Non+Fiction

Suggest Great Non-Fiction titles for Middle School

[|ALSC Notable Books for Middle Grades] List - Actually includes suggestions for alla ges [|IRA Children's and Young Adult's Book Awards]- These are handed out for both fiction and non-fiction, so you have to pick through a bit. [|Robert F. Seibert Book Medal for Informational Books] [|YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults]
 * Lists & Awards**

[|The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe] By Loree Griffin Burns. Illus. by Ellen Harasimowicz. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. After beekeepers discover the strange abandonment of hundreds of hives, scientists seek to understand this catastrophic phenomenon.
 * Specific Books**

[|Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot]– This book documents the successes and failures of a rescue effort in New Zealand dedicated to saving a species of flightless parrots numbering fewer than 100. //Sibert Medal//

[|Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean Motion] Aided by an army of beachcombers, oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer tracks trash in the name of science. From sneakers to hockey gloves, Curt monitors the watery fate of human-made cargo that has spilled into the ocean. The information he collects is much more than casual news; it is important scientific data. And with careful analysis, Curt, along with a community of scientists, friends, and beachcombers alike, is using his data to understand and protect our ocean.

As suggested by the great Catherine Blair I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond. "How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous" "Deadly Perils and How to Avoid Them" the Wicked History biography series (especially Hitler) "They Called Themselves the KKK"; "Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty" "Warriors: Morituri Te Salutamus" Ripley's "Incredibly Strange!" by Geoff Tibballs. Bootleg by Karen Blumenthal Ditto Jeff Belanger's "What It's Like to Climb Mount Everest, Blast Off Into Space...""


 * Some of the more interesting nonfiction books I have ordered/will be ordering for middle schoolers, in addition to everything on Catherine's list... (from Liz Koehler):**
 * The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul B. Janeczko
 * Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker
 * Skywalkers: Mohawk Ironworkers Build the City by David Weitzman
 * On my Journey Now: Looking at African American History through the Spirituals by Nikki Giovanni
 * Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler
 * Immersed in Verse: an informative, slightly irreverent & totally tremendous guide to living the poet's life
 * King George, what was his problem?: Everything your schoolbooks didn't tell you about the American Revolution by Steve Sheinkin
 * Chinese Cinderella: The true story of an unwanted daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
 * Charles and Emma: the Darwins' Leap of Faith
 * Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman
 * Almost Astronauts: 13 Women who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
 * Please Read (if at all possible): The Girl Project by Kate Engelbrecht
 * Marching for Freedom: March Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge
 * Lucy long ago: Uncovering the mystery of where we came from by Catherine Thimmesh
 * Unlikely friendships: 47 remarkable stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland
 * It's Perfectly Normal: a book about changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health by Robie H. Harris
 * The Babysitter's Survival Guide: fun games, cool crafts, and how to be the best babysitter in town by Jill D. Chasse
 * Throw like a girl: how to dream big and believe in yourself by Jennie Finch
 * Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton (middle school girls at my FE school and my current school have asked after this one)
 * Spilling Ink: a Young Writer's Handbook by Anne Mazer
 * Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourself by Kris Bordessa
 * Truce: the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy
 * Lincoln Shot: a President's Life Remembered by Barry Denenberg
 * Traveling the Freedom Road: from Slavery & the civil war through Reconstruction by Linda Barrett Osborne
 * Blizzard: the Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
 * Years of Dust: the Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin