Heroic Stories (Story Library)

In this anthology, selections from diaries, memoirs, and biographies capture the dramatic adventures and exhilarating accomplishments of the famous as well as those of uncommon courage. Subjects include Anne Frank, Nelson Mandela, Neil Armstrong, Mother Theresa, Christy Brown, survivors from the Titanic, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gr. 4-8. Masters' heroes are of several types: those who deliberately seek danger or adventure, like Charles Lindbergh; those who react magnificently to a challenge not of their choosing, like Anne Frank; and those who devote their lives to a cause or mission, like Mother Teresa. Most of these 23 biographical accounts are related in 8 to 10 pages, and Masters attempts to isolate the qualities that prepared the individuals to respond courageously when called upon. Students looking for subjects to read about for school reports will find good introductions here. Both this and Wynne Jones' Fantasy Stories, also reviewed in this issue, make a promising beginning to the Story Library series. Sheilamae O'Hara