Essential events

Examines the series of walls built to protect China from outsiders that is known as the Great Wall of China.

This title examines an important historic event, the Trail of Tears. Readers will learn the background of European settlement in Native American lands, relations between the groups, and how this led to the Trail of Tears. Also covered are the key players, the tragic loss of thousands of Cherokee on the trail, and the event's effects on the future of Native Americans and the United States. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read,...

Chronicles the history of events surrounding the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, describing causes and effects, and discussing government response. Includes a time line, list of facts, and other resources.

This title examines an important historic event - bleeding Kansas. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of America during this violent time period as territories entered the Union as free or slave states. Readers will learn about the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the man behind it, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the signer of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, President Franklin Pierce, and the effects of this event on...

Profiles the terrorist leader of al-Qaida, who orchestrated the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and describes his assassination by the U.S. government in May of 2011.

Chronicles the Civil Rights movement in the United States, including important demonstrations such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Birmingham Campaign.

Discusses the emergency landing of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River by Captain Chesley Sullenberger after five Canadian geese struck the plane, damaging its engines.

This title examines an important historic event - the orphan train movement. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of the Children's Aid Society and the development of the Brace School, lodging houses, and industrial schools, the conditions that led to child abandonment in the 1800s, problems with institutional care and child labor laws, the roles the Civil War, the Great Depression, and people like Charles Loring Brace played, and the...

This title examines an important historic event - the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster near Middletown, Pennsylvania. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of nuclear power in the United States, how a nuclear plant works, details of the emergency at Metropolitan Edison Company's nuclear power plant, handling of the disaster by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, President Jimmy Carter's visit to Three Mile Island, the investigation into...

This title examines an important historic event-the civil rights efforts in Mississippi during the summer of 1964, known today as Freedom Summer. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the work of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in leading voter registration efforts and improving education in the state. Also examined are the murders of civil rights workers and the hate crimes they faced, considered in the social context of segregation....

This title examines an important historic event-the Berlin Wall's division of the city of Berlin, Germany, from the building of the wall to its destruction. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores why the wall was built, what it was like living in a divided city, and why the wall was torn down. Also discussed is the political context behind the wall, including the events in Germany following World War II and the tensions between capitalism and communism...

This title examines an important historic event-the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the man behind the shooting, Adam Lanza, the tragic events of December 14, 2012, the shooting's aftermath and the community's response, and the victims' families advocacy work in subsequent months. Also discussed are gun laws in the United States, new legislation introduced in Congress...

This title examines an important historic event-the standoff in Waco, Texas, between federal law enforcement agencies and Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and his followers living in the Mount Carmel Center. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history and religious beliefs of Koresh's group, the suspected criminal activity that led law enforcement to surround the compound, the events of the 51-day standoff, and its tragic end. Also discussed...