Helen Plum Library

In 1945, Lieutenant Alene B. Duerk, registered nurse, stood on the deck of the USS Beneoolence, one of the Navy's large hospital ships. It had taken many years of hard work for her to become a capable nurse and an independent woman, as her mother had hoped. Now she was headed for the coast of Japan in a fleet of 600 ships. It was wartime, and the future looked uncertain. But Alene Duerk's dedication would lead to a long and productive career with...

Roxane Gay addresses the experience of living in a body that she calls 'wildly undisciplined.' She casts an insightful and critical eye over her childhood, teens, and twenties -- including the devastating act of violence that was a turning point at age 12 -- and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life. With candor, vulnerability, and authority, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when...

Biographies of fifty South Asian women from different places and times each illustrated with a full colour portrait

Examines the life of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart, who mysteriously disappeared during an around-the-world flight in 1937

"An illustrated picture book autobiography in which award-winning author Yuyi Morales tells her own immigration story"--

Introduces the first Asian American woman elected to Congress, who championed rights for women, children, immigrants and minorities, paving the way for many other women to succeed

An introduction to the life of Mae Jemison, engineer, physician, and astronaut