Nonfiction for Elementary and Middle School

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life - Ashley Bryan
Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents, contrasts the monetary value of a slave with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away.

Sea Otter Rescue - Suzi Eszterhas
Offers an illustrated look at the Alaska SeaLife Center's Wildlife Rescue Team and their efforts to treat young, orphaned sea otters.

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler - Russell Freedman
The true story of the White Rose, a group of students in Nazi Germany who were active undercover agents of the resistance movement against Hitler and his regime.

Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Animal Infographics - Steve Jenkins
How many species are there across the globe? How much do all of the insects in the world collectively weigh? How far can animals travel? Steve Jenkins answers these questions and many more with numbers, images, innovation, and authoritative science in his latest work of illustrated nonfiction. Jenkins layers his signature cut-paper illustrations alongside computer graphics and a text that is teeming with fresh, unexpected, and accurate zoological information ready for readers to easily devour. The level of scientific research paired with Jenkins creativity and accessible infographics is unmatched and sure to wow fans old and new.

The Rock & Gem Books...and Other Treasure of the Natural World
The Rock and Gem Book is packed full of photos of natural wonders, including rocks, minerals, gems, shells and fossils. This children's encyclopedia displays more than 1,200 full-color specimens, from sapphires and rubies to silver and pearl, revealing the unique qualities of each material and how it is used in industry, architecture, art and science. Including precious metals, rare fossils, tiny gemstones and giant shells, the Rock and Gem Book gives a complete overview of the Earth's naturally occurring marvels and the beautiful objects created from them.

Nonfiction for All Ages

Elementary

Some Writer!: The Story of E.B.White - Melissa Sweet
"SOME PIG," Charlotte the spider's praise for Wilbur, is just one fondly remembered snippet from E. B. White's Charlotte's Web. In Some Writer!, the two-time Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet mixes White's personal letters, photos, and family ephemera with her own exquisite artwork to tell his story, from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1985. Budding young writers will be fascinated and inspired by the journalist, New Yorker contributor, and children's book author who loved words his whole life. This authorized tribute is the first fully illustrated biography of E. B. White and includes an afterword by Martha White, E. B. White's granddaughter.

Middle School

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives 

- Kenneth C. Davis

Through the powerful stories of five enslaved people who were "owned" by four of our greatest presidents, this book helps set the record straight about the role slavery played in the founding of America. From Billy Lee, valet to George Washington, to Alfred Jackson, faithful servant of Andrew Jackson, these dramatic narratives explore our country's great tragedy--that a nation "conceived in liberty" was also born in shackles.

Presenting Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Wild West - Candace Fleming
This, the first significant biography of Buffalo Bill Cody for younger readers in many years, explains it all. With copious archival illustrations and a handsome design, "Presenting Buffalo Bill "makes the great showman come alive for new generations. Extensive back matter, bibliography, and source notes complete the package.

The Plot to Kill Hitler: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Unlikely Hero - Patricia McCormick

It was April 5, 1943, and the Gestapo would arrive any minute. Dietrich Bonhoeffer had been expecting this day for a long time. He had put his papers in order -- and left a few notes specifically for Hitler's men to see. Two SS agents climbed the stairs and told the boyish-looking Bonhoeffer to come with them. He calmly said good-bye to his parents, put his Bible under his arm, and left. Upstairs there was proof, in his own handwriting, that this quiet young minister was part of a conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. This account includes the discovery that Bonhoeffer was one of the first people to provide evidence to the Allies that Jews were being deported to death camps. It takes readers from his privileged early childhood to the studies and travel that would introduce him to peace activists around the world -- eventually putting this gentle, scholarly pacifist on a deadly course to assassinate one of the most ruthless dictators in history.

High School

Women of Colonial America: 13 Stories of Courage and Survival in the New World
- Brandon Marie Miller
Using a host of primary sources, author Brandon Marie Miller recounts the roles, hardships, and daily lives of Native American, European, and African women in 17th- and 18th-century colonial America. Hard work proved a constant for most women--they ensured their family's survival through their skills while others sold their labor or lived in bondage as indentured servants and slaves. Even in this world defined entirely by men, a world where no one thought it important to record a female's thoughts, women found ways to step forth. Elizabeth Ashbridge survived an abusive indenture to become a Quaker preacher. Anne Bradstreet penned epic poetry while raising eight children in the wilderness. Anne Hutchinson went toe-to-toe with Puritan authorities. Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse built a trade empire in New Amsterdam. Martha Corey lost her life in the vortex of Salem's witch hunt. And Eve, a Virginia slave, twice ran away to freedom. With strength, courage, resilience, and resourcefulness, these women and many others played a vital role in the mosaic of life in colonial America.

Nonfiction for Elementary Grades

Giant Squid - Candace Fleming
A nonfiction picture book exploring the mysterious life of the elusive giant squid.

Writing with Rosie: You Can Write a Story Too - Patricia Reilly Giff
In a humorous and entertaining guide, two-time Newbery Honor-winning author Patricia Reilly Giff breaks down the process of writing fiction into steps, all while trying to cope with the constant distractions from her exuberant seventy-pound golden retriever puppy, Rosie. Citing examples from her award-winning novels she explains how to proceed with each step in chapter sections titled Can You See What I Did? Young writers can find the inspiration and tips they need to try their hand in sections called Your Turn. Anecdotes from her writing life and hilarious adventures with her high-energy pet provide entertainment and encouragement.

What Milly Did: The Remarkable Pioneer of Plastics Recycling - Elise Moser
Milly Zantow wanted to solve the problem of her towns full landfill and ended up creating a global recycling standard the system of numbers you see inside the little triangle on plastics. This is the inspiring story of how she mobilized her community, creating sweeping change to help the environment.

Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles - Mara Rockliff
In April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke set out from New York City in a little yellow car, embarking on a bumpy, muddy, unmapped journey ten thousand miles long. They took with them a teeny typewriter, a tiny sewing machine, a wee black kitten, and a message for Americans all across the country: Votes for Women! The women's suffrage movement was in full swing, and Nell and Alice would not let anything keep them from spreading the word about equal voting rights for women. Braving blizzards, deserts, and naysayers--not to mention a whole lot of tires stuck in the mud--the two courageous friends made their way through the cities and towns of America to further their cause. One hundred years after Nell and Alice set off on their trip, Mara Rockliff revives their spirit in a lively and whimsical picture book, with exuberant illustrations by Hadley Hooper bringing their inspiring historical trek to life.

Who Eats What? series - Rebecca Pettiford
Vibrant photographs and carefully leveled text introduce early fluent readers to each biome and the many food chains it hosts. Each title includes an activity, glossary, and index.



Arctic Food Chains

Desert Food Chains

Ocean Food Chains

Prairie Food Chains

Rain Forest Food Chains

New Nonfiction

Pocket Change: Pitching in for a Better World - Michelle Mulder
This book explores how growing a cabbage can fight poverty, how a few dollars can help ten families start their own businesses, and how running errands for a neighbor can help you learn to become a bike mechanic. It asks the question "What if you could meet all your consumer needs while, at the same time, get to know your neighbors and protect the environment?

Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America - Gail Jarrow
In March 1900, San Francisco's health department investigated a strange and horrible death in Chinatown. A man had died of bubonic plague, one of the world's deadliest diseases. But how could that be possible? Bubonic Panic tells the true story of America's first plague epidemic--the public health doctors who desperately fought to end it, the political leaders who tried to keep it hidden, and the brave scientists who uncovered the plague's secrets. Once again, acclaimed author and scientific expert Gail Jarrow brings the history of a medical mystery to life in vivid and exciting detail for young readers. This title includes photographs and drawings, a glossary, a timeline, further resources, an author's note, and source notes.

Fiction & Nonfiction for Young Adults

FICTION

 

Unbecoming - Jenny Downham
Life has just become very complicated for seventeen-year-old Katie; her father walked out a year ago, her mother is stressed out, her brother is a "special needs" teenager, and she is caring for the maternal grandmother she has never met, who is suffering from Alzheimer's--and Katie has a secret of her own that she cannot reveal.


Titans - Victoria Scott
Seventeen-year-old Astrid Sullivan belongs to a family of compulsive gamblers, and now that her father has been laid off from his job in Detroit and lost all their money betting on the Titans, which are half-horse, half car, and race around impossible tracks, her family is falling apart--but when Astrid's new friends give her the chance to participate in this year's Titan races, she thinks she sees a way to win some money and keep her family together.

NONFICTION
A Wicked History Series:

Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare - Philip Brooks
Includes bibliographical references and index. Presents the history of Hannibal, a famous Carthaginian military commander who invaded Italy by crossing the Alps with war elephants, and won many battles against Rome over a decade before being defeated in the Battle of Zama at Carthage.

Ivan the Terrible: Tsar of Death - Sean Price
A biography of Russia's first tsar Ivan the Terrible that describes his life, cruelty, and victims.

Nonfiction for Middle School & High School

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
- Lyda Blackmon Lowery
A 50th-anniversary tribute shares the story of the youngest person to complete the momentous Selma to Montgomery March, describing her frequent imprisonments for her participation in nonviolent demonstrations and how she felt about her involvement in historic Civil Rights events.
A 2015 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Honor recipient.

Tommy: The Gun That Changed America - Karen Blumenthal
John Taliaferro Thompson had a mission: to develop a lightweight, fast-firing weapon that would help Americans win on the battlefield. His Thompson submachine gun could deliver a hundred bullets in a matter of seconds, but didn't find a market in the U.S. military. Instead, the Tommy gun became the weapon of choice for a generation of bootleggers and bank-robbing outlaws, and became a deadly American icon. Blumenthal tells the history of this famous and deadly weapon.

Women in Black History: Stories of Courage, Faith and Resilience - Tricia Williams Jackson
Explores the lives of fourteen African-American women, including writers, athletes, singers, activists, and educators whose courage, faith, and resolve paved the way for others to follow.

Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved "Blue Babies" and Changed Medicine Forever
- Jim Murphy
In 1944, a groundbreaking operation repaired the congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome. The operation's success brought the surgeon Alfred Blalock international fame and paved the way for open-heart surgery. But the technique had been developed by Vivien Thomas, Blalock's African American lab assistant, who stood behind Blalock in the operating room to give him step-by-step instructions. The stories of this medical and social breakthrough and the lives of Thomas, Blalock, and their colleague Dr. Helen Taussig are intertwined in this nonfiction narrative.

New Picture Books

The Skunk - Mac Barnett
A man is followed by a skunk all day until the tables turn.


The Turnip - Jan Brett
Badger Girl is delighted to find the biggest turnip she has ever seen growing in her vegetable garden, but when the time comes to harvest the giant root, she is unable to pull it up without help from family and friends.


8, An Animal Alphabet - Elisha Cooper
Discover hundreds of animals, great and small. Lion and lizard, whale and wombat. Learn one wild fact about each animal. (Did you know that gorillas yawn when they are nervous?) Look carefully, because for each letter of the alphabet, one animal is pictured eight times. Why 8? Come inside and find out.

Luke and the Little Seed - Giuliano Ferri

Luke gets so many presents for his birthday that when his grandfather gives him a bag of seeds, he's rather disappointed. But his grandfather tells him that if he plants and cares for these little seeds, they could become the best present of all. Luke wants to believe him, but it's hard when so little happens day after day. Will Luke have the patience to nurture the seeds into something truly special? Here is a lovely tael told by renowned picture book artist Giuliano Ferri, in which the power of love and persistence pay off.

We Forgot Brock! - Carter Goodrich
Phillip and Brock are best friends, although everyone else thinks Brock is imaginary, so when Phillip gets tired out at the Big Fair while Brock is still having fun, they are separated and it will take a very special twosome to bring them back together again.


Ragweed's Farm Dog Handbook (Learn From the Best!) - Anne Vittur Kennedy
Follow Ragweed's handy tips to become the best farm dog ever!


My New Friend is So Fun! - Mo Willems
Gerald the elephant and Snake fear that Piggie and Brian Bat will have so much fun together they will no longer need their best friends.




Nonfiction

Aaron and Alexander - Don Brown
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were both fierce patriots during the Revolutionary War, but the politics of the young United States of America put them in constant conflict. Their extraordinary story of bitter fighting and resentment culminates in their famous duel.

Historium - Jo Nelson
Welcome to the museum! Here you will find a collection of objects from ancient civilizations. Objects of beauty, functionality, war, life, death and burial. As you wander from room to room, explore the magnificence of what civilizations have left behind over thousands of years of human history!

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
- Laurie Ann Thompson
Born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg, he was dismissed by most people--but not by his mother, who taught him to reach for his dreams. As a boy, Emmanuel hopped to school more than two miles each way, learned to play soccer, left home at age thirteen to provide for his family, and, eventually, became a cyclist. He rode an astonishing four hundred miles across Ghana in 2001, spreading his powerful message: disability is not inability. Today, Emmanuel continues to work on behalf of the disabled. 2016 Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award.

Science & Nature Picture Books

The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea - Brenda Z. Guiberson
"Fascinating facts and spectacular illustrations will inspire young readers to choose their own favorite sea creature.s"-- Provided by publisher
 
 Egg: Nature's Perfect Package - Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
"Explore how a simple, often colorful, sometimes surprisingly shaped package, reveals nature's life cycle, unusual animal defensive strategies, parenting behavior, evolution, and more, in this beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book."-- provided by publisher

Little Puffin's First Flight - Jonathan London
Follows a family of puffins from the time the parents greet one another off the coast of Alaska and prepare to raise a family, through the care of their fragile egg and ravenous chick, to Little Puffin's first flight across and into the sea. Includes facts about puffins.

Fur, Fins, and Feathers: Abraham Dee Bartlett and the Invention of the Modern Zoo - Cassandre Maxwell
Abraham Dee Bartlett knew from a young age that he wanted to spend his life working with animals. But in Victorian London, there weren't many jobs that provided an opportunity to do that. Still, Abraham spent years gaining knowledge and pursuing his dream until he eventually became superintendent in the London Zoo. Driven by his compassion for the animals, Abraham dramatically improved the conditions of the zoo to ensure that the animals could be happy and healthy.With engaging back matter and charming illustrations, Cassandre Maxwell's book brings to life the little-known story of the man who helped to create the modern zoo.

Plants Feed Me - Lizzy Rockwell
"Watermelons are fruits. Cabbages are leaves. Walnuts are seeds. Carrots are roots. People eat many parts of plants. Even flowers!" -- Provided by publisher


 Changes: A Child's First Poetry Collection - Charlotte Zolotow
"Published in time to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of acclaimed author/editor Zolotow, this collection of 28 seasonally organized poems celebrates the delightful, unexpected moments that arise as the months pass, temperatures change, and the Earth transforms itself."-- Provided by publisher

Fiction & Nonfiction for Young Adults

Fiction

The Heir - Kiera Cass
Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story ... but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.


Fairest - Marissa Meyer
"Queen Levana is a ruler who uses her "glamour" to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story - a story that has never been told...until now."-- Provided by publisher


I Am Princess X - Cherie Priest
Best friends Libby Deaton and May Harper invented Princess X when they were in fifth grade, but when the car Libby is in goes off a bridge, she is presumed dead, and the story came to an end--except now, three years later, Princess X is suddenly everywhere, with a whole underground culture focused on a webcomic, and May believes her friend must be alive.

Nonfiction

Up for Sale: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery - Alison Marie Behnke
Describes human trafficking around the world, in which children and women are forced to work as prostitutes, debt slaves, household servants, and soldiers.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans - Don Brown
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina's monstrous winds and surging water overwhelmed the protective levees around low-lying New Orleans, Louisiana. Eighty percent of the city flooded, in some places under twenty feet of water. Property damages across the Gulf Coast topped $100 billion. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three people lost their lives. The tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage -- and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality. Don Brown's kinetic art and as-it-happens narrative capture both the tragedy and triumph of one of the worst natural disasters in American history.

Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business and Won! - Emily Arnold McCully
Tarbell was the catalyst for exposing the truth behind corruption and unfair business practices. She investigated and published works about the Standard Oil Trust for McClure's Magazine that informed the world of shady business dealings and skyrocketed her into the public eye. She wrote inspiring and engaging biographies on public figures, her most notable on Abraham Lincoln. Although largely forgotten as the country forged into the 20th century, her writing of the truth lives on.
A 2015 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist.