saraha Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I want to have my high schoolers read some biographies this semester. Does anyone have any recommendations that are hopefully pretty engaging? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 What are your kids interested in? Whether a biography is engaging depends to a large degree on whether the kid finds what that person does or did interesting. My DD read biographies of authors and historical figures. My DS read biographies of martial artists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) I want them to be people of high moral character and hopefully have done something to benefit humanity. The first one they are reading is Eleanor Roosevelt to go along with their history, but I don't want only "American History" tied. I don't have time to preread every one they read, so was hoping someone had some suggestions about well written, interesting vs. those books that come in a large set at the library that kids use for book reports. Does that make sense? I am not a well read person in this area, but it is a goal for me for them to have been exposed to some fantastic people that may or may not be well known, but exemplified strong character. Entertaining/ interesting/ memorable is more important than a super detailed life history. Edited February 7, 2017 by saraha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 My two oldest sons really enjoyed Mover of Men and Mountains about LeTourneau. They read it over and over again. I think it meets your criteria. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Job121 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Genius. It is about the physicist Richard Feynman. If your kid are interested in physics or even science, it might be a good read. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mandela)- long read, but a good one. South (Ernest Shackelton) (and check out Frank Hurley's photos-- makes it all come alive even more. This bio has some of the photos.) The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - part of a trilogy, if you get the urge to keep going John Adams (by David McCullough) - another long read, but a good one. OR you could watch the mini-series instead.... :leaving: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Here are some biographies and autobiographies that my older daughter has read: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne by Catherine Reef The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin Charles Dickens by Michael Slater Richard the Third by Paul Kendall Players: The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare by Bertram Fields She also be reading these: Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I want them to be people of high moral character and hopefully have done something to benefit humanity. The first one they are reading is Eleanor Roosevelt to go along with their history, but I don't want only "American History" tied. I don't have time to preread every one they read, so was hoping someone had some suggestions about well written, interesting vs. those books that come in a large set at the library that kids use for book reports. Does that make sense? I am not a well read person in this area, but it is a goal for me for them to have been exposed to some fantastic people that may or may not be well known, but exemplified strong character. Entertaining/ interesting/ memorable is more important than a super detailed life history. Here are a few that my son has read over 10th-11th grade. Some he liked better than others but they were all thought-provoking. Some of these are pretty Christian-specific, though I think that Wilberforce and Bonhoeffer are of general interest. Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys by Micheal Collins Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life by Colin Duriez The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew Churchill by Paul Johnson End of the Spear by Steve Saint He's read other excellent biographies, but I don't think Hitler or Stalin fit your criteria! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) Here is another one by David McCullough, Brave Companions; it is a compilation of bios, and might be more manageable if some of the longer books look too daunting. And two more shorter, but good ones: Longitude, by Dava Sobel; and Brunelleschi's Dome, by Ross King. Edited February 13, 2017 by Zoo Keeper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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