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The courage to compete: living with cerebral palsy and following my dreams
By Elizabeth Kaye, Abbey Curran. 2015
Abbey Curran lives by the motto "If you can dream it, you can do it." She was born with cerebral…
palsy, but early on she resolved to never let it limit her. Abbey made history when she became the first contestant with a disability to win a major beauty pageant. After earning the title of Miss Iowa, she went on to compete in Miss USA. Growing up on a hog farm in Illinois, Abbey competed in local pageants despite naysayers who told her not to. After realizing her own dream, she went on to help other disabled girls achieve their goals by starting Miss You Can Do It, a national nonprofit pageant for girls and women with challenges and special needs. In this uplifting memoir, Abbey tells a story of overcoming the odds, fulfilling her life's goals, and finding in herself the courage to compete, even as she continues to inspire the same spirit in others. For junior and senior high readers. 2015.The elk hunt
By Alan Edward Nourse. 1986
At age 52, the author was stricken by a massive heart attack while hunting elk. He reveals his torturous recovery…
and the strains his illness placed on himself and his family. 1986.The Harvey girls: women who opened the West
By Lesley Poling-Kempes. 1989
From the 1880s to the 1950s, the Harvey Girls went west to work in Fred Harvey's restaurants along the Santa…
Fe railway. At a time when there were "no ladies west of Dodge City and no women west of Albuquerque," they came as waitresses, but many stayed and settled, founding the struggling cattle and mining towns that dotted the region. Interviews, historical research, and photographs help re-create the Harvey Girl experience. The accounts are personal, but laced with the history the women lived: the dust bowl, the depression, and anecdotes about some of the many famous people who ate at the restaurants--Teddy Roosevelt, Shirley Temple, Bob Hope, to name a few. Winner of the 1991 New Mexico PressWomen's ZIA award. 1989.The Hiroshima Maidens: a story of courage, compassion, and survival
By Rodney Barker. 1985
Japanese women who underwent surgery in the U.S. to repair the ravages caused by the atomic blast became known as…
the "Hiroshima maidens". The author documents the medical, humanitarian and diplomatic undertaking that brought them to the States. 1985.The hill of Kronos
By Peter Levi. 1981
Greece as seen through the eyes of a sensitive traveller - English classicist, archaeologist, and former Jesuit priest, whose poetic…
observations about the land and its people are interspersed with personal narrative. c1981.The happy isles of Oceania: paddling the Pacific
By Paul Theroux. 1992
Renowned travel writer Theroux embarks on an exotic exploration of the Pacific Islands. From New Zealand to Hawaii, with stops…
in New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and others, he explores the lush landscapes, encounters unique wildlife, and lives among the fascinating peoples who have made Oceania their home. c1992.The heart of the world: a journey to Tibet's lost paradise
By Ian Baker. 2004
Recounts an extraordinary journey into one of the most inaccessible places on earth, and a pilgrimage to the heart of…
Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan prophecies proclaim that the greatest of beyul, or mystical sanctuaries, lies at the eastern edge of the Himalayas, veiled by a colossal waterfall in the forbidding Tsangpo gorge. After years of investigation, world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team made worldwide news by finding a magnificent 108-foot-high waterfall-the legendary grail of both Western explorers and Tibetan pilgrims. 2004.The griffin and the dinosaur: how Adrienne Mayor discovered a fascinating link between myth and science
By Marc Aronson, Adrienne Mayor. 2015
Traces the research scientist co-author's explorations in Greece and the Gobi Desert for the origins of the mythical griffin, relating…
the story of the ancient Scythians and the griffins that were said to have guarded their treasure. Grades 2-4. 2015.The great railway bazaar
By Paul Theroux. 1983
The green labyrinth: a journey to the Amazon
By Sylvia Fraser. 2003
Sylvia Fraser recounts her journey to Peru to learn about shamans and ancient practices. The centre of her journey revolves…
around learning about ayahuasca, a plant medicine that is said to transport a person from this plane of reality into another one. 2003.The gypsy in me: from Germany to Romania in search of youth, truth and Dad
By Ted Simon. 1997
The author recounts his 1500 mile journey, much of it on foot, through Eastern Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania,…
making personal connections with people in the turbulent region, and learning more about himself and his parents who had escaped from there years before. 1997.The Greek for love: a memoir of Corfu
By James Chatto. 2005
They arrived as tourists in Corfu, Wendy from Canada and James from England. They enjoyed the sun, an idyllic beach,…
olives, fresh apricots and marinated lamb, and long evenings of storytelling at the local taverna. But what captivated James and Wendy was the way the islanders embraced them, and how their deep connection to Corfu and its people sustained them through tragedy just as it had carried them into love. Some strong language. 2005.The Gurkhas
By Byron Farwell. 1984
Gurkhas are soldiers from Nepal who serve in the British and Indian armies. Recruiting practices, military training, religion, and home…
and family are analyzed to obtain insight into the nature of Gurkha character. 1984.The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an experiment in literary investigation
By Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenit͡ìsyn. 1973
Drawn from reports, letters, witnesses, and the Nobel Prize winner's own 11-year incarceration at Archipelago. This is an intense portrayal…
of the history of the Soviet prison system. Bestseller. 1973. Uniform title: Arkhipelag GULag, 1918-1956.The education of Laura Bridgman: first deaf and blind person to learn language
By Ernest Freeberg. 2001
Chronicles the life of Laura Bridgman, who, born into a New Hampshire farm family in 1829, became deaf and blind…
at the age of two. Freeberg recounts Laura's transformation into a woman who voraciously absorbed the world around her under the tutelage of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe of the Perkins Institution for the Blind. 2001.The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
By Helene Hanff. 1973
The dig tree: the extraordinary story of the ill-fated Burke and Wills 1860 expedition
By Sarah Murgatroyd. 2003
In 1860, an eccentric Irish police officer named Robert O'Hara Burke set out to Melbourne at the head of the…
most ambitious expedition of his age. Up until this point Australia had remained a truly dark continent, but times were changing. On 20 August Burke and his team of eighteen men made a confident start - journeying north towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist, he was prepared to risk everything to cross the continent. Meanwhile, John McDouall Stuart, a dour Scotsman with a fondness for the bottle, was already trekking north from Adelaide. The race was on. 2003.The dogs are eating them now: our war in Afghanistan
By Graeme Smith. 2013
Graeme Smith’s highly personal narrative of Canada's war in Afghanistan and how it went dangerously wrong. This is a gripping…
account of modern warfare that takes you into back alleys, cockpits and prisons -- telling stories that would have endangered his life had he published this book while still working as a journalist. Winner of the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. 2013.The colossus of New York: a city in thirteen parts
By Colson Whitehead. 2003
The devil's cinema: the untold story behind Mark Twitchell's kill room
By Steve Lillebuen. 2012
On the night of October 10, 2008, Johnny Altinger was heading to his first date with a woman he had…
met online. He was never seen again. Two weeks earlier, aspiring filmmaker Mark Twitchell, with a devotion to the television series Dexter, began a three-day shoot for his latest short film. His horror story featured a serial killer who impersonates women on an online dating site to lure unsuspecting men to his suburban kill room. But his script was actually the blueprint for a real-life murder. Includes violence and strong language. Winner of the 2013 Arthur Ellis Best Crime Non-fiction Award. c2012.