Books in Creative Mind Biographies series

Sarah Winnemucca, a Northern Plains Indian, lived in the last half of the nineteenth century when white settlers were moving west into land the Paiutes had inhabited for thousands of years. Sarah's grandfather encouraged her to learn the ways of the white settlers, including their language. As a result, she was instrumental in negotiating benefits for her people. She traveled across the country speaking about the plight of the Paiutes. She challenged reservation agents, cooperated with the U.S. Army, and traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz and President Rutherford B. Hayes. With the help of two East Coast women, she wrote a book about Paiute life and established a school for Paiute children.

More than a century after Louisa May Alcott wrote them, classics such as Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys continue to be read and treasured by readers around the world. Alcott began writing as a young girl and dreamed of becoming a rich and famous author. Despite supporting her entire family with the proceeds from her writings, she was able to achieve her dreams and became one of the best-known and admired writers of her time.

In 1877 a young man developed a way to reproduce sounds so they could be heard again and again. This young man, Thomas Edison, has since been heralded as one of the world's greatest inventors. This inspiring biography details the creation of Edison's favorite invention, the phonograph. Young readers will also discover that Edison did not allow his handicap (he was hard of hearing) to slow him down.

From the time she was a young child, Willa Cather had a gift with words and she loved stories. As a child on the Nebraska prairie, she heard many stories from her neighbors, many of them immigrants, and she never forgot them. She begun to write stories of her own, and even after she became a successful journalist, she made time for them. Her great novels of the prairie, such as O Pioneers! and My Antonia, established her as one of the finest writers of all time. In Writer of the Plains, author Tom Streissguth paints a clear and interesting portrait of this complex and independent woman.

Eleanor Roosevelt is perhaps best known for her role as First Lady, wife to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But this strong-willed woman was a skilled politician in her own right, who overcame her own prejudices to fight for the rights of women, blacks and the poor. This inspiring biography tells of Eleanor Roosevelt's development from a lonely, orphaned teenager to a determined, socially conscious woman, beloved in the United States and throughout the world.

In 1877 a young man developed a way to reproduce sounds so they could be heard again and again. This young man, Thomas Edison, has since been heralded as one of the world's greatest inventors. This inspiring biography details the creation of Edison's favorite invention, the phonograph. Young readers will also discover that Edison did not allow his handicap (he was hard of hearing) to slow him down.

More than a century after Louisa May Alcott wrote them, classics such as Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys continue to be read and treasured by readers around the world. Alcott began writing as a young girl and dreamed of becoming a rich and famous author. Despite supporting her entire family with the proceeds from her writings, she was able to achieve her dreams and became one of the best-known and admired writers of her time.

Samuel Clemens grew up in a child's paradise--Hannibal, Missouri. There, mischief added humor to everyday events as Sam encountered the folks who would one day reappear as Huck Finn, Aunt Polly, and Becky Thatcher in his books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At eighteen, Sam left Hannibal to seek his fortune. He became a newspaperman and story writer. Then, always a restless spirit, he tried his hand as a steamboat pilot (where he took a liking to the riverboat call "mark twain"), a soldier, and a gold prospector. All the while, Sam collected tales to tell on stage and recount in his many books. David Collins invites readers into the fabulously exciting, endlessly entertaining world of "America's Greatest Humorist"--the beloved Mark Twain.