Even as a kid, Alicia knew music was in her heart. Fortunately, she grew up in New York City, a place offering everything from free concerts in Central Park to the background music of street and subway performers. She had the chance to take advantage of the culture the city provided as well as its quality education. At 12 years old, she auditioned and was accepted to the Professional Performing Arts School. For Alicia, the school was an artistic playground. Soon, she was on her way to her first recording contract.

After disagreements with Columbia Records, Alicia was able to record her music, her own way, for Clive Davis and his newly formed J Records. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, along with her hit single, Fallin’, have put Alicia in the winner’s circle with 5 Grammy Awards. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, became a triple platinum album....

Shad Moss (better known as Bow Wow) got hooked on hip-hop when he was only six years old. His mother took him to a Snoop Dogg concert and Shad volunteered to rap on stage during a break between sets. Snoop asked to meet Shad and invited him to tour with him that summer. It was like a dream come true. From this chance meeting, Shad, dubbed "Lil Bow Wow" by Snoop Dogg, launched his successful career....

F. Scott Fitzgerald defined the 1920s, calling it the "Jazz Age." His work reflected both the excitement of the decade and the misery of the Great Depression that followed. He is indeed a Classic Storyteller, but like many artists he suffered for his work. Scott’s writing came from dealing with the pain he experienced in his life. Hiding this pain from the outside world and "keeping up appearances" are themes echoed in his work. Although many of the characters Scott wrote about seemed well off, they usually worried about money. While many authors create sympathy for characters who are poor, Scott could get readers rooting for characters who were rich. His novels such as The Great Gatsby are still read and enjoyed not just as reflections of the times in which he lived, but as reflections of his life as well....

All Harry Potter knew was a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their hateful son, Dudley. His room was a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs. He hadn't had a birthday party in eleven years. All that changed in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Daniel Radcliffe, on the other hand, the young actor who was chosen to play Harry Potter, led a comfortable life in London, England. His biggest obstacle was convincing his parents that he was up to the challenge of playing the role of Harry Potter. Here is the story of the young teen and his role of a lifetime....

16th Century explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, led the first European expedition on the U.S. west coast. He discovered and named San Diego Bay and Santa Barbara....

Music has been important to Missy Elliott all her life. From her earliest recollections of turning up the radio to drown out her parents’ arguments, to singing to her dolls, Missy just loved to write poems and to sing. But in the early 1980s, judging by the videos she saw on MTV, there didn’t seem to be a place for her in hip-hop. The women in hip-hop weren’t singers or songwriters—they were merely set decorations. But after the all-female group Salt-N-Pepa became successful in 1988, Missy thought she could do it too. With countless awards and successful albums to her name, it looks like she was right....

Lois Lowry's first book, "A Summer to Die", was published in 1977, when Lowry was a newly divorced, 40-year-old single mother. Lowry went on to publish works such as "Anastasia Krupnik" and "All About Sam". Her thought-provoking books "The Giver" and "Number the Stars" both won Newbery Medals. "Lois Lowry" tells the story of an author who endured hardship and even tragedy to become one of the best-loved authors for young people....

Alexander the Great led soldiers from his perch atop Bucephalus. He commanded the largest army the world had even known. He ruled a kingdom that stretched across two continents. Before he was 30, he was the richest man on the planet. He would know love and loss, but he'd never know an end to his ambitions. Only his death ended in conquest. Today, generals still study Alexander's battle plans. Manuscripts preserved at libraries he founded were used by historians to give us a record of his life. He was more than just a king. He spread democracy. In many ways, he was more of a liberator than a conqueror....

Jack London grew up poor, abandoned by his father even before he was born. He was raised by a disabled Civil War veteran who married his mother, a woman with violent and unpredictable mood swings. At 14, he dropped out of school to support the family, working in factories and on ships.

Over the course of his brief lifetime, he authored more than four dozen novels such as Call of the Wild and even more short stories. He became a best-selling author in the United States. Today he is one of the most widely read writers of all time. Jack London wrote about the life and adventures he lived....