Early in his career, baseball great, Derek Jeter questioned if he had what it took to become a major sports figure. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, was a C-average student raised by Jamaican immigrant parents in the Bronx. Lynne Duke, a former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, risked her life to detail the horrors of war in the Congo. At a peak in her career, Queen Latifah, rapper, actress, and spokesperson, had to learn how to deal with grief after the loss of her brother. Yet each and every one of these high achievers was able to take advantage of the hand they were dealt to continue on a path towards success.

Barbara Summers, educator, former model and author of Black and Beautiful: How Women of Color Changed the Fashion Industry, culled sixteen autobiographical essays from a diverse group of African Americans—some famous and others perhaps less well known but equally well respected in their fields—and collected them in this inspirational and thought-provoking anthology that demonstrates how to recognize the many faces of opportunity.

Perfectly sized and packaged for young adults, Open the Unusual Door is a wonderful representation of how others, just like them, turned chance into triumph, made a comeback, or in some cases, learned how to survive. From reading these true life stories, teens will find the power within to recognize that when one door closes, another one opens.