Martha Stewart has been a straight-A student, model, mother, stockbroker, caterer, writer, TV personality, and convicted federal prisoner. She remains one of the wealthiest self-made businesswomen in history. Born as Martha Kostyra in 1941 to a working-class family, Martha excelled at cooking, gardening, and sewing from a young age.

From the age of five, Joseph Alois Ratzinger knew he wanted to be a priest. Seventy-three years later, he became Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th pope of the Catholic Church. Born in 1927 in Marktl-am-Inn, Germany, Ratzinger was the son of a police officer and a cook, who raised a devout Catholic family. Ratzinger entered the seminary in 1939, but Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler, soon closed the school. Like all boys, Ratzinger was forced to join the Hitler Youth and later the anti-aircraft corps and the national labor service.

Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in the world as well as a medical miracle. Just after he enrolled in a doctorate program in physics at Oxford University, he learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Doctors gave him just a few years to live. But Hawking never let his disease keep him down. His brilliant, groundbreaking work on black holes and the Big Bang theory amazed other scientists.

Vladimir Ilyitch Lenin was one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century. The son of a Russian civil servant, he was raised in comfortable circumstances. But when his older brother was executed for attempting to assassinate the Russian czar, Lenin became a revolutionary. He was inspired by the radical writings of Karl Marx, who called for a world ruled by workers instead of wealthy men and monarchs. Lenin created his own interpretation of Marxism, known as Leninism, and headed a small, outlawed political party known as the Bolsheviks.

Vera Wang, one of the hottest names in the fashion world, gained fame by revolutionizing bridal design with her sleek, sophisticated gowns. But Wang’s talents go far beyond elegant wedding dresses; her one-of-a-kind evening gowns are sought after by celebrities for red-carpet events, and upscale department stores and boutiques carry her designs for items ranging from sportswear to bedding to stationery to glassware to fragrances.

Did you know that every cell in every living thing contains DNA? These tiny threadlike strands control how all plants, animals, even bacteria are made. DNA holds the entire building plan for each cell found in every living thing. It makes sure that cells are put together in just the right way to do their jobs.

Bacteria and viruses are all around you. If they get inside your body, they can make you very sick. Fortunately, your body is built to keep illness-causing invaders out. If some do get in, special cells inside your body come to the rescue.

You probably know that your body is made of different kinds of cells. But did you know that you started out as just one cell? So did all animals! Find out how a whole animal grows from that first cell. Through close-up color photos of cells and cell parts, you will learn what special talents your cells—and the cells of other animals—have.

You probably know that all living things need food to survive, including plants. So where do plants get their food? They make it themselves! This book takes you inside plant cells and shows you up-close photos of all the different cell parts.

Do you realize there are about 100 trillion cells in your body? That’s a lot of cells to manage! It’s a good thing they are organized into systems that all work together. This book takes you on a journey inside your body to see many types of cells—skin cells, blood cells, muscle cells, and more—magnified hundreds or thousands of times larger than their actual size.

Born in New York City in 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur grew up primarily on the streets of Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital Underground.

Will Smith is a popular actor and rap artist who rose to fame on the 1990s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Starring as a kid from the ghetto who goes to live with his wealthy relatives, Smith enjoyed six successful seasons on the show. He also continued his rap career, recording numerous songs as one half of the duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.