Biographies - Exodus Books

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"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.

	Cheer the Lonesome Traveller The Life of W.E.B. Du Bois: by Leslie Alexander Lacy, illustrated by James Barkley from Dial Press for 9th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech in Translation What It Really Means (Kids' Translations) by Leslie J. Holland from Capstone Press in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $7.95
	Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers from Scholastic Inc. for 11th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $10.99
	Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman from Holiday House for 4th-6th grade 2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $14.99
	Freedom's Children Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine from Penguin Putnam Biography for 4th-8th grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $7.99
	Girl From the Tar Paper School Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement by Teri Kanefield from Abrams Books for Young Readers for 1st-4th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Gold Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor from Scholastic Inc. for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Gold Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor Reprint from Puffin Books for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney from Scholastic Inc. Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $2.50 (3 in stock)
	History of the Civil Rights Movement - Coloring Book by Steven James Petruccio from Dover Publications in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA) $3.99
	I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, illustrated by Wil Clay from Dial Books for Young Readers for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King by Ellen Levine Updated from Scholastic Inc. Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $4.50 (2 in stock)
	In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord from HarperCollins Immigration for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99 $4.00 (7 in stock)
	Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line Cornerstones of Freedom series by Andrew Santella from Scholastic Inc. Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
	Jackie Robinson: Young Sports Trailblazer Childhood of Famous Americans by Herb Dunn from Aladdin Paperbacks for 3rd-6th grade in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA) $7.99
	Jesse Jackson by Pat McKissack from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $2.50 (1 in stock)
	Kid's Guide to African American History by Nancy I. Sanders from Chicago Review Press for 4th-6th grade in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred R. Taylor Reissue from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	March (Book One) by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin from Top Shelf Productions for 5th-9th grade Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	March (Book Three) by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell from Top Shelf Productions for 5th-9th grade 2017 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
	March (Book Two) by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin from Top Shelf Productions for 5th-9th grade Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	March - Boxed Set by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin from Top Shelf Productions for 5th-9th grade Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC) $24.00 (1 in stock)
	Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream Childhood of Famous Americans by Dharathula H. Millender from Aladdin Paperbacks for 3rd-6th grade in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA) $7.99
	Meet Martin Luther King, Jr. Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints by James T. de Kay from Random House Books for Young Readers for 1st-3rd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $4.99
	Meet Maya Angelou by Valerie Spain from Random House for 3rd-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers from HarperCollins for 7th-10th grade 1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
	Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall by David A. Adler from Holiday House for 2nd-5th grade in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
	Portraits of African-American Heroes by Tonya Bolden from Puffin Books for 3rd-6th grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Road to Memphis by Mildred Taylor from Bantam Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Road to Memphis by Mildred Taylor from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1991 Coretta Scott King Award in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99
	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1977 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Puffin Modern Classics by Mildred Taylor from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade 1977 Newbery Medal winner in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Roots The Saga of an American Family Book Club Edition from Doubleday & Company for 11th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Rosa Parks: Young Rebel Childhood of Famous Americans by Kathleen V. Kudlinski from Aladdin Paperbacks for 3rd-6th grade in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA) $7.99
	South Town by Lorenz Graham from Follett Publishing Co. for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Stealing Home The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg 50th Anniversary from Scholastic Inc. for 3rd-5th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $5.99
	They Had a Dream The Civil Rights Struggle from Frederick Douglass to Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X by Jules Archer Reprint from Puffin Books for 8th-12th grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $3.50 (3 in stock)
	Thurgood Marshall Rookie Biography by Carol Greene from Children's Press for 1st-3rd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Elspeth Leacock, Susan Washburn Buckley from Speak for 4th-8th grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $10.99
	Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner, Richard Rudnicki from Groundwood Books for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV) $6.50 (1 in stock)
	Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis from Laurel-Leaf Books for 5th-8th grade 1996 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $8.99
	Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? from Hampton-Brown for Kindergarten-2nd grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)

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