Biographies - Exodus Books

Store Location

"Did they tell you stories about the saints of old,
stories about their faith?
Stories like that make a boy grow bold,
stories like that make a man walk straight..."
—Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me, Man Like You

Stories about people have a way of affecting us in ways other stories can't. The Bible is primarily stories about people, and it is through these multiple biographies that we understand human nature, the history of redemption, and even to a great extent God Himself. The purpose behind any other biography is largely the same—to help us understand what it means to be human from the examples (sometimes even the bad examples) of those who have preceded us.

The biographies we have chosen for this section represent those of great leaders in history, social and military heroes, and Christian saints past and present who struggled to conform their lives to Christ's perfect example. We have avoided for the most part biographies of history's villains and chronic immoralists, not because they aren't interesting but because they don't represent lives worthy of imitation. We've also decided not to focus on athletes, actors, and celebrities, unless they've made important contributions outside their fields. That's not to say everyone found here was above reproach or even a Christian, but they all demonstrated real human virtues for which they are remembered.

Biographies are also useful for better understanding of a given historical period. While history books can provide good overviews of a period or events, the intimate detail of a good biography can better illustrate a time period and what it was like to be alive then. This also serves to demonstrate the universality of human nature, that people will behave basically the same during any given period and in any given place. Sometimes we get the impression that people of the past, especially people like missionaries and ministers, were somehow more pious than we are—the personal view offered by a good biography dispels this myth and offers encouragement that not even the best men and women are any closer to perfection than we are.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

	Benjamin Franklin Inventor, Statesman, and Patriot by R. Conrad Stein from Rand McNally Biography for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $3.00 (2 in stock)
	Benjamin Franklin by Carl Van Doren from Library of America for 10th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Better a Shield Than a Sword Perspectives on Defense & Technology by Edward Teller from Free Press for Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson 1^st edition from Henry Holt and Company for Preschool-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $19.99
	Boy Who Loved Math The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham from Roaring Brook Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II from Houghton Mifflin Biography for 5th-9th grade 1956 Newbery Medal winner in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson from Boyds Mill Press for 7th-11th grade 2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award in Biographies (Location: BIO) $16.95
	Carver: A Life In Poems by Marilyn Nelson 1^st edition from Scholastic Inc. for 6th-10th grade 2002 Newbery Honor Book in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure by Jennifer Thermes from Abrams Books for Young Readers for Preschool-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Chord of Steel The Story of the Invention of the Telephone by Thomas B. Costain from Doubleday & Company for 8th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Cry of the Kalahari Seven Years in Africa's Last Great Wilderness by Mark and Delia Owens from Houghton Mifflin for Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Discovery Great Moments in the Lives of Outstanding Naturalists by John K. Terres First Ediition from J.B. Lippincott Co. for 9th-Adult in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	From Immigrant to Inventor by Michael Pupin from Charles Scribner's Sons for 10th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Genius by Marfe Ferguson Delano from National Geographic for 5th-9th grade 2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book in Biographies (Location: BIO) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Girl Who Drew Butterflies How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for 3rd-8th grade 2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner in Biographies (Location: BIO) $21.99
	Granny Smith Was Not an Apple The Story of Orchardist Maria Ann Smith by Sarah Glenn Fortson, illustrated by Kris Aro McLeod from Peter Pauper Press for Preschool-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $16.99
	Great Lives: Invention and Technology by Milton Lomask from Atheneum for 9th-12th grade in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Hedy Lamarr's Double Life Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor People Who Shaped Our World #4 by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Katy Wu from Union Square Kids for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer from HarperCollins for 2nd-4th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Inventing the Future by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano from National Geographic for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Inventor's Secret What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford by Suzanne Slade; illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt from Charlesbridge for 1st-4th grade in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV) $17.99
	Isaac Newton by James Gleick from Pantheon Books for Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife by Janet Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Boehmer from Encyclopedia Britannica for 7th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky from Little, Brown & Company Biography for 2nd-5th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $19.99 $12.00 (2 in stock)
	Mimic Makers by Kristen Nordstrom; illustrated by Paul Boston from Charlesbridge for 1st-4th grade in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV) $17.99
	More Perfect Heaven How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos by Dava Sobel from Walker and Company for 10th-Adult in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir from Gibbs M. Smith for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.95
	Rachel Carson Biologist and Writer by Melissa Stewart from Ferguson Publishing Company for 3rd-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Rare Treasure Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries by Don Brown from Houghton Mifflin for Preschool-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $16.00 (1 in stock)
	Real Johnny Appleseed by Laurie Lawlor from Albert Whitman & Company Biography for Ages 9-12 in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Sky Pioneers The Story of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Jeanne LeMonnier Gardner, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline from Harcourt, Brace & World for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin from Houghton Mifflin Biographies of Scientists and Inventors for 1st-3rd grade 1999 Caldecott Medal winner in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $14.39
	Starry Messenger Galileo Galilei by Peter Sis 1^st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux Picture Book Biography for 1st-4th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Story of Jonas Salk by Jim Hargrove from Children's Press for 3rd-4th grade in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN) $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Thomas Harriot Science Pioneer by Ralph Staiger 1^st edition from Clarion Books for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $7.50 (2 in stock)
	To Fly The Story of the Wright Brothers by Wendie C. Old, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker from Clarion Books for 4th-6th grade 2003 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA) $17.99
	Trailblazer of American Science The Life of Joseph Henry by Sarah R. Riedman Printing 'B' from Rand McNally for 7th-12th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Twelve Seconds to the Moon A Story of the Wright Brothers by Rosamond Young & Catharine Fitzgerald 2^nd edition from Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. for 7th-Adult in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Who Invented This? Smart People and Their Bright Ideas by Anne Ameri-Siemens, illustrated by Becky Thorns, translated by David Henry Wilson from Little Gestalten for 2nd-5th grade in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Women in Science 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky from Ten Speed Press for 4th-12th grade in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Wright Brothers by David McCullough First American Condition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan for 9th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO) $15.00 (2 in stock)

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Connect