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Taking over a rowdy gym class right before winter vacation is not something James Naismith wants to do at all. The last two teachers of this class quit in frustration. The students—a bunch of energetic young men—are bored with all the regular games and activities. Naismith needs something new, exciting, and fast to keep the class happy—or someone's going to get hurt. Saving this class is going to take a genius. Discover the true story of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In addition to slave uprisings and escapes on the Underground Railroad, enslaved people also resisted their mistreatment through small acts in their everyday lives. Discover the many forms of resistance to slavery. Inspired by a belief that knowledge is power, Read Woke Books seek to amplify the voices of people who are not white, provide information about groups that have been disenfranchised, share perspectives of people who have been underrepresented or oppressed, challenge social norms and disrupt the status quo, and encourage listeners to take action in their community.

Everybody knows about the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the founders weren't the only ones who believed that everyone had a right to freedom. Mumbet, a Massachusetts enslaved person, believed it too. She longed to be free, but how? Would anyone help her in her fight for freedom? Could she win against the richest man in town? Mumbet was determined to try. Mumbet's Declaration of Independence tells her story for the first time in a biography. Her brave actions set a milestone on the road toward ending slavery in the United States.

With the freeing of four million enslaved people after the Civil War, the Reconstruction period brought new victories and challenges in the fight for Black rights. Learn more about this crucial period in US history.

Abolitionists campaigned for freedom for enslaved people. Abolitionists used print materials, passionate speeches, and direct action to disrupt the racist system of slavery. Learn about abolitionist leaders such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, setbacks and victories for the movement, and the work abolitionists continue to inspire.

The Civil War began after eleven southern states seceded in order to keep slavery. Discover how enslaved people experienced the war, from serving on the front lines to glimpsing and winning freedom.

For thousands of years, the Elwha river flowed north to the sea. The river churned with salmon, which helped feed bears, otters, and eagles. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, known as the Strong People located in the Pacific Northwest, were grateful for the river's abundance. All that changed in the 1790s when strangers came who did not understand the river's gifts. The strangers built dams, and the environmental consequences were disastrous.

The Tuskegee Airmen heroically fought for the right to be officers of the US military so that they might participate in World War II by flying overseas to help defeat fascism. However, after winning that battle, they faced their next great challenge at Freeman Field, Iowa, where racist white officers barred them from entering the prestigious Officers' Club that their rank promised them. The Freeman Field Mutiny, as it became known, would eventually lead to the desegregation of the US armed forces, forever changing the course of American history and race relations.

In 1947, during the early years of the Cold War, a field in Roswell, New Mexico was disturbed by a strange crash and smattering of debris. Some say the bodies of extraterrestrial beings were strewn across the ground, that a UFO had crashed there, and that the government was covering up the evidence in a massive conspiracy.

Revealing little-known facts about the fight to teach evolution in schools, this riveting account of the dramatic 1925 Scopes Trial (aka “the Monkey Trial”) speaks directly to today’s fights over what students learn, the tension between science and religion, the influence of the media on...

How did the son of a naval officer go on to become a United States Navy captain, an Arizona senator, and a candidate for president? Find out in this addition to the #1 New York Times best-selling Who Was? series! In 2008, John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama, becoming a well-known...

"Karen Chilton conveys both powerful joy and profound grief in her narration of Willie Mae Brown's stories about growing up in Selma, Alabama, during the Civil Rights movement."- AudioFile The preface and afterword are read by the author. Combining family stories of the everyday and the...

As a boy, Kenichi “Zeni” Zenimura dreams of playing professional baseball, but everyone tells him he is too small. Yet he grows up to be a successful player, playing with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig! When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, Zeni and his family are sent to one of ten internment camps where more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry are imprisoned without trials. Zeni brings the game of baseball to the camp, along with a sense of hope. This true story, set in a Japanese internment camp, introduces children to a little-discussed part of American history.

Los hispanohablantes pueden ahora conocer más sobre la serie más famosa del campeonato de béisbol: ¡la Serie Mundial! "Tercer strike, ponchado”. “Quieto”. “Jonrón”. Cada octubre, millones de aficionados al béisbol de todo el país esperan ansiosamente ver qué equipo gana la...

In an immersive, exciting narrative nonfiction format, this powerful book follows a selection of people who experienced the events of the Holocaust.

Tells the story of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City on March 25, 1911. Written in audiobook format.

He has become one of the country's most well-known characters. Tall and firm, Uncle Sam stands for a strong U.S. government. Join meatpacker Sam Wilson in Uncle Sam as he shares the wild story of how he, a clown, and countless artists shaped this American symbol.

Explore the Garden State! Learn about New Jersey's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our third state.

Hear the dramatic story of the rescue of the Apollo 13 astronauts.

Welcome to the Aloha State! Learn about Hawaii's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our 50th state.