than our own.

Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a whites-only school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.

A dubious distinction belongs to Mary Surratt: On July 7, 1865, she became the first woman to be executed by the United States government, accused of conspiring in the plot to assassinate not only President Abraham Lincoln, but also the vice president, the secretary of state, and General Grant.

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only 29 years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. But with a criminal justice system with the cards stacked against Black men, Hinton was sentenced to death. He resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times.

Outdoor journalist James Edward Mills's book The Adventure Gap is a groundbreaking volume that is equal parts adventure story, history, and inspiration as it chronicles the first American all-Black summit attempt on Denali in 2013. Mills uses this momentous expedition as a jumping-off point to explore diversity in the outdoors, from Mathew Henson who stood at the North Pole in 1909 to contemporary adventurers such as polar explorer Barbara Hillary and rock climber Kai Lightner.