These exciting nonfiction titles have been published in January.
PRIMARY NONFICTION
Fancy Party Gowns : The Story of Fashion Designer Ann Cole Lowe by Deborah Blumenthal (ill. by Laura Freeman). 9781499802399. 2017. Gr K-2.
A picture book biography of Ann Cole Lowe, an African American who battles racism to became one of society’s top fashion designers.
Germs : Fact and Fiction, Friends and Foes by Lesa Cline-Ransome (ill. by James Ransome). 9780805079159. 2017. Gr PK-3.
Sam the Salmonella and his family of germs learn about helpful and harmful bacteria, historic diseases and epidemics, vaccination, pasteurization, and the invention of important medicines.
One Proud Penny by Randy Siegel & Serge Bloch. 9781626722354. 2017. Gr PK-3.
The narrator, a penny, travels all around the U.S. explaining the history of the coin.
Rivers of Sunlight : How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm. 9780545805414. 2017. Gr 1-3.
Learn about the movement of water around the earth, the sun’s role in the water cycle, and the importance of water conservation.
What’s the Big Deal about First Ladies by Ruby Shamir & Matt Faulkner. 9780399547249. 2017. Gr PK-3.
Short bios of America’s first ladies combined with trivia show how these important women have influenced the country.
INTERMEDIATE NONFICTION
Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future : Young Readers Edition by Ashlee Vance. 9780062463289. 2017. Gr 4-6.
This authorized biography traces the life, times, and inventions of Elon Musk, the man behind such innovative companies as PayPal, SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX. and new visions for the space, automotive, and energy industries.
Frederick Douglass : The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers & Floyd Cooper. 9780060277093. 2017. Gr 2-5.
A picture book biography of an escaped slave who had taught himself to read, and who became a leader in the abolitionist movement.
I Got This : To Gold and Beyond by Laurie Hernandez. 9780062677310. 2017. Gr 4-6.
Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez tells her story of growing up with a dream and the training and sacrifices she made to get her gold medal.
The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford & Elizabeth Zunion. 9781481468244. 2017. Gr 2-5.
A picture book biography of Lena Horne, an African American actress and civil rights activist. She was the first African American actress to be given a studio contract.
Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout : Dance, Spin & Turn It Out! By Patricia C. McKissack & Brian Pinkney. 9780375970887. 2017. Gr 2-5.
This collection of games, songs, stories, and other activities comes from the author’s childhood in an African American family in the southern United States. The book features hand-clapping games, jump rope rhymes, hymns and gospel music, proverbs and parables, circle games, folktales, and performance pieces.
Newsprints by Ru Xu. 9780545803113. 2017. Gr 4-7.
Orphaned during the war, Blue wanted to work for the Bugle, a newspaper known for telling the truth. She disguises herself as a newsboy, enjoying her work and making friends at the paper. But she is afraid someone will find out her truth, until she meets Crow, who has his own secret. An excellent debut graphic novel.
The Youngest Marcher : The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson & Vanessa Brantley Newton. 9781481400701. 2017. Gr 1-4.
Audrey Faye Hendricks was just a child when she took part in the Birmingham protests to fight against segregation laws in the civil rights movement.
MIDDLE SCHOOL NONFICTION
Krysia : A Polish Girl’s Stolen Childhood During World War II by Krystyna Mihulka. 9781613734414. 2017. Gr 5-8.
The author recalls the Nazi occupation of Poland when she was a child, describing the separation of her family, the loss of her home, and her deportation to a Soviet work farm where she and her family tried to survive until the end of the war.
One Last Word : Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes. 9781619635548. 2017. Gr 6-8.
This collection of illustrated poems is from voices out of the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Countee Cullen. It also includes poetry by author Nikki Grimes which was inspired by the poems of the Harlem artists.
Pathfinders : The Journeys of 16 Extraordinary Black Souls by Tonya Bolden. 9781419714559. 2017. Gr 6-8.
The sixteen black men and women here have left their mark on history, including James Forten, a powder boy and prisoner of war in the American Revolution who became captain of his own ship and an abolitionist; Richard Potter, who became a great performing ventriloquist, magician, and hypnotist; and Katherine Johnson, a mathematician and physicist who helped make the calculations to launch successful Apollo missions.
Sea Creatures : 1 : Reef Madness (Sea Creatures : In Their Own Words : 1) by Christophe Cazenove & Theirry Jytery. 9781629916613. 2017. Gr 4-8.
Readers can follow sea creatures on a guided tour of the ocean as they show off the sights, sounds, and mysteries of their amazing world.
Undefeated : Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin. 9781596439542. 2017. Gr 6-10.
Sheinkin relates the biography of athlete Jim Thorpe, focusing on his time at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team. Under the leadership of coach Pop Warner, the school became known as “the team that invented football.”
HIGH SCHOOL NONFICTION
Beowulf by Santiago Garcia & David Rubin. 9781534301207. 2017. Gr 10-12.
This graphic novel tells the epic tale of the warrior-prince Beowulf, whose triumph over demon-monster Grendel saves his people.
Death on the River of Doubt : Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon Adventure by Samantha Seiple. 9780545709163. 2017. Gr 7-12.
In 1913 Theodore Roosevelt went on a tour of South America that led him deep into the Amazon rainforest. Among many of his adventures with his son and a renowned Brazilian explorer, he charted an unmapped river.
The March Against Fear : The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power by Ann Bausum. 9781426326660. 2017. Gr 7-12.
James Meredith planned to march more than 200 miles from Tennessee to Mississippi, to encourage African American voter registration, but was shot by a white gunman along the way. By the time he rejoined the march several weeks later, the group of those who stepped in to walk in his absence had grown to 15,000 individuals. Author Bausum recounts the events leading up to and following this historic march.
Shackles from the Deep : Tracking the Path of a Sunken Slave Ship, a Bitter Past, and a Rich Legacy by Michael H. Cottman. 9781426326646. 2017. Gr 7-12.
The author, a journalist and former reporter for the Washington Post, traces the route of the ill-fated slave ship, the Henrietta Marie, which sank off the coast of Key West, Florida in the early 1700s. As an African American, he comes to better understand his own heritage in the process.
Wires and Nerve : 1 by Marissa Meyer & Douglas Holgate. 9781250078261. 2017. Gr 7-12.
Marissa Meyer follows up her Lunar Chronicles series with this first graphic novel. Android Iko searches for the leader of the wolf-hybrid soldiers in the hopes of stabilizing the peace between Earth and Luna.
