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
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
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,...
Oh no he didn't! : brilliant women and the men who took credit for their work
Murphy, Wendy
Paper Book
Don't you hate it when someone takes credit for another person's idea? It happens a lot, and the people who lose out are often women. This book tells the stories of women whose inventions, discoveries, and creations were credited to men-women like Zelda Fitzgerald, the novelist, painter, and...
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
Paper Book
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...
The cruelest miles : the heroic story of dogs and men in a race against an epidemic
Salisbury, Gay.
Paper Book
In 1925, a deadly diphtheria epidemic swept through icebound Nome, Alaska. The life-saving serum was a thousand miles away, and a blizzard was brewing. Airplanes could not fly in such conditions: only the dogs could do it. Racing against death, twenty dog teams relayed the serum across the Alaskan...
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
Led by mild-mannered archivist and historian Abdel Kader Haidara, a band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean's Eleven to save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from destruction by Al Qaeda.

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.