Hero Book Picks for Adults
Each month (February to April 2008), we’re choosing three of our favorite books about heroes and encouraging you to read at least one. Click on each entry to find it in the catalog.
Share Your Reaction
After you read one of these books, tell us your reaction on our blog.
More Favorites
See our list of additional hero books, both fiction and nonfiction.
In the Time of the Butterflies (February)
By Julia Alvarez
Fiction/Alvarez, Julia
Written by former CU resident Julia Alvarez, this novel is based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters, well known in Latin America as Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). The four sisters share stories of their fight to overthrow the dictator of the Dominican Republic, a struggle they lost their lives to in 1960.
The Pact (February)
By Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page
Nonfiction/610.922 Dav
This true story follows three teens who make a pact to support each other in their dreams to get out of their tough neighborhood, graduate from high school and college, and become doctors.
Tuesdays with Morrie (February)
By Mitch Albom
Biographies/378.12 Schwartz
Celebrated sportswriter Mitch Albom chronicles the life lessons he learned from weekly visits reconnecting him with his favorite college professor who is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen (March)
by Bob Greene
Nonfiction/978.282 Gre
The residents of a small Nebraska town pulled together their limited supplies, money, and ration books to create a memorable experience for soldiers on their way to military bases at home and overseas during World War II. This book reflects the current interest in everyday wartime heroism. The author was an award-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune.
The Passion of Artemisia (March)
by Susan Vreeland
General Fiction/Vreeland, Susan
Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi becomes the first woman to make her living solely as a painter in this fictionalized account of her life. More than simply breaking gender barriers, the heroine inspires us as a victim of assault who, determined to preserve her self-respect, pursues prosecution of her assailant, despite the indignities and damage to her reputation this brings.
Zorro: A Novel (March)
by Isabel Allende
General Fiction/Allende, Isabel
Diego de la Vega fights against the forces of oppression and the loss of his family estate by assuming a secret identity. Allende brings a human dimension to this larger-than-life hero and gives the story a mystical quality often found in Latin American literature.
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero (April)
by David Maraniss
Biographies/796.357 Maraniss
Roberto Clemente is equally admired for his dedication to charitable work across Latin America and his outstanding ability as a right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Clemente died in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Major League baseball honors his example with the annual Roberto Clemente Award for outstanding humanitarian efforts.
An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography (April)
by Paul Rusesabagina with Tom Zoellner
Biographies/967.571 Rusesabagina
In an act of courage that inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda,” Paul Rusesabagina saved more than 1,200 people from a massacre in Rwanda by hiding them in the luxury hotel he managed.
Pay It Forward: A Novel (April)
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
General Fiction/Hyde, Catherine Ryan
This book, which was adapted into a film, reminds us of our everyday power to positively impact others. Through a school assignment, a young boy is determined to change the lives of people.
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