Nonfiction

Navigating school successfully, a global perspective on bikes, “The Hatfields & the McCoys”.

If you had told me as recently as a year ago that I was doomed to become The Nonfiction Dialogue Stickler of Doom (copyright pending) I would have said . . . . well, honestly I would have asked where you came up with that term.  Then, once you’d defined it (Nonfiction Dialogue Stickler of [...]

Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler. Little, Brown & Co. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. It’s About: Aaron Hartzler’s memoir about growing up in an ultra-religious Christian family. It is funny; touching; rebellious; believing; and loving. The Good: I have a bit of a fascination with religion, especially those that say they have the answers. [...]

Attendees of SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog received an information boost from the pre-BEA event’s first panel of authors and illustrators. Moderated by Kathleen T. Isaacs, author of Picturing the World: Informational Picture Books for Children, the lively discussion offered Jim Arnosky, Jennifer Berne, Elisha Cooper, Thomas Gonzalez, and Jonah Winter the chance to share with librarians more about their creative processes, who they write for, and why they choose to create nonfiction for young readers.

Back in January, we had a conversation (in reference to Derf Backderf’s Alex Award-winning My Friend Dahmer) about what makes a graphic novel “nonfiction” and the rigidity of categories like “fiction” and “nonfiction.” A couple of new comments have been added to that thread, so please head over to the above link to read the whole chain, but [...]

Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelon. Random House 2013. Random House Audio 2013. Reviewed from borrowed copy of audiobook. Making this part of my “vacation reads” series, figuring most of my readers who work in schools are on vacation now or soon [...]

In both of today’s nonfiction titles, the authors speak directly to their readers. Both have the potential to become favorites with the right teen reader.  First up, Edward O. Wilson’s passionate and inspiring Letters to a Young Scientist. Maybe it’s the time of year, but I can’t help thinking that this would make a terrific graduation [...]

From toads to bats and the Beatles to doctors, Junior Library Guild editors select new informational picture books for young readers that complement Common Core State Standards and do more than just fill a hole in the lesson plan.

For fans of James Daily and Ryan Davidson’s The Law of Superheroes (which we reviewed here), or for anyone who is interested in the idea but doesn’t want to invest in reading the whole book, Daily and Davidson have been guest-blogging on the very influential legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy. They’ve been addressing such pressing [...]