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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96 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
Aku-Aku
by Thor Heyerdahl
from Rand McNally
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Authentic Life of Billy the Kid
by Pat F. Garrett
from University of Oklahoma Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$11.50 (1 in stock)
Blue Remembered Hills
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from William Morrow & Company
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Bombs and Blessings
by Retha Hazel Eldridge
from Review and Herald Publishing Association
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Boswell's London Journal 1762-1763
by Frederick A. Pottle
1st edition from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown
from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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
Chasing the Horizon
by Patrick Kinkade, Thomas Kinkade
from Harvest House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
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)
Cross Creek
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
Reprint from Avon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Discovery
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)
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)
Fighting the Flying Circus
by Captain Eddie V. Rickenbacker
1965 Edition from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
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)
Great Captain
by Honore Morrow
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Great Christian Classics - Volume I
by Kevin Swanson
2nd edition from Generations with Vision
for 9th-12th grade
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$42.00
Greek Treasure
by Irving Stone
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hall of Fame Series for Boys and Girls Louis Pasteur / Florence Nightingale
by Laura N. Wood and Jeanette Covert Nolan
from Julian Messner
for 9th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Here Is Your War
by Ernie Pyle; illustrated by Carol Johnson
1943 Printing from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
Indian Boyhood
by Charles A. Eastman, illustrated by E.L. Blumenschein
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Innocents Abroad
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
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
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)
Life on the Mississippi
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Life With Father
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Clarence Day
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Life with Father and Mother
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 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)
Marcus Aurelius and His Times
by Marcus Aurelius
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Classic Literature for 9th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Maria
by Maria von Trapp
from Creation House
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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
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)
Nun's Story
by Kathryn Hulme
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Onions in the Stew
by Betty MacDonald
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Frederic Remington
1993 printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Maynard Dixon
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Oregon Trail
Famous Books for Young Americans
by Francis Parkman
from A. L. Burt Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Plague and I
by Betty MacDonald
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Biography for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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)
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)
Saddles East
by John W. Beard
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Sam Houston
by Noel Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Around Us
by Rachel Carlson
from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
1952 National Book Award (Non-fiction)
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Seven Men
by Eric Metaxas
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$12.00 (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)
Surprised by Joy
by C. S. Lewis
from Harcourt
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Tasting the Sky
by Ibtisam Barakat
Fifth Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
These Wonderful People
by Noel Ames
from People's Book Club
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
To Live Again
by Catherine Marshall
from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (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
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
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
by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by H.A. Mueller
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Two Years Before the Mast
Rainbow Classics
by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by Alexander Dobkin
from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Two Years Before the Mast
by Richard Henry Dana, with period illustrations and a biographical sketch by H.W.L. Dana
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Two Years Before the Mast
by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Under a Lucky Star
by Roy Chapman Andrews
from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Van Loon's Lives
by Hendrik Van Loon
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
Zookeeper's Wife
by Diane Ackerman
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)