Recommended Nonfiction for Middle School Learners

Armstrong, Jennifer. 2005. Photo by Brady: A Picture of the Civil War. NY: Atheneum.

Armstrong, Jennifer. 2000. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: the Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance. NY: Crown.

Aronson, Marc. 2011. Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert. NY: Atheneum.

Aronson, Marc & Marina Budhos. 2010. Sugar Changed the World: The Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery and Freedom. NY: Clarion.

Aronson, Marc & Mike Parker Pearson. 2010. If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge. Washington DC: National Geographic Children's Books.

Atkin, S. Beth. 2000. Voices from the Field: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories. New York: Little Brown Young Readers
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2010. They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group. NY: Houghton Mifflin.

------------------------------. 2005. Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler's Shadow. NY: Scholastic.
------------------------------. 2005. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine. NY: Sandpiper.
------------------------------. 1999. Growing Up in Coal Country.  NY: Sandpiper.

Bausum, Ann. 2009. Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration. Washington, DC: National Geographic.

Bial, Raymond. 2002. Tenement Life on the Lower East Side. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Blakey, Ron and Wayne Ranney. 2008. Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association.

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. 2006. How to Survive in Antarctica. NY: Holiday House.

Brimner, Larry Dane. 2010. Birmingham Sunday. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

Bruchac, Joseph. 2008. Sacajawea. Boston: Harcourt.
--------------------. 2008. Jim Thorpe: Original All-American. NY: Speak.

Bryson, Bill. 2000. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away. NY: Broadway.

Budhos, Marina. 2007. Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers. New York: Henry Holt/Resource Publications.

Burns, Loree Griffin. 2010. The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. Illustrated with photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Caputo, Philip. 2005. 10,000 Days of Thunder: A History of the Vietnam War. NY:Atheneum.

Chassman, Gary. 2002. In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  NY: Tinwood Books.

Collier, Michael. 2009. Over the Coast: An Aerial View of Geology. NY: Mikaya Press.

Collier, Michael. 2008. Over the Rivers: An Aerial View of Geology. NY: Mikaya Press.

Collier, Michael. 2007. Over the Mountains: An Aerial View of Geology. NY: Mikaya Press.

From A Black Hole is NOT A Hole.

DeCristofano, Carolyn Cinami. 2012. A Black Hole is NOT a Hole. Illustrated by Michael Carroll. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishers..
Einstein, Albert, 1950s. An Ideal Service to Our Fellow Man. As heard on NPR’s This I Believe.

Ellis, Deborah. 2009. Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

------------------. 2008. Off to War: Voices of Soldiers’ Children. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

------------------. 2004. Three Wishes. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Evans, Kate. 2007. Weird Weather: Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About Climate Change But Probably Should Find Out. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Feelings, Tom. 1995. The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo. New York: Dial.

Ferri, Daniel. 2005. The Kindness of Strangers. As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, December 5, 2005.

Fleischman, John. 2004. Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. NY: Sandpiper.

Freedman, Russell. 2010. The War to End All Wars: World War I. NY: Clarion.
----------------------. 2004. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. NY: Clarion.

------------------------. 1998. Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor. NY: Sandpiper.

Gallo, Gary. 2010. Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: the Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. NY: Clarion.

Grady, Wayne. 2010. Technology: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

Grainfield, Linda. 2001. 97 Orchard Street, New York: Stories of Immigrant Life. Illustrated by Arlene Alda. Toronto, Ontario: Tundra Books.

Illustration by Gennady Spirin. from Life in the Boreal Forest

Guiberson, Brenda Z. 2009. Life in the Boreal Forest. Illustrated by Gennady Spirin. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

Guibert, Emmanuel. 2009. The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders. Photographs by Lefevre. NY: FirstSecond.

Hall, Laura. 2008. From Hip Hop Comes Hope. As heard on NPR’s Tell Me More.

Hall, Susan, 2011. A Powerful Act of Love. As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, December 16, 2011.

Heinlein, Robert. 2010. Our Nobel, Essential Decency. As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, 3.12.10.

Herrera, Nicholas. 2011. High Riders, Saints and Death Cars: A Life Saved by Art. Illustrated by John T. Deene. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

Higgins, Dalton. 2010. Hip Hop World: Groundwood Series. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

Hill, Laban Carrick. 2009. Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance. NY: Little Brown
-----------------------. 2007.  America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the 60s.  NY: Little Brown.

Hubbard, Jim. 1994. Shooting Back from the Reservation: A Photographic View of Life by Native Americans. NY: New Press.

Kidder, Tracey. 2004. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. New York: Random House.

Kops, Deborah. 2012. The Great Molasses Flood: Boston 1919. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishers.
Kuklin, Susan. 1996. Irrepressible Spirit: Conversations with Human Rights Activists. New York: Putnam.

Kurlansky, Mark. 2001. The Cod's Tale. Illustrated by S.D. Schindler. NY: Putnam.

Laxer, James. 2009. Democracy: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Levine, Macklin. 2009. The Beatles Live On. As Heard on NPR’s Weekend Edition, March 15, 2009.

Lisa. 2005. This I Believe. NPR. July 13, 2005.

Lorinc, John. 2008. Cities: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Lourie, Peter. 2009. Whaling Season: A Year in the Life of an Arctic Whale Scientist. NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Mann, Charles C. 2009. Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491. NY: Atheneum.

Marin, Reeve. 2008. Oscar: The Life and Music of Oscar Peterson. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Marrin, Albert. 2011. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. NY: Knopf.

------------------. 2006. Saving the Buffalo. NY: Scholastic.

Martin, Russell & Lydia Nibley. 2009. The Mysteries of Beethoven's Hair. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishers.
McDowall, Catherine. 2011. Everyone is Included. As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, October 14, 2011.

McLain, Tarak. 2009. Thirty Things I Believe. As heard on NPR’s Weekend Edition, January 18, 2009.  (Note: Tarak is 7-years-old).

McWhorter, Diane. 2004. A Dream of Freedom: the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968. NY: Scholastic.

Mills, Kay, 1994. This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. NY: Plume.

Montgomery, Sy. 2010. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. Photographs by Nic Bishop. NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Moody, Rick. 2005. The Joy and Enthusiasm of Reading. As heard on NPR’s This I Believe, August 29, 2005.

Murphy, Jim. 2011. Weird  & Wacky Inventions. NY: Sky Pony Press.

Myers, Walter Dean. 1994. Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. NY: Scholastic.

Nelson, S.D. (Standing Rock Sioux). 2010. Black Elk's Vision: A Lakota Story. NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
O’Brien, Perry Edmond and Ann Sibley O’Brien. 2009. After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Orr, Gregory. 2006. The Making of Poems. As heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, February 20, 2006.

Phuc, Kim. 2008. The Long Road to Forgiveness. As heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, June 30, 2008.

Roach, Mary 2004. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. NY: W.W. Norton.

From Secret Subway

Rubalcaba, Jill  and Peter Robertshaw. 2010. Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates. Watertown MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Sandler, Martin W. 2009. Secret Subway: The Fascinating Tale of an Amazing Feat of Engineering.  Washington DC: National Geographic Children's Books.

Siddiqui, Haroon. 2008. Being Muslin: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Singh, Rina. 2010. Guru Nanak: The First Sikh Guru. Illustrated by Andrée Pouliot. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Sitarkski, Anita. 2007. Cold Light: Creatures, Discoveries, and Inventions that Glow. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

Siy, Alexandria. 2011. Bug Shots: The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly. NY: Holiday House.

------------------. 2009. Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet. Watertown MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.

Steven, Peter. 2010. The News: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Stokes, John, Herman Viola and Lois Wolfe. 2007. Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me. Illustrated with Photographs. Washington DC: National Geographic Children’s Books.

Stone, Tonya Lee. 2009. Almost Astronauts:13 Women Who Dared to Dream. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.
Sullivan, George. 2009. Berenice Abbott, Photographer: An Independent Vision. NY: Clarion.

Tanaka, Shelley. 2006. Climate Change: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Terkel, Studs. 2005. Community in Action. As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, October 24, 2005.

Turner, Pamela S. 2008. Life on Earth: An Astrobiologist's Quest. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Urban, Lex. 2011. Finding Out What’s Under Second Base. As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, July 22, 2011.

Valverde, Mariana. 2010. The Force of Law: A Groundwood Guide. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Walker, David & Peter Hinks (ed). 1829/2000. David Walker's Appeal: To the Coloured Citizens of the World. Pennsylvania State University. (Link is for an online source)

Walker, Sally M. 2005. Secrets of a Civil War Submarines: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley. Carolrhoda.

Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2007. Birmingham, 1963. (Poetry). Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.
Wright, Simeon and Herb Boyd. 2010. Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till. Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books.

Yerxa, Leo. 2006. Ancient Thunder. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Zhang, Ange. 2004. Red Land, Yellow River: A Story from the Cultural Revolution. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.

Ziegelman, Jane. 2010. 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. NY: HarperCollins.

This I Believe Essays Written by Middle and High School Students

Charles. 2010. Juice. Entered on November 29, 2010.

Earley, Brighton. 2008. Finding the Flexibility to Survive. As heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, June 2, 2008.

El-Saad, Alaa. 2009. America’s Beauty is in Its Diversity.  As heard on NPR’s Tell Me More, January 29, 2009.

Levine, Macklin. 2009. The Beatles Live On. As Heard on NPR’s Weekend Edition, March 15, 2009.

Lupi, Nora, 2008. My Opinions Matter. As heard on NPR’s Tell Me More, November 4, 2008.

Majeed, Kamaal. 2007. Being Content with Myself. As heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, May 7, 2007.

Rittenberg, Josh. 2006. Tomorrow Will Be A Better Day. As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, February 27, 2006.

Sophia. 2005. This I Believe. (about magic)

Yu, Ying Ying, 2006. A Duty to Family, Heritage and Country. As heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, July 17, 2006.

Yuchasz, Joshua. 2006. We’re All Different in Our Own Ways. As heard on All things Considered, October 16, 2006.