Book excerpt: In this wonderful collection of short biographies, you'll meet a fascinating group of women and men from many different backgrounds. The one trait they have in common is their passion for creating beautiful buildings. The architects you will discover in this book are important both for the buildings they created and for their leadership in developing new designs, construction techniques, and ideas about the role of architecture in our culture. Award-winning author Patricia Brown Glenn takes you on a wondrous journey across time and space and introduces you to each gifted artist. You'll learn how they became interested in architecture, the inspiration for their ideas, and how they influenced their contemporaries as well as later generations of architects. You'll also take a closer look at each architect's most glorious projects. And there are plenty of surprises along the way. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence and one of our most memorable presidents, was also America's first great architect? You'll also discover the woman who designed William Randolph Hearst's fabled mansion, San Simeon; the architect who, in the 1940s, was banned from building his home in Los Angeles' fanciest suburb because he was black; and the Asian-American who has created some of our most impressive office towers, museums, and libraries. Complete with more than 100 colorful drawings from illustrator Joe Stites, Discover America's Favorite Architects is fun as well as informative. It is a terrific source for writing school reports, a great companion for family vacations, and an inspiration for young readers who might want to grow up to be architects one day.