Jack’s Path of Courage:
The Life of John F. Kennedy
Illustrated by Matt Tavares;
Hyperion Books, 2010.

Follow Jack Kennedy’s struggle to overcome the shadow of his brother and his physical ailments to forge his own path that made him beloved by the world.

Eleanor, Quiet No More:
The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt 
Illustrated by Gary Kelley;
Hyperion Books, 2009.

A dramatic narrative, along with Eleanor Roosevelt’s own words, trace her transformation from a shy, frightened child to the First Lady of the World.

Abe’s Honest Words:
The Life of Abraham Lincoln
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson;
Hyperion Books, 2008.

Rappaport’s words, combined with Lincoln’s quotes, illuminate the life and struggles of this great American president.

Lady Liberty: A Biography
Illustrated by Matt Tavares;
Candlewick Press, 2008.

Rappaport tells the story of how this statue and symbol came into being through the voices of those who worked tirelessly for twenty years to make her a reality. 

Freedom Ship
Illustrated by Curtis James;
Hyperion Books, 2005.

On May 13, 1862   Robert Smalls and the nine member slave crew of the Planter, a Confederate steamer anchored in Charleston’s harbor, hijacked the ship  and delivered it, its cannons and ammunitions to the Union Army.

Nobody Gonna Turn Me ‘Round!  Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement  
Illustrated by Shane W. Evans;
Candlewick Press, 2005.

This final book in Rappaport and Evans’s trilogy about the African-American experience traces the modern Civil Rights struggle from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

United No More! Stories of the Civil War
Co-authored with Joan Verniero;
illustrated by Rick Reeves; HarperCollins, 2006.

Be present for the great dramas of the Civil War -- The Battle of Mobile Bay, the charge on Fort Wagner, Lincoln’s second inaugural adress, and Generals Lee and Grant's signing of the surrender.  Learn what inspired Julia Ward Howe to write "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," how the women of Richmond, Virginia protested, and suffer Southerner Eugenia Phillips's humiliating imprisonment on a desolate island. 

In the Promised Land: Lives of Jewish Americans
Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu; HarperCollins, 2005.

From Asser Levy’s first fight against anti-Semitism in the New World, through director Steven Spielberg’s work to establish the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, this book for young readers presents the exciting and rich contributions Jewish Americans have made to American history.

excerpts & reviews

Free at Last! Stories and Songs of Emancipation
Illustrated by Shane W. Evans; Candlewick Press, 2004.

This second book in a trilogy dramatically documents the experience of black Americans from Emancipation to the l954 Supreme Court Decision outlawing school segregation.

Meet American men, women and children who fought for freedom. Stay in the trenches with Peter Brown at Bunker Hill. Cross the Delaware with Washington’s troops. Ride with Sybil Ludington to muster the militia. Spy on the British with James Armistead, an enslaved African.

We Are the Many: A Picture Book of American Indians
illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu; HarperCollins, 2002.

Beginning with Tisquantum teaching the Pilgrims how to survive, and ending 370 years later with Sherman Alexie writing a poem, this book provides young readers with a fresh, exciting first look at the great history and culture of American Indians.

NO MORE! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance
illustrated by Shane Evans; Candlewick Press, 2002.

Ever since the first boatload of human cargo sailed to the New World, African-Americans waged a courageous struggle for dignity and freedom. These true accounts put readers in the shoes of eleven extraordinary individuals and document many forms of slave resistance.

excerpts & reviews

Escape from Slavery
illustrated by Charles Lilly; Harper Trophy, 1998.

Here are five true accounts of African-Americans who escaped from slavery against overwhelming odds.