The Story of Barack, Vol. 1: Born Biracial (1961–1979) [Educational Edition]

Common Core Standards–Driven • Nonfiction • Interactive • Multi-Touch • A Wealth of Engaging Photographs and Videos • Attractive Design • High Editorial Quality • Historical • Biographical • Chapter Based

LIVING THROUGH HISTORY. The Story of Barack Obama: African American, Civil Rights Activist, U.S. President, World Leader, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner is a three-volume, multi-touch, e-book series. Containing more than 400 high-interest photographs and videos, this engaging historical and biographical series chronicles the life and times of our sitting president, from his humble beginnings as a biracial infant to his place on the world stage.

Young readers will learn about the prevailing attitudes and historical events that shaped the boy and the man — racial discrimination, anti-miscegenation, and the Civil Rights Movement; the Great Migration and Chicago politics; the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that followed; America’s financial crisis and health care reform; the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the daring raid on his Abbottabad compound; and much more. Students will follow the boy who finds himself, and in so doing, discover the man who finds his calling, shapes events, and makes history.

THE STORY OF BARACK, VOL. 1, BORN BIRACIAL (1961–1979) takes readers along as young Barack embarks on a most remarkable odyssey. The son of an idealistic white mother from America’s heartland and an ambitious black father from a primitive African village, Barack was born in the multicultural state of Hawaii and raised by his devoted mother and caring grandparents. Students will read about young Barack’s formative years — growing up while America’s Civil Rights Movement raged on. As a grade school student, Barack moved with his mother to the exotic Southeast-Asian country of Indonesia with its diverse culture. Before he reached the age of 10, he had more extraordinary experiences than most people have in a lifetime. 

Meet Barack’s ancestors; watch as his moral fabric is woven by his loving mother; discover how his early exposure to a variety of cultures profoundly influences his worldview; and share in his struggles as a teenager, wrestling with life-shaping questions about his race, identity, and purpose in life. Come to know the inner Barack — his character, his values, his hopes and dreams — and discover why his story is also the story of this great nation.

Educational features have been included to facilitate critical thinking, comprehension, and retention, such as: Looking Ahead (chapter previews); Looking Back (end-of-chapter review Q&As); glossary words (with pop-up definitions); a Chronology; a Bibliography; Websites of Interest; and an Index.