Teen Trailblazers: 30 Daring Boys Whose Dreams Changed the World

by Jennifer Calvert, Vesna Asanovic (Illustrator)

Overview

The impossible is possible when kids dare to dream big!

Discover the courageous kids who aimed high and made a difference! Every great scientist, activist, writer, and inventor started out as a child with a dream. With illustrations by Vesna Asanovic, Jennifer Calvert's Teen Trailblazers: 30 Daring Boys Whose Dreams Changed the World explores the stories of 30 of these remarkable kids, whose passions led to lifesaving medical treatments, revolutionary inventions, and history-making achievements. From groundbreaking innovators like Boyan Slat and the Wright brothers; to powerful advocates like Nelson Mandela, Harvey Milk, and David Hogg; and creative minds like Walt Disney, Fred Rogers, and John and Hank Green, each one turned his dreams for a better world into reality.

Dive into the amazing adventures, intrepid efforts, and hard-won victories of trailblazers such as:
- Louis Braille
- Wilbur & Orville Wright
- Mohandas Gandhi
- Jonas Salk
- David Attenborough
- Barack Obama
- Satoshi Tajiri
- Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Jaques Cousteau
- Boyan Slat

and other ordinary boys who dared to do incredible, impossible, and inspiring things.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250281616
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	134,170
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Calvert is a writer and editor with dozens of credits in nonfiction publishing. When she isn’t highlighting the accomplishments of incredible young people, you can find her curled up with a book and a cat in New Jersey. She is the author of several books, including Teen Trailblazers and Science Superstars.

Vesna Asanovic is an artist and illustrator based in Toronto, Canada. She holds a BDes from Ontario College of Art and Design. She works primarily digitally with a particular interest in bright, bold colors and graphic shapes. In her free time you can find Vesna drawing in her sketchbook on a sunny patio.

Table of Contents

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bill Gates
Louis Braille
Mahatma Ghandi
Barack Obama
Lin-Manuel Miranda
David Hogg
David Attenborough
Boyan Slat
Ernest Shackleton
Jonas Salk
Colin Kaepernick
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fred Rogers
Bryan Stevenson
Orville and Wilbur Wright
John & Hank Green
Nelson Mandela
Jacques Cousteau
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Harvey Milk
Walt Disney
Alan Shepard
Frederick Douglass
Alexander Hamilton
Bucky Fuller
Roberto Burle Marx
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Oscar Ekponimo
Satoshi Tajiri

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2022

Gr 5–8—Hamilton composer Lin-Manuel Miranda was singing as soon as he could speak and would record his performances when still in elementary school. Late San Francisco politician Harvey Milk knew he was gay by the time he reached high school but kept his sexuality a secret from family and friends until years later. An introductory note by Calvert explains that the focus on these 30 innovators and activists as boys (another title by the author profiles 30 "fearless girls") is not that they achieved early fame, but that this is when "the seeds of change were planted and cultivated in each of them." Subjects represent diverse backgrounds and histories, ranging from 18th-century mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker to contemporary gun control activist David Hogg. Sidebar texts provide supplemental information, such as a brief history and description of South Africa's apartheid system in the chapter on Nelson Mandela, and break up large blocks of text, helpful for reluctant or less confident readers. Some chapters bring attention to social and disability issues: Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's autism, for example, or novelist John Green's challenges with OCD. Frequent illustrations by Asanovic are colorful and quirky, resembling 1990s-era clip art. There are no photographs, source notes, citations, or suggestions for further reading provided. VERDICT While a teen-centered perspective and focus on achievement and social impact are appealing, collective biographies can be a difficult sell and the absence of any back matter makes this one difficult to recommend.—Bob Hassett

School Library Journal

2022-06-22
Thumbnail biographies highlighting formative boyhood experiences of 30 exceptional men past and present who have had a lasting impact.

The highlighted figures include 18th-century mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, and gay activist Harvey Milk. Each chapter follows the same template: a few bullet points, which include dates of birth and death (if applicable), an impactful quote from the subject, a short biography, and interesting sidebar facts. This last element often provides the most interesting information in the book, like the fact that Louis Braille found a way to translate sheet music into braille, and Jacques Cousteau developed his love of the sea when he took up swimming as therapy after breaking both of his arms in a car crash. As for youthful accomplishments, Nelson Mandela was expelled from university for protesting, and David Hogg famously became an activist after surviving the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Other notable inclusions are quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, and Japanese video game developer and Pokémon inventor Satoshi Tajiri. Calvert’s crisp introduction pinpoints her hope that these brief, fact-filled portraits may spur readers to explore further. The book’s value in this regard is unfortunately weakened by a lack of recommended further reading, and its authority is undermined by an absence of sources. The text follows a White default. Color illustrations brighten the volume.

A cursory introduction to potential male role models. (Nonfiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews