I have always enjoyed the Childhood of Famous Americans series of biographies of great Americans. These stories are somewhat fictionalized and usually focus on the childhood and young adult years of the well known person who is being written about. I found a few of these (ex-library copies) at a recent book sale:

Tom Jefferson, Boy in Colonial Days by Helen Albee Monsell. Tom’s father tells him, “Just to be strong is not enough. You must also have a trained mind in your strong body.”
Stephen Foster, Boy Minstrel by Helen Boyd Higgins. Did you know that Stephen Foster was born on the Fourth of July?
Walter Reed, Boy Who Wanted to Know by Helen Boyd Higgins. Walter Reed is inspired by the long illness and slow recovery of a friend to become a doctor and help others who have yellow fever and other diseases.
Woodrow Wilson, Boy President by Helen Albee Monsell. There’s an encouraging story in this book about young Tommy Wilson, age nine, struggling to learn to read.
Noah Webster, Boy of Words by Helen Boyd Higgins. “The day Noah was accepted at Yale College, the Websters were the proudest family in the whole of Connecticut.”
Nathan Hale, Puritan Boy by Augusta Stevenson. Nathan Hale was one of seven boys in the Hale family with only one sister, Elizabeth.

Interesting facts and stories like these are embedded in a narrative that engages young readers and inspires them to emulate the heroes’ good qualities while also reading about the youthful mischief and mistakes that even heroes can make.

I already had several of these biographies in my home library:
Lucretia Mott, Girl of Old Nantucket By Constance Burnett.
Thomas Edison: Young Inventor by Sue Gutheridge
Robert Fulton: Boy Craftsman by Marguerite Henry.
Oliver Hazard Perry, Boy of the Sea by Laura Long.
Jim Thorpe, Olympic Champion by Guernsey Van Riper.
Davy Crockett, Young Rifleman by Aileen Wells Parks.
Benjamin Franklin, Young Printer by Augusta Stevenson.
George Washington, Young Leader by Augusta Stevenson.
Molly Pitcher, Young Patriot by Augusta Stevenson.
Myles Standish, Adventurous Boy by Augusta Stevenson.
Will Rogers, Young Cowboy by Guernsey Van Riper.
Martha Washington, America’s First Lady by Jean Brown Wagoner.
Betsy Ross, Designer of our Flag by Ann Weil.
Annie Oakley, Little Sure Shot by Ellen Wilson.

I’ve read most of these, and I find them delightful. The reading level and the content are appropriate for ages seven through eleven. If a child prefers books about “real people”, these stories would be great beginning chapter books to steer them towards.

A lot of these old biographical stories have been weeded out of the public libraries, but you can still find some of them in paperback reprint editions at the bookstore or in the old hardcover editions at library book sales. I think they stand the test of time for a young reader’s introduction to historical heroes. Even as an adult, I can read them with enjoyment, and they make me curious to read more about the subject of the biography. What more can one ask from a junior biography?