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.

	100 African-Americans Who Shaped American History by Chrisanne Beckner from Bluewood Books for 4th-8th grade in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin from Puffin Books Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1951 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
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	Free Indeed Heroes of Black Christian History by Mark Sidwell Expanded from Bob Jones University Press Biography for 6th-12th grade in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $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
	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
	George Washington Carver Inventor and Educator Heroes of the Faith by Sam Wellman from Barbour Publishing for 4th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $2.50 (1 in stock)
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	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 (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
	M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton from Simon and Schuster for 6th-10th grade 1975 Newbery Medal Winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.00 (1 in stock)
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	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)
	New Kid by Jerry Craft from HarperCollins for 4th-8th grade in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC) $12.99
	People Could Fly American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton 1^st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	People Could Fly American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	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
	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)
	Sidney Poitier: Actor by Carol Bergman from Chelsea House Publishing for 3rd-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from Scholastic Inc. for 3rd-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $1.50 (1 in stock)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from Harper & Row Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	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)
	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
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	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
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	Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen from Yearling Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.50

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