Heroes for My Son by Brad Meltzer

children
    Not everyone is nice like that.
    â€”The receptionist in my mom’s doctor’s office, when she heard that my mom had died from breast cancer. Always remember: the truth is what people say behind your back.

— FAMILY MAN —
ben rubin
    My grandfather.

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    H e was bald.
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    He had flat feet.
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    And he was just a cutter, spending long days slicing fabrics in the garment center.
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    But he was my grandfather.
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    Your great-grandfather.
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    And when I was your age, he used to tell me stories about Batman, simply because he knew how much I loved Batman stories.
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    He made up those stories just for me, inspiring me to be a writer.
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    Which is why, Jonas Benjamin, I named you after him. *
    He sounds nice.
    â€”Jonas Benjamin Meltzer, age six

 
    your hero’s
    photo here

 
    your hero’s story here…

 
    There are many heroes in this world. Far more than we could fit in one book. If you have a hero, please share your story with us. Your hero could be someone everyone knows or someone only you know. We’d love to hear, for instance, about the teacher or mentor who made a difference in your life.
    So please send your story to:
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    [email protected]
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    or to
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    Brad Meltzer
    20533 Biscayne Boulevard, #371
    Aventura, FL 33180
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    To see even more of what you can do, please visit: www.OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com and www.HeroesForMySon.com.

Photograph Credits
    Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following sources for photographs in this book:
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    Jacket photograph © Richard Mallory Allnutt 2008, www.rmallnutt.com
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    Neil Armstrong © NASA Johnson Space Center Collection, George H. W. Bush © George Bush Presidential Library, Roberto Clemente © Jim Hanson, Clara Hale © Hale House, Jim Henson © Bernard Gotfryd, Barbara Johns © Robert Russa Moton Museum, Teri Meltzer and Ben Rubin © Brad Meltzer, Andy Miyares © Miyaris Family/Special Olympics Florida, Jackie Robinson © National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, NY, Eleanor Roosevelt © Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Eli Segal © Phyllis Segal, Officer Frank Shankwitz © Frank Shankwitz/Make-A-Wish Foundation, Team Hoyt © Team Hoyt Foundation, Dan West © Heifer International, Oprah Winfrey © Charlie Knoblock/Associated Press
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    Corbis Images: Paul Newman © Bettmann, Barack Obama © Obama for America/Reuters, Steven Spielberg © Steve Schapiro
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    Getty Images: Lucille Ball © Michael Ochs Archives, Norman Borlaug © Art Rickerby/Time & Life Pictures, Charlie Chaplin © American Stock, Albert Einstein © Ernst Haas, Mahatma Gandhi © Apic, Lou Gehrig © Transcendental Graphics, Miep Gies © Anne Frank Fonds-Basel/Anne Frank House, Aung San Suu Kyi © Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP, John Lennon © Chris Walter/WireImage, Nelson Mandela © Jurgen Schadeberg, Mother Teresa © Mark Edwards, Chesley B. Sullenberger III © Pool
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    Library of Congress: Bella Abzug—LC-DIG-ppmsc-03683, Frederick Douglass—LC-USZ62-15887, Harry Houdini—LC-USZC4-3277, Jesse Owens—LCUSZ62-27663, Dr. Seuss—LC-USZ62-116956, Anne Sullivan—LC-USZ6-2244, Harriet Tubman—LC-USZ62-7816, Mark Twain—LC-USZ62-112728, The Wright Brothers—LC-W861-111
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    New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress: Muhammad Ali—LC-USZ62-137782, Amelia Earhart—LCUSZ62-119130, Martin Luther King Jr.—LC-USZ62-111164, Harper Lee—LCUSZ62-121597, Pelé—LC-USZ62-120850, Jonas Salk—LC-USZ62-92227
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    National Archives: Thomas Jefferson—ARC Identifier 535935/Local Identifier 208-PU-104HH(4), Abraham Lincoln—ARC Identifier 527823/Local Identifier 111-B-3656, George Washington—ARC Identifier 532939/Local Identifier 148-GW-1073
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    Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel © Joanne Siegel, copy in the