Popular North American Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from North America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (30)
21.
Run Towards the Danger : Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley EN
Country: North America / 
Canada
Canada
Description:
*A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice* These are the most dangerous stories of my life. The ones I have avoided, the ones I haven’t told, the ones that have kept me awake on countless nights. As these stories found echoes in my adult life, and then went another, better way than they did in childhood, they became lighter and easier to carry. In this extraordinary book, Sarah Polley explores what it is to live in one’s body, in a constant state of becoming, learning, and changing. Each of these six essays captures a piece of Polley’s life as she remembers it, while at the same time exami... continue
22.
The Book of Rosy : A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border by Rosayra Pablo Cruz, Julie Schwietert Collazo EN
Country: North America / 
Guatemala
Guatemala
Description:
A searing tale of the human lives behind the Trump administration-made immigration crisis, written by two remarkable mothers--a Central American woman whose children were taken from her by the United States government at the southern border, and the American who helped reunite the family--and offers a timely and urgent look at a migrant experience, family separation and reunification, and the power of individuals banding together to overcome even the cruelest and most unjust circumstances. When Rosayra Pablo Cruz made the wrenching decision to seek asylum in America with two of her children, f... continue
23.
The Closer by Mariano Rivera and Wayne Coffey EN
Country: North America / 
Panama
Panama
Description:
Mariano Rivera never dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. He didn't grow up collecting baseball cards, playing Little League, or cheering on his home team at the World Series. He had never heard of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, or Mickey Mantle. One day, that all changed. From a childhood playing pickup games in Panama to an epic career with the New York Yankees, Mariano's rise to greatness has been anything but ordinary. He's the guy on the mound who doesn't hear the crowd, just the sound of the ump calling, Strike! The teammate you can rely on, even when the bases are loaded in... continue
24.
The Day The World Came To Town by Jim DeFed EN
Country: North America / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The True Story Behind the Events on 9/11 that Inspired Broadway’s Smash Hit Musical Come from Away, Featuring All New Material from the Author When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill. As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held o... continue
25.
The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Alia Malek weaves a lyrical narrative around the history of her family's apartment building in the heart of Damascus, the many lives that crossed in the stairwell, and how the fates of her neighbors reflect the fate of her country. At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parent's decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians-... continue
26.
The Measure of a Man : A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier EN
Country: North America / 
Bahamas
Bahamas
Description:
"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set." —Sidney Poitier In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the powe... continue
27.
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle EN
Country: North America / 
Cuba
Cuba
Description:
A portrait in poems of Juan Francisco Manzano, the poet who was born a slave in Cuba in 1797.
28.
Three Cups of Tea : One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions ... continue
29.
Wangari's Trees of Peace : A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman's passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.
30.
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands by Mary Seacole EN
Country: North America / 
Jamaica
Jamaica
Description:
Written in 1857, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands is the autobiography of a Jamaican woman whose fame rivaled Florence Nightingale’s during the Crimean War. Seacole traveled widely before arriving in London, where her offer to volunteer as a nurse in the war was met with racism and refusal. Undaunted, she set out independently to the Crimea, where she acted as doctor and “mother” to wounded soldiers while running her business, the “British Hotel.” Told with energy, warmth, and humor, her remarkable life story and accounts of hardships at the battlefront offer significant insig... continue