Here is a great mini-biography, a part of the Ordinary People Change the World series. It grabs the attention of the reader with its full color comic illustrations including the conversation bubbles. It is written in first person narrative.

Helen was a “normal” child, until sickness at 19 months left her deaf and blind. She lived in a world of quiet and darkness, but then when she was 6 years old, Anne Sullivan, her private teacher, came to live with her family. “I got angry a lot back then. It was so hard for me. I was frustrated.” Anne Sullivan began the slow process of spelling words into Helen’s hand. Once Helen understood the process (no easy job) there was no stopping her. “Close your eyes.” Author Brad Meltzer builds in empathy. Later, Helen learned to read Braille. Because of this book’s thick pages, a raised dot Braille alphabet is included within the book itself. At nine years of age, Miss Sullivan took Helen to teacher Sarah Fuller, who began teaching Helen to talk. Miss Fuller let Helen “put my hands to her face and let me feel her tongue and lips as she made each sound. In an hour, I learned the letters M, P, A, S, T, and I.” Helen went on to graduate college from Radcliffe at Harvard University. Helen became a public speaker. “I started fighting for social change: to help women vote, to help the poor survive, and to help people who needed it most. “

The book ends with a timeline of Helen’s life and 4 black and white photos of her.