Books published by publisher eFrog Press

When the midwestern United States was still young and rugged, a Scottish immigrant named Allan Pinkerton founded the first detective agency in the country. The methods he used were simple, but in 1850, they broke new ground. Facts and codes were recorded in small black notebooks; his agents worked undercover, in disguise. He created the first female detective department and protected Abraham Lincoln en route to his first inauguration. With keen senses and fierce determination, Allan Pinkerton and his agents solved many of the era's most celebrated crimes. He captured gangs of train and bank robbers and exposed the secrets and identities of cunning Civil War spies. In a biography that combines historical detail, photographs, and excerpts from Allan Pinkerton's own letters and books, Judith Pinkerton Josephson takes you inside the spymaster’s headquarters and out on the trail with Pinkerton and his force. Josephson also provides insight into the personality of this complex and ambitious man.

Barbara McClintock’s most noted discovery, “jumping genes,” changed the world of modern genetics and her name is recognized worldwide. In 1983, at age eighty-one, she became the first woman ever to receive an unshared Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Before then few people, including other scientists, understood the importance of McClintock’s research. For decades she worked on her own in the fields, growing crops of maize—Indian corn—and in her lab, studying the inner workings of generations of corn. With quiet brilliance, she found joy in her detailed experiments, seldom bothering to publish her findings, never seeking the spotlight. Against all odds, this unassuming scientist persisted, bringing focus, big ideas, and gentle humor to her work. Her startling discoveries applied not just to maize, but to all living organisms.Even as a child, Barbara McClintock had no interest in dolls or tea parties. She loved playing sports and being out in the natural world noticing things others missed. In high school she was drawn to science and went on to earn a Ph.D. in botany from Cornell University, then began her research career, often scrambling for funds to support her work. In the end, McClintock’s groundbreaking discoveries earned her wide respect and numerous distinguished honors.Read this fascinating portrait of a scientist who harnessed her dreams and her intellect to challenge the world's understanding of heredity. This title is the first in the new Spotlight Biographies ebook series for readers ages nine and up featuring well-researched, in-depth biographies about people who have made a difference.

While history books consider George Eastman to be the father of photography, most people are unaware that his contributions to the world extended far beyond his multimillion-dollar company, Eastman Kodak. A banker by trade, his determination to improve and simplify his weekend hobby led to discovering cutting-edge photographic technology and the birth of his own business. A shrewd and principled businessman, he was a pioneer in customer service, employee relations, and worldwide product distribution. A generous philanthropist, his donations helped build universities, improve healthcare, and advance scientific research. His fascinating journey is deftly chronicled in George Eastman: Bringing Photography to the People, where readers will be inspired by a man whose invention and passion improved the lives of millions of people and the pictures they took.

After her husband and four children died in a yellow fever epidemic, Mary Harris Jone, known as Mother Jones, took up the cause of American workers, adopting them as her family. In the late 19th century, workers—adults and many children— in coal mines, textile mills, and other industries often labored for long hours under dangerous conditions for wages that could barely sustain them. For sixty years, Mother Jones crisscrossed the nation, urging men, women, and child workers to fight for their rights through labor unions. Her mission took her from the poorest coal miner’s shack to the halls of Congress, from the ragged children of the textile mills to presidents of the United States. Fierce, feisty, and determined, Mother Jones was one of American labor’s most unforgettable champions, a role model for young people today.Part of the Spotlight Biography series from eFrog Press, these ebooks, written by well-published authors, cover people to emulate and admire.

Sam West thought he knew what it was like to feel alone in the world. He had spent his fifteen years abandoned by his mother, neglected by his alcoholic father, and ignored by every foster parent he was sent to. At fifteen, Sam decides to find his mother in search of a future with the woman he barely remembers. But when his bush plane crashes en route in Northern Ontario, Canada, a vast expanse of untamed wilderness, Sam is the sole survivor and utterly alone. Determined to live and somehow make it back to civilization, Sam uses every ounce of knowledge to fight the elements, the treacherous predators, and most of all, to keep his head in the game of survival. After a near-death encounter with a bear shakes him to his core, the appearance of a mysterious mountain man surprises him the most. Together, they embark upon a long journey to find the world again, a world that will be forever different to these survivors. But Sam also finds something he never thought possible; he finds the friendship and the love he always wanted, forged in the solitary landscape of the wilderness.

Many parents dread the topics of sex and sexuality. Some avoid “the talk” altogether, hoping that school curriculum or other outside information will reach their children and satisfy their questions and curiosity. Others shy away from certain topics and try to give just enough information to quell the conversation for the moment. But children are born with a natural curiosity about everything, including their bodies. Questions about a child’s sexuality start way before the teen years, and parents should not be afraid to address each and every one. Fostering healthy conversations about sex and sexuality will empower your child, teach values and ideas that you live by, and give the knowledge and confidence needed to make healthy, informed decisions. Dr. Chrystal de Freitas is not only a doctor, but a parent as well. When she found her child’s school curriculum vastly lacking in a secure and honest approach to teaching children about puberty and sexuality, she began to wonder how many other parents might be struggling with teaching their youngsters, too. She realized that parents need a bit of encouragement and help in starting conversations about sex and sexuality. In How to Talk to Kids about Babies, Birth, and Puberty, parents are given step-by-step approaches to encouraging conversations with their youngsters, from toddlers to teens. Parents will learn that these topics don’t have to be embarrassing for either the parent or the child, and that these teachable moments can be turned into positive opportunities to share values and information that will help form lifelong trust between parent and child.

With more than two hundred books to his credit, Gary Paulsen is fast becoming an American legend. A popular children's author, Paulsen draws on life experiences to write mystery, memoir, adventure, humor, and survival, including the best-selling Hatchet. He has run the Iditarod, survived violent sea storms, picked crops, worked at carnivals, been blown off a mountain, plunged through lake ice in the dead of winter, and had his pants catch fire while training his dogs. The result is books people love to read.Against all odds, Gary Paulsen has become a popular, prolific children's writer. Mystery, memoir, adventure, survival, and humor-he's done them all. Paulsen draws on life experiences to create books young people love to read.

Thomas Nast was an ordinary child with an extraordinary talent. Never one for writing or arithmetic, his immigrant parents feared he would not even get through school with passing grades. Then they discovered an artist lived within him, and enrolled him in art school. There, he honed his talent until he was fifteen years old and needed to work to support himself and his family. It was then he walked into the offices of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper and asked for a job. A storied career was had just begun.In the mid-nineteenth century, America was a land full of newly arrived immigrants coming to New York City to work and live. Many did not know how to read or write English. Political cartoons were a very big and powerful way to reach out to people and express ideas and beliefs about the government and the way of the world. Thomas Nast became a voice of justice through his political cartoons. He became famous for his depictions of the Civil War, his political party illustrations, and even helped develop the now-popular image of jolly old Saint Nick. But his biggest battle came in his own hometown, where he decided to go up against William “Boss” Tweed and his Tammany Hall collaborators—notoriously crooked leaders of New York City, bribing and laundering money into their own overstuffed pockets. Though they tried, Nast was never intimidated by threats and he never backed down, even when his life was threatened. Through his political cartoons he made a difference, and it helped bring the Tweed Ring to justice. Thomas Nast: Political Cartoonist illustrates the power of art and conviction and the journey of this American icon.

"I always loved running," said track and field legend Jesse Owens, who as a boy could outrun all his playmates. That blazing speed helped Owens set track records in junior high, high school, and on into college at Ohio State University. At one Big Ten meet, he smashed three world records and tied a fourth in 45 minutes. By the time Owens competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, people used words like "express" and "comet to describe him. Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, and his Nazi party believed that Jews, African-Americans, and other groups were inferior beings. Jesse Owens proved them wrong by winning four gold medals.This previously published biography contains updates, revisions, new cover and photos, and hyperlinks. Jesse Owens succeeded in spite of the racism of his day, poverty, and other obstacles. He met these issues with strength, perseverance, and grace. A man of determination and courage, he rose above the bigotry of the era to become a consummate athlete, humanitarian, friend and role model for youth, and ambassador of sports.

War affects children, no matter where in the world it’s waged or what countries are involved. Sometimes it leads young people to serve and do extraordinary things. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Verna Morimatsu, age seven, had been playing outside when she noticed strange planes flying toward Pearl Harbor. When she entered her house, she heard a huge crash and found a gaping hole left by an unexploded bomb that had fallen through the roof and dining room floor, leaving splinters strewn about, and the furniture in pieces. An attack on Pearl Harbor had begun. In this newly revised ebook version of the original print book, discover what life was like for American children during World War II through true stories of young people who lived through this time. The people readers will meet in this book are real. Even their names—Dorinda, Verna, Eugene, Florence, Jody, Leroy, Fred, Marjorie, Vina, Jean, Martha, Martin, Dot, John, Marialyse, Neal, Nancy, Robert, Sammy, Paul, and Susan—offer clues about the era in which they were young. Faced with the possible loss of fathers, brothers, uncles, and friends fighting overseas, young people did their best to help out at home. They collected scrap metal, saved money to buy war bonds, planted Victory Gardens, and learned to do without things like sugar, butter, new shoes, and bicycles. Some welcomed children from other countries, sent by their parents to escape the fighting. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many innocent Japanese American children and their families were forced to leave their homes and businesses and were sent to internment camps, despite being U.S. citizens. Children who lived through World War II never forgot. As adults, they found that the war changed their lives forever.Written for middle grade readers and up, Growing Up in WWII makes this now “long ago” war real to young people and challenges them to think about patriotism, sacrifice, and the impact of history. The many photographs of children and primary source documents like letters, maps, posters, and even recipes bring the period of 1941 to 1945 to life.

My Brothers’ Keeper is the story of Joshua Parish, a farm boy who goes off to the Civil War when he is just thirteen. He soon has to face long, hot marches, a deadly ambush, and the danger, noise, and smoke of the battlefield. He serves as a drummer, a messenger, and a doctor’s helper, slowly finding the right way to do his part in the war. Captured by the Confederates, he escapes, delivers important information to the Union camp, and receives a reward he never expected.Editorial ReviewsFrom School Library JournalGr 6 Up--Based on the true experiences of the author's great-great-uncles, this book follows the orphaned Parish brothers, upstate New Yorkers who join the Union Army. Strong, high-spirited, and often reckless, 15-year-old Jeremiah can't wait to lie about his age and enlist for adventure and glory, once he shepherds his younger siblings, Joshua and Mattie, safely away from their alcoholic, violent stepfather. Careful, introspective Josh, just 13, is unsure about the war, but knows he must keep the deathbed promise he made to his mother to watch out for Jere, no matter what. Leaving Mattie with a loving aunt and uncle in Rochester, the brothers find a company of volunteers to swear in Jere as a soldier and Josh as a drummer boy. When the training is over and the company joins General Meade's Fifth Corps in Virginia, the boys encounter the reality of combat all too soon. Suddenly alone and surrounded by blood and tragedy, Josh must grow up quickly and decide his views on war while in the midst of it. The story unfolds in a tight narrative that will hold readers' interest, and Josh's character development is both believable and touching. Historical details are accurate; anyone who has visited Civil War battle sites will find the experiences at Little Round Top and The Wilderness as convincing as they are exciting.Starr E. Smith, Marymount University Library, Arlington, Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the print edition of this title.

While history books consider George Eastman to be the father of photography, most people are unaware that his contributions to the world extended far beyond his multimillion-dollar company, Eastman Kodak. A banker by trade, his determination to improve and simplify his weekend hobby led to discovering cutting-edge photographic technology and the birth of his own business. A shrewd and principled businessman, he was a pioneer in customer service, employee relations, and worldwide product distribution. A generous philanthropist, his donations helped build universities, improve healthcare, and advance scientific research. His fascinating journey is deftly chronicled in George Eastman: Bringing Photography to the People, where readers will be inspired by a man whose invention and passion improved the lives of millions of people and the pictures they took.