Showing results for "Perfect" in Biographies

When Althea Gibson first dreamed of joining the big American tennis leagues, she was denied because she was Black. Angela Buxton dreamed of joining the best tennis clubs in Britain, but she was rejected because she was Jewish. When Angela heard that Althea was coming to Britain to compete, she skipped school to see the match. If Althea didn't let hatred stop her from playing the game she loved, Angela wouldn't either.

Marion Blumenthal Lazan's unforgettable memoir recalls the devastating years that shaped her childhood. Following Hitler's rise to power, the Blumenthal family - father, mother, Marion, and her brother, Albert - were trapped in Nazi Germany. They managed eventually to get to Holland, but soon thereafter it was occupied by the Nazis. For the next six and a half years the Blumenthals were forced to live in refugee, transit, and prison camps that included Westerbork in Holland and the notorious Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

With perfect pitch and fierce persistence, Amy Beach always knew she had to make music. There was just one big problem. Her mother believed it was not proper or suitable for a young lady to draw attention to herself, let alone have a musical career. But give in or give up? Not Amy Beach. She demanded to play the piano. She demanded to have a real teacher. She demanded to perform.

Rejected by the parents of the girl he loves for being poor, Ma Mon Luk strikes out from China and boards a steamship headed for the Philippines in 1918. He vows to make a fortune and return for his beloved. Ma creates a chicken noddle soup he calls mami—"ma" for his name and "mi" for noodles—and peddles it as a street vendor. He eventually earns enough to open his own restaurant and wins the approval of the parents of his true love.