Nonfiction
Growing Up in Coal Country
Susan Bartoletti Turn-of-the-century mining life was marked by deplorable working conditions, squalor, and the ever-present dangers of the occupation. But the story that emerges is not just a story of long hours, little pay, and hazardous work; it is also the uniquely American story of immigrant families working together to make a new life. It is a story of hardship and sacrifice, yet also of triumph, hopes, and dreams. |
They Called Themselves the KKK
Susan Bartoletti “Boys, let us get up a club.” With those words, six young men pulled pillowcases over their heads, hopped on horses, and ran through the streets of Pulaski, TN. They named their club the Ku Klux Klan, and it grew into a self-proclaimed Invisible Empire with secret dens spread across the South. This is the chilling story of how a secret terrorist group took root in America’s democracy. |
Flags of Our Fathers
James Bradley James Bradley's father was one of the six men who raised the famous flag on Iwo Jima during World War II. Bradley investigated to learn more about the men and the event. |
Hole in My Life
Jack Gantos In 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college, and a way out of a dead-end job. For 10,000 dollars, he agreed to sail a boat loaded with hashish from the Virgin Islands to NYC. But federal agents were waiting. Gantos was caught and sentenced to serve up to six years in prison. |
Encyclopedia Horrifica
Joshua Gee Join the quest for the terrifying truth about all things ghoulish and ghastly, but beware! Surprises lurk on every page! Discover alien life on earth--beginning 4 billion years ago! Meet a man recruited by the U.S. government to become a psychic superspy. Spend a night with professional ghostbusters. Search for Dracula's shocking origins. Witness new photos of the actual sea monster that inspired the mythical kraken. And much more! |
We Were There, Too!
Philip Hoose From the boys who sailed with Columbus to today's young activists, this book brings to life the contributions of young people throughout American history. Read the stories of people like Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped from his village in Africa and forced into slavery; Anyokah, who helped her father create a written Cherokee language; Johnny Clem, the nine-year-old drummer boy who became a Civil War hero, and Jessica Govea, a teen who risked joining Cesar Chavez's fight for a better life for farmworkers. |
The Perfect Storm
Sebastian Junger In 1991, a tempest catches the North Atlantic fishing fleet off guard and unprotected. Readers weigh anchor with sailors struggling against the elements, meteorologists who watch helplessly as the storm builds, and helicopters and boats that navigate 120-mph winds to attempt rescue against harrowing odds. |
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba William dreamed of building a windmill that would bring electricity and running water to his village. With a small pile of science books, some scrap metal and tractor parts, and curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge a small miracle that would change the lives around him. |
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer Only a few people have stood atop Mt. Everest. Krakauer is one of them, but the story he tells here is not of glorious triumph. He had a front-row seat to the headline-making 1996 climbing disaster that resulted in the deaths of five people, and his account of the unfolding tragedy, filled with keenly observed details, is not only a transfixing drama but also an inquiry into survivor guilt and the outer limits of human strength and responsibility. |
Kakapo Rescue
Sy Montgomery On a remote island off the coast of New Zealand live the last kakapo parrots on earth. These trusting, flightless, and beautiful birds have suffered devastating loss. Now, the National Kakapo Recovery Team is working to restore their population, with the help of 14 humans who share a single hut and a passion for saving these odd ground-dwelling birds. |
An American Plague
Jim Murphy On August 3, 1973, a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street in Philedelphia. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer... |
Left for Dead
Pete Nelson On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a submarine. Those who survived the sinking waited in shark-infested waters for a rescue. But the U.S. Navy did not even know they were missing. The Navy court-martialed the captain for hazarding his ship, but the survivors knew that their captain wasn't to blame. For 50 years they worked to clear his name, but the Navy would not budge – until an 11-year-old boy named Hunter Scott entered the picture. His history project on the Indianapolis soon became a crusade to restore the captain’s good name and the honor of the men who served under him. |
Almost a Woman
Esmeralda Santiago Negi leaves rural Macún in 1961 to live in a three-room tenement apartment with seven siblings, an inquisitive grandmother, and a strict mother who won't allow her to date. At thirteen, Negi yearns for her own bed, privacy, and a life with her father, who remains in Puerto Rico. Translating for Mami at the welfare office in the morning, starring as Cleopatra at New York's prestigious Performing Arts High School in the afternoons, and dancing salsa all night, she yearns to find balance between being American and being Puerto Rican. When Negi defies her mother by going on a series of hilarious dates, she finds that independence brings its own set of challenges. |
Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi Marji tells of her life in Iran in the years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Marji's Marxist-inclined family initially favored the overthrow of the Shah, but soon realized that the new regime was more restrictive and unfair than the last. The girl's independence, which made her parents both proud and fearful, caused them to send her to Austria. |
Bloody Times
James Swanson One man, President Lincoln, assassinated, on his way to the grave. Another man, the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, on the run, soon to be sent to prison. Their actions forever changed the history of a nation. On the morning of April 2, 1865, Davis received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time – the Yankees are coming, it warned. That night Davis fled Richmond, setting off an intense manhunt for the Confederate president. Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. |
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose stubborn nonconformity was both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary lived like nomads, camping in the mountains. Rex was a brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." When the money ran out, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia town Rex had done everything he could to escape. He drank, stole the grocery money, and disappeared for days. As the family's dysfunction grew, Jeannette and her siblings had to fend for themselves and find the resources and will to leave home. |
