Presents biographical sketches for a variety of successful individuals during the twentieth-century. Aimed at ages 9-12, this collection of biographies - covering historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Helen Keller as well as contemporary figures such as Toni Morrison and Michael Jordan - teaches young people that heroes were once ordinary people whose strength of character helped them to achieve extraordinary things. A Note to Adults 9(2) A Note to the Young Reader 11(2) Abraham Lincoln 13(4) Thomas Alva Edison 17(4) Nellie Bly 21(4) Albert Einstein 25(4) Helen Keller 29(4) Eleanor Roosevelt 33(4) Georgia O'Keeffe 37(4) Jim Thorpe 41(4) Norman Vincent Peale 45(4) Chien-Shiung Wu 49(4) Jackie Robinson 53(4) Maya Angelou 57(4) Martin Luther King Jr. 61(4) Sandra Day O'Connor 65(4) Toni Morrison 69(4) Bill Cosby 73(4) Marian Wright Edelman 77(4) Wilma Rudolph 81(4) Arthur Ashe 85(4) Ben Carson 89(4) Gloria Estefan 93(4) Ellen Ochoa 97(4) Michael Jordan 101(4) Sammy Sosa 105(4) Heather Whitestone 109(4) A Final Thought 113(2) Bibliography 115(6) Acknowledgments 121