Who HQ

A thoughtful and age-appropriate introduction to an unimaginable event—the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps—six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis...

How did a young boy from Ohio go on to become one of the greatest basketball players of all time? Read about the incredible life and career of LeBron James in this addition to the #1 New York Times best-selling Who Was? series. Today, LeBron James is an international superstar who has won four...

For more than one hundred years, people have been captivated by the disastrous sinking of the Titanic that claimed over 1,500 lives. Now young readers can find out why the great ship went down and how it was discovered seventy-five years later. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the Royal Mail...

The story of a poor boy from Brazil who became the greatest soccer player of all time and one of the most important athletes of the twentieth century! His parents may have named him Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but to the rest of the world, he was known as Pelé. The soccer forward stunned...

Grab your Js and hit the court with this Who Was? biography about NBA superstar Michael Jordan. Meet the man who changed the game forever. Michael Jordan has always been competitive--even as a young boy, he fought for attention. His need to be the best made him a star player on his college...

Read all about Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi and his legendary career in this book from Who HQ Now, the series featuring the trending topics and news makers of today. Lionel Messi loved soccer from an early age, often playing with his family members with encouragement from his...

Learn how a young girl who lived on a Christmas tree farm grew up to become one of the most celebrated musical artists of the twenty-first century in this addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Taylor Swift always knew she wanted to be a country music artist, so at age thirteen...

Just in time for baseball season! Babe Ruth came from a poor Baltimore family and, as a kid, he was a handful. It was at a reform school that Babe discovered his talent for baseball, and by the age of nineteen, he was on his way to becoming a sports legend. Babe was often out of shape and even...

NBA champion, sports analyst, and successful businessman Shaquille O'Neal is a lively and entertaining addition to the #1 New York Times Bestselling Series! Shaquille O'Neal discovered his love of basketball while spending time in an afterschool program called the Boys & Girls Club of America...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Step back in time to the creation of America’s founding document with this fascinating history for young readers, part of the beloved What Was? series. The perfect way to celebrate the U.S.A.’s 250th anniversary! On a hot summer day near Philadelphia in 1776...

On October 29, 1929, life in the United States took a turn for the worst. The stock market – the system that controls money in America – plunged to a record low. But this event was only the beginning of many bad years to come. By the early 1930s, one out of three people was not working...

Learn about the exciting record-breaking career of home run hero Aaron Judge in the Who HQ Now format featuring newsmakers and trending topics. Since making his Major League Baseball debut in 2016, Aaron Judge has taken the world of baseball by storm. He has won Home Run Derby competitions and...

Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman knew first-hand what it meant to be someone's property; she was whipped by owners and almost killed by an overseer. It was from other field hands that she first heard about the Underground Railroad which she travelled by herself north to Philadelphia...

Told in a new Who HQ Now format for trending topics, this Who Was? biography details NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's legendary career and the impact of his legacy on the sports world and beyond. Kobe Bryant was just an eighteen-year-old high-school basketball player when he decided to enter the...

A terrifying attack! On December 7, 1941, Japanese war planes appeared out of nowhere to bomb the American base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was a highly secretive and devastating attack: four battleships sunk, more than two thousand servicemen died, and the United States was propelled into...

Though much of his early life remains a mystery, Blackbeard most likely began his life as Edward Teach in the sailing port of Bristol, England. He began his career as a hired British sailor during Queen Anne’s War. He eventually settled in the Bahamas under Captain Benjamin Hornigold who...

Learn how Lady Diana Spencer became the People's Princess as she takes her place in the ranks of the Who Was? series. A shy twenty-year-old girl stepped out of a horse-drawn coach and into the world spotlight, capturing the imagination of millions as a real life fairytale princess. Although the...

Learn about the life and legacy of American skateboard legend Tony Hawk and what makes him one of the most celebrated skateboarders of all time! Tony Hawk, also known as "Birdman," knew from an early age that he was special. Using skateboarding as an outlet for his excess energy, he became a...

How did a young woman who was devoted to helping others become the prime suspect in her parents' gruesome deaths? Learn everything we know about the mysterious case of Lizzie Borden in this compelling biography. In August of 1892, the Borden family housekeeper found a horrific scene: Mr. and Mrs...

Malala Yousafzai was a girl who loved to learn but was told that girls would no longer be allowed to go to school. She wrote a blog that called attention to what was happening in her beautiful corner of Pakistan and realized that words can bring about change. She has continued to speak out for...