Biography by Genre

There are a lot more genres of biographies than we have listed here, but they aren't included because we simply don't have titles to put in them. Again, these categories are in place to help you narrow the focus of your search, and to find the book you need with as little frustration as possible.

Autobiographies & Memoirs are books written by the person about whom they're about. Autobiographies are explicitly biographical, written in order to impart information about the author's life and context; memoirs, on the other hand, are often more creative, and are usually about something bigger than the details of the subject's life.

While we don't encourage getting all your history from fiction (or even most of it), a good Biographical Novel will combine the best elements of fiction and biography into a personal portrait that imparts both the essence of the subject's life, and the cultural context in which he or she lived. Plus, they're just more fun to read.

You won't find any of these for people who lived more than a couple hundred years ago, but Photobiographies can be especially useful for helping readers understand the person and era they're learning about. Often times these don't have as much outright information as a more traditional biography, but enough quality photographs are a good compensation.

For younger kids (though there are some great ones for older readers, too), Picture Book Biographies help us visualize who it is we're reading about....or simply keep us interested. The best ones do both, and the very best ones do both while still highlighting the artist's vision and interpretation of people and events.

Different genres will fill different needs; if you're working on a big project or unit study, it's a good idea to select titles from all of them. The goal of listing them here is to help narrow your search; as our collection expands, we'll likely be adding genres to the list, and shaping your search results in increasingly precise and illuminating ways.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

 

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65 Items found Print
Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, translated by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt
Book Club Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
At Home with Beatrix Potter
by Susan Denyer
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
Bad Girls Throughout History
by Ann Shen
from Chronicle Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blue Remembered Hills
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from William Morrow & Company
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Chord of Steel
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Citizen Tom Paine
by Howard Fast
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
for 7th-12th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Every Living Thing
by James Herriot
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Five Roads to the White House
by Ann E. Weiss
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Genghis Kahn and the Mongol Horde
World Landmark #12
by Harold Lamb
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
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)
Great Artists - Great Composers: Portraits
from Amadeus Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Tales from American Life
by Francis Trevelyan Miller
1994 reprint from Mantle Ministries
for 6th-9th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes of Polar Exploration
by Ralph Andrist
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$24.99
I Remember Laura
by Stephen W. Hines
3rd printing from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Biography for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrious Americans - Volume 2
by Edward Everett Hale
from Mantle Ministries
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
James Herriot's Dog Stories
by James Herriot
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories
by James Herriot
First Printing from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns
by Wilborn Hampton
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl, Translated by F. H. Lyon
from Rand McNally
Non-fiction/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl
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
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Beethoven
by Gino Pugnetti
from Curtis Publishing Co.
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Lost Garden
by Laurence Yep
from Simon and Schuster
Autobiography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Makers of the Red Revolution
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Maria
by Maria von Trapp
from Creation House
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Martin Luther
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Abingdon Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Medal of Honor Heroes
Landmark #111
by Colonel Red Reeder
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Minute Sketches of Great Composers
by Eva v B. Hansl, Helen L. Kaufmann, illustrated by Samuel Nisenson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biographical sketches for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
More Minute Biographies
by Samuel Nisenson and Alfred Parker
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk
by Robert J. Hastings, illustrated by Steve Kerr
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Onions in the Stew
by Betty MacDonald
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Profiles in Courage
by John F. Kennedy
from HarperCollins
Biography Anthology for 4th-8th grade
1957 Biography Pulitzer Prize
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Profiles in Courage (abridged)
by John F. Kennedy, illustrated by Emil Weiss
from HarperCollins
Biography Anthology for 4th-8th grade
1957 Biography Pulitzer Prize
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Ranch under the Rimrock
by Dorothy Lawson McCall
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Real Book About Spies
by Samuel Epstein
from Garden City Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Rivals in Parliament
by Iris Noble
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Royal Faces
by Hugh Clayton
from Thames and Hudson
for 4th-9th grade
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Seven Kings of England
by Geoffrey Trease
from Vanguard Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
Seven Men
by Eric Metaxas
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Sketches of the Life of Captain Hugh A. White
by Hugh A. White, William J. Hoge
from Sprinkle Publications
for 7th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Story-Lives of Great Composers
by Katherine Little Bakeless
3rd edition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Strawberry Point
by Florence Roe Wiggins
from T.S. Denison & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
That Quail, Robert
by Margaret A. Stanger
Eighth Printing, August 1966 from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
This Promise of Change
by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
2020 Robert F. Siebert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Three Against the Wilderness
by Eric Collier
6th Printing, 1960 from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Time Great People of the 20th Century
by Kelly Knauer, editor
from Time-Life Books
for 8th-12th grade
in 20th Century (Location: HISW-20)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Trails Plowed Under
by Charles M. Russell
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Twilight Struggle
by Barbara Harrison, Daniel Terris
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 7th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Two Years Before the Mast
by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Two Years Before the Mast (abridged)
by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Winged Horse
by Joseph Auslander & Frank Ernest Hill
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Women in Science
by Rachel Ignotofsky
from Ten Speed Press
for 4th-12th grade
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Women of Courage
Landmark #107
by Dorothy Nathan
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Women Who Made a Difference
by Jeff Bloch, Malcolm Forbes
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 8th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
World of the Brontes
by Commentary by James Birdsall, Photography by Paul Barker
from Pavilion Books
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Yankee Doodle Boy
by Joseph Martin
from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Yoshiko Uchida
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Julian Messner
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)