Ready to Read: You Should Meet... Boxed Set of 6

You Should Meet Duke Kahanamoku

He is often referred to as "the father of surfing" and "the human fish." Duke Kahanamoku helped make surfing a popular sport around the world—and once saved eight people using his surfboard! Not only that, he won five Olympic medals for the United States. Duke Kahanamoko proves you can build a career doing something that you love. You should meet Duke!

You Should Meet Jesse Owens

Meet Jesse Owens, an African American runner who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin! What made his achievement even more memorable was that Adolph Hitler expected the Olympic Games to be a German showcase. In fact, he criticized the United States for even including black athletes on its Olympic roster. According to many reports, after Owens won his fourth gold medal, Hitler stormed out of the stadium. In 1936 Jesse Owens took a stand against racism and made history.

You Should Meet Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson worked for the NASA space program in the early 1950s. She was such a brilliant mathematician she could figure out the math needed to send a rocket to the moon in her head—without the help of a computer or a calculator.

You Should Meet Mae Jemison

Meet Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut! Did you know before Mae was an astronaut, she went to medical school and joined the Peace Corps? But she never forgot her childhood dream to travel to outer space. So in 1985 she applied to NASA's astronaut training program. On September 12, 1992, Mae flew into space with six other astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour and made history—just like you can if you follow your dreams!

You Should Meet Misty Copeland

When Misty was a young girl, she was told she had a gift for ballet. But when Misty became a teenager, she was told she didn't have a dancer's body. Instead of giving up, she just worked harder and became the first African American principal dancer for the American Ballet Theater.

You Should Meet Women Who Launched the Computer Age

In 1946, six brilliant young women programmed the first all-electronic, programmable computer, the ENIAC, part of a secret World War II project. They learned to program without any programming languages or tools, and by the time they were finished, the ENIAC could run a complicated calculus equation in seconds. But when the ENIAC was presented to the press and public, the women were never introduced or given credit for their work. Learn all about what they did and how their invention still matters today in this story of six amazing young women everyone should meet!