Meg Belviso

"In 1995, on a four-hour-delayed train from Manchester to London, J. K. Rowling conceived of the idea of a boy wizard named Harry Potter. Upon arriving in London, she began immediately writing the first book in the saga. Rowling's true-life, rags-to-riches story is as compelling as the world of Hogwarts that she created. This biography details not only Rowling's life and her love of literature but the story behind the creation of a modern classic"--...

"Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1940, Alex Trebek grew up listening to the radio and hoping to one day become a broadcaster. His dream became a reality when he was hired as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. Alex's composed nature and ability to skillfully improvise while on television eventually led to his role as the host of Jeopardy!, the biggest quiz game show in the United States. Alex not only earned numerous awards over...

"Meet the man who created Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Lewis Carroll is the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson, a mathematician and church deacon, who taught at Oxford University. He was inspired to write his best known works, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by one of the Dean's daughters, Alice Liddell. The books were hugely successful and brought Carroll wide acclaim, especially for the nonsense...

Best known for his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in British-occupied South Africa. His early life was full of action and adventure. Tolkien spent his childhood roaming the British countryside with his family and could read and write by age four. He was naturally gifted with languages and used this skill as a signals officers in World War II as well as in his fantasy writing. By creating alternate universes...

Discover how Neil deGrasse Tyson became one of the world’s most successful and well-known scientists in this new addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
When he was nine years old, Neil deGrasse Tyson went on a trip that would change his life. While visiting the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, he discovered the world of astronomy and felt like the universe was calling to him....