Author: Anastasia Suen

June Almeida, Virus Detective!: The Woman Who Discovered the First Human Coronavirus
by Suzanne Slade (Author) and Elisa Paganelli (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: June Almeida loved learning about science and nature. An excellent student, she was especially interested in biology and won the top science prize at her school. Creative and observant, June noticed details that others often missed. She dreamed of attending university but economic hardships caused her to leave school at age 16. Still, June was determined to pursue her passion for science. She was hired by a local hospital to work in its lab, using a microscope to magnify and examine cells. Her work helped doctors treat patients. June later worked in labs in London and in Toronto. Her skill in using the electron microscope to examine cells and help identify viruses earned her promotion and respect in the science community. When June was 34 years old, she discovered the first human coronavirus. Her groundbreaking work continues to help researchers today in the fight against illnesses caused by viruses, including COVID-19.

Snippet: June dreamed of studying science at a university. But college was expensive. Her father was a bus driver, which didn’t pay much. Her mother’s job at a local shop didn’t either. With no savings for college, she left school at age 16 to help pay the family bills.

June wanted to find a meaningful job.

Fascinated by biology, she hoped to learn more about it. She longed to help people with illnesses like her brother.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Try It!: How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat
by Mara Rockliff (Author) and Giselle Potter (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: In 1956, Frieda Caplan started working at the Seventh Street Produce Market in Los Angeles. Instead of competing with the men in the business with their apples, potatoes, and tomatoes, Frieda thought, why not try something new? Staring with mushrooms, Frieda began introducing fresh and unusual foods to her customers–snap peas, seedless watermelon, mangos, and more!

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Headstrong Hallie!: The Story of Hallie Morse Daggett, the First Female “Fire Guard”
by Aimee Bissonette (Author) and David Hohn (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Hallie Morse Daggett loved spending time outdoors, hiking among the tall trees of the forests in California’s Siskiyou Mountains. She wasn’t afraid of the bears, coyotes, and wildcats. But Hallie was afraid of fire and understood the threat it posed to the forests, wildlife, and people. And more than anything, she wanted to devote her life to protecting her beloved outdoors; she decided she would work for the US Forest Service. But in the 1880s the Forest Service didn’t hire women, thinking they couldn’t handle the physical challenges of the work or the isolation. But the Forest Service didn’t know Hallie or how determined she could be.

Snippet: As soon as she finished school, Hallie began mailing letters to the US Forest Service. She wanted to work. She wanted to help fight fires.

But the Forest Service said no.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer
by Traci Sorell (Author) and Natasha Donovan (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston
by Alicia D. Williams (Author) and Jacqueline Alcántara (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though you might not land quite that high, at least you’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped from place to place, from the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales, to Howard University, to Harlem. And everywhere she jumped, she shined sunlight on the tales most people hadn’t been bothered to listen to until Zora. The tales no one had written down until Zora. Tales on a whole culture of literature overlooked . . . until Zora. Until Zora jumped.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Stompin’ at the Savoy: How Chick Webb Became the King of Drums
by Moira Rose Donohue (Author) and Laura Freeman (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Though a disability stunted his growth and left him with a hunched back, William Henry “Chick” Webb did not let that get in the way of his musical pursuits. Even as a young child, Chick saw the world as one big drum, pounding out rhythms on everything from stair railings to pots and pans. His love of percussion brought him to the big time as an influential big band leader.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Our 34th President
by Sarah Hansen (Author)

Booktalk: An illustrated biography discussing the childhood, career, family, and term of Dwight D. Eisenhower, thirty-fourth president of the United States.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

The Extraordinary Life of Serena Williams
by Shelina Janmahomed (Author) and Ashley Evans (Illustrator)

Booktalk: From sports to fashion to activism to motherhood, game-changing tennis champion Serena has become an inspiration to every young person who has dared to dream big.

Snippet:

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons
by James Otis Smith (Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: This graphic novel celebrates the extraordinary true tales of three black heroes who took control of their destinies and stood up for their communities in the Old West. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary Fields became famous as “Stagecoach Mary,” a cigar-chomping, card playing coach driver who never missed a delivery. Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, was one of the wiliest lawmen in the territories, bringing thousands of outlaws to justice with his smarts. Bob Lemmons lived to be 99 years old and was so good with horses that the wild mustangs on the plains of Texas took him for one of their own.

Snippet:

See the book trailer.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Joseph Biden: Our 46th President
by Ann Gaines Rodriguez (Author)

Booktalk: An illustrated biography discussing the childhood, career, family, and election of Joseph Biden, forty-sixth president of the United States. Includes a table of contents, time line, phonetic glossary, sources for further research, an index, and detailed captions and sidebars to aid in comprehension.

Snippet: At the very end of their term, Obama surprised Joe Biden by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction–the highest civilian honor there is.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Copyright © 2021 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.