Determination.

Challenges met and triumphed over.

Talent in the heart and soul of her words.

And the drive to make history from a young woman who is wise and grown up beyond her years.

These are all elements of the first feel good story of 2021, the triumph and history-making journey of Amanda Gorman. A journey, as chronicled in the biography of the young Black poetess whose happy ending concluded at the White House as the featured reader at President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, Word Up!: The Life of Amanda Gorman by New York Times Bestselling Author Marc Shapiro.

Word Up!: The Life of Amanda Gorman tells the inspirational story of a young girl born to a single mother, her challenges involving a speech impediment and the ultimate drive and determination to become a National Poet Laureate. Gorman did all this while carrying a full class load at Harvard University and, through perseverance and an innate drive to succeed, used her talents and the power of the written word for the betterment of social and political justice around the world. And almost as an afterthought, she will tell anyone who listens that she may one day become the President of The United States. Amanda Gorman has, at the ripe old age of 23, set a high bar for the promise and future of generations to come.

It’s a story with a happy ending, says author Marc Shapiro. Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it any better. This is real life and an object lesson to all the young women out there who are looking for a role model to inspire them to their full potential. Amanda Gorman is that role model.

Word Up!: The Life of Amanda Gorman is the true story of an amazing young woman who has made her mark on the world on her own terms.