Rounding up the best nonfiction for children and teens
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Music Is . . .
by Stephen T. Johnson (Author / Illustrator)
Booktalk: Experience ten different types of music–classical, Latin, jazz, country, heavy metal, hip-hop, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronica, pop, and a surprise finale in this accordion book with an in-depth glossary for each genre on the reverse side.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Impossible First: An Explorer’s Race Across Antarctica (Young Readers Edition)
by Colin O’Brady (Author)
Booktalk: Prior to December 2018, no individual had ever crossed the landmass of Antarctica alone, without support, and completely human-powered. But Colin O’Brady was determined to do just that–even though ten years earlier a tragic accident raised doubts that he’d ever walk again normally.
O’Brady’s quest drew him into a head-to-head battle with British SAS Captain Louis Rudd–also striving to be “the first.” Enduring Antarctica’s sub-zero temperatures and pulling a sled that initially weighed 375 pounds in complete isolation and through a succession of whiteouts, storms, and a series of near disasters, O’Brady journeyed 932 miles to a world first.
Snippet: The plane shuddered and shook as it landed, its skis rattling on the sea ice. The crew helped me pull off the sled, offered a few bang-bang handshakes of good luck, and jumped back in with a schedule to keep, taxiing off to deliver Rudd to his drop-off a mile away, the same distance as me from the starting line waypoint at the continent’s edge.
See the PBSNewsHour story.
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
The Extraordinary Life of Mahatma Gandhi
by Chitra Soundar (Author) and Dàlia Adillon (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Born in a small town in India, growing up to study law, Mahatma Gandhi became a powerful voice for change and is now known all over the world as a symbol of perseverance and peace.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Fangirl’s Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks
by Sam Maggs (Author) and Kat Goodloe (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Fandom, pop culture, feminism, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more–there’s never been a better time to be a fangirl, or a better guide to navigate the wide universe of fandoms. Experience the joys of the fandom community in this fun, feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey
by Alexis O’Neill (Author) and Edwin Fotheringham (Illustrator)
Booktalk: When Melvil Dewey realized every library organized their books differently, he wondered if he could invent a system all libraries could use to organize them efficiently. A rat-a-tat speaker, Melvil was a persistent (and noisy) advocate for free public libraries. And while he made enemies along the way as he pushed for changes–like his battle to establish the first library school with women as students, through it all he was EFFICIENT, INVENTIVE, and often ANNOYING as he made big changes in the world of public libraries–changes still found in the libraries of today!
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Football
by Lori Dittmer (Author)
Booktalk: Detailed photos and straightforward text examine the featured sport’s history, equipment, primary positions, and common rules. Also included is a biographical story about professional football player Tom Brady.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Challenge Everything: An Extinction Rebellion Youth Guide to Saving the Planet
by Blue Sandford (Author)
Booktalk: A manifesto for how young people can help to save the planet by questioning everything about modern life and acting upon their conclusions.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy
by Kenneth C. Davis (Author)
Booktalk: What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders–strongmen–capable of killing millions acquire their power? How are they able to defeat the ideal of democracy? And what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?
See how it happened in these profiles of the most notoriously ruthless dictators in history–Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein–by examining the forces in these strongmen’s personal lives and historical periods that shaped the leaders they’d become.
Snippet: Learning from the experience of history requires recognizing the patterns of dictatorships–the Stongman’s Playbook. Each of these profiles as laid out a set of steps that go into the making of a dictatorship. This blueprint typically includes the following:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars
by Gary Golio (Author) and E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Booktalk: Willie Johnson was born in 1897, and from the beginning he loved to sing–and play his cigar box guitar. But his childhood was interrupted when he lost his mother and his sight. Fortunately for Willie, the music saved him and brought him back into the light. His powerful voice, combined with the wailing of his slide guitar, moved people. Willie made a name for himself performing on street corners all over Texas. And one day he hit it big when he got a record deal and his songs were played on the radio. Then in 1977, his song–“Dark Was the Night”–was chosen to light up the darkness when it was launched into space on the Voyager I space probe’s famous Golden Record. His immortal song was selected for the way it expresses the loneliness humans all feel, while reminding us we’re not alone.
Snippet:
Listen to “Dark Was the Night” by Blind Willie Johnson on Voyager’s Golden Record.
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Just Between Us: Mother & Son: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal
by Meredith Jacobs (Author) and Jules Jacobs (Author)
Booktalk: A keepsake journal for a mother and son to share stories and dreams, hopes and fears in these challenging times with advice, guidelines, and prompts created by a mother and her son.
Snippet:
It’s Nonfiction Monday!
Copyright © 2020 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.