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.

	Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg from Graphia Biography for 5th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $15.99
	Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster from Beautiful Feet Books Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade 1945 Newbery Honor Book in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW) $19.95
	Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! by Jean Fritz from PaperStar Books Biography for 5th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $7.99
	Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham from Houghton Mifflin Biography for 5th-9th grade 1956 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $15.99
	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
	Co. Aytch A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War by Sam Watkins from Touchstone Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW) $17.00
	Daniel Boone His Own Story by Daniel Boone from Applewood Books Biography for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $14.95 $10.00 (2 in stock)
	Davy Crockett His Own Story by David Crockett from Applewood Books Biography for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Escape from Slavery The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words by Frederick Douglass, edited and illustrated by Michael McCurdy, foreword by Coretta Scott King from Beautiful Feet Books for 6th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $13.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Freedom Train The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling from Scholastic Inc. Biography for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman by Gladys Aylward from Moody Press for 7th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO) $9.99
	Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz from PaperStar Books Biography for 5th-8th grade 1990 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award in Biographies (Location: BIO) $8.99
	Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz from PaperStar Books Biography for 5th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.99
	Helen Keller: The Story of My Life Signet Classics by Helen Keller Reprint from Signet Classics Autobiography for 7th-10th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $5.95 $3.50 (1 in stock)
	Helen Keller: The Story of My Life by Helen Keller from Dover Publications Autobiography for 7th-10th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $5.00 $2.50 (2 in stock)
	History of US Book 7 Reconstructing America: 1865-1890 History of US Book 7 by Joy Hakim 3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University American History Reference for 5th-9th grade in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM) $15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
	Jed Smith Trailblazer of the West by Frank Latham from Christian Liberty Press Biography for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $10.50
	Jessie Benton Fremont California Pioneer by Marguerite Higgins from Beautiful Feet Books for 4th-9th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $13.95
	John Flynn Into the Never Never by Geoff & Janet Benge from YWAM Publishing Biography for 4th-8th grade in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE) $11.99
	Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography by William Anderson from HarperTrophy for 4th-10th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $9.99
	Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill from South Dakota State Historical Society Press for 7th-Adult in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM) $39.99
	Life of General Stonewall Jackson by Mary Williamson from Christian Liberty Press Biography for 7th-10th grade in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO) $8.23 $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Life of J.E.B. Stuart by Mary Williamson 2^nd edition from Christian Liberty Press Biography for 7th-10th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $11.75
	Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman from Houghton Mifflin Biography for 5th-9th grade 1988 Newbery Medal winner in Biographies (Location: BIO) $13.99 $7.00 (4 in stock)
	O Captain, My Captain Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Sterling Hundley from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 3rd-8th grade in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW) $16.99
	Princess Ka'iulani Hope of a Nation, Heart of a People by Sharon Linnea from Eerdmans Biography for 7th-Adult in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO) $10.50
	Profiles of Integrity #2: 1804-1865 Real People Who Demonstrated Godly Character by Marilyn Boyer and Grace Tumas Ehrman from Master Books for 6th-9th grade in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $8.79
	Reconstruction: Binding the Wounds Perspectives on History Series by Cheryl Edwards, ed. from History Compass Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI) $7.95
	Stonewall OSI by Jean Fritz & Stephen Gammell from PaperStar Books Biography for 5th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.99
	Story of Abraham Lincoln by Mary A. Hamilton from Living Book Press for 6th-8th grade in History Shapers (Location: BIO-SHAPE) $6.99
	To Be a Slave by Julius Lester from Scholastic Inc. Historical Non-fiction for 6th-10th grade 1969 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $4.99
	Virginia's General Robert E. Lee and the Civil War by Albert Marrin from Beautiful Feet Books Biography for 7th-10th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $13.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes from Little, Brown & Company for 3rd-8th grade 2026 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $17.99

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