A Book About an Unsung Hero

A selection of books that fulfill the criteria for the UBN 2025 category of a book about an unsung hero.

Updated January 4, 2025
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The secret of life : Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the discovery of DNA's double helix
Markel, Howard
Paper Book
James Watson and Francis Crick's 1953 discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is the foundation of virtually every advance in our modern understanding of genetics and molecular biology. But how did Watson and Crick do it?and why were they the ones who succeeded? In truth, the...
The small and the mighty : twelve unsung Americans who changed the course of history, from the founding to the civil rights movement
McMahon, Sharon
Paper Book
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From America's favorite government teacher, a "fascinating and fun" (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Lee Shetterly, Margot
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller -WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION -WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES,...
Chester Nez and the unbreakable code : a Navajo code talker's story
Bruchac, Joseph
Paper Book
A Junior Library Guild Selection April 2018 2018 Cybils Award Finalist, Elementary Non-Fiction BRLA 2018 Southwest Book Award 2019 Southwest Books of the Year: Kid Pick 2020 Grand Canyon Award, Nonfiction Nominee 2020-2021...
That librarian : the fight against book banning in America
Jones, Amanda
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Amanda Jones started getting death threats, all for standing up for our right to read . . . but she's not stopped fighting against book bans, or stopped advocating for access to diverse stories."-Oprah Winfrey, in a speech at the 2023 National Book...
The miracle of Dunkirk
Lord, Walter
Audiobook
On May 24, 1940, Hitler's armies were on the brink of a shattering military victory. Only ten miles away, 400,000 Allied troops were pinned against the coast of Dunkirk. But just eleven days later, 338,000 men had been successfully evacuated to England. How did it happen? Walter Lord's remarkable...
No ordinary dog : my partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden raid
Chesney, Will
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER No Ordinary Dog is the powerful true story of a SEAL Team Operator and military dog handler, and the dog that saved his life. Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden's compound in May 2011. After the mission,...
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Skloot, Rebecca
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller -- Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave sixty years ago. Yet her cells -- taken without her knowledge, grown in culture and bought and sold by the billions -- became one of the most important tools in medical research. Rebecca...
DICTIONARY PEOPLE
OGILVIE, SARAH
Paper Book
A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST * The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A history and celebration of the many far-flung volunteers who helped define the English language, word by word. ...
The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts
Hammer, Joshua
Paper Book
To save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean's Eleven. In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the...

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