NC SciFest - April Sweetbean Bonus - Adult and Teen

Celebrate the NC Science Festival with April's Sweetbean Reading Challenge! Read about science all month long with fun books, cool facts, and exciting discoveries. Let’s read, learn, and discover the wonders of science together!

Updated March 27, 2025
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American murderer : the parasite that haunted the South
Jarrow, Gail
Paper Book
Included on NPR's 2022 "Books We Love" List Finalist, 2023 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction  ALSC Notable Children's Book What made workers in the American South so tired and feeble during the 19th and early 20th centuries? This exciting medical mystery...
Biology's beginnings
Hakim, Joy
Paper Book
Trace the history of life science in the first of a four-part MITeen series by mega-best-selling author Joy Hakim, who brought us The History of US. When did we start learning the scientific secrets of life? Step back to the Islamic Golden Age, when scholars ask questions...
Bomb : the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon
Sheinkin, Steve.
Paper Book
Perfect for middle grade readers and history enthusiasts, New York Times bestselling author Steve Sheinkin presents the fascinating and frightening true story of the creation behind the most destructive force that birthed the arms race and the Cold War in Bomb: The Race...
Eve : how the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution
Bohannon, Cat
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST * THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution...
The fangirl's guide to the universe : a handbook for girl geeks
Maggs, Sam
Paper Book
From notable geek girl Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe is the ultimate handbook for teens living the nerdy life. 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...
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
Yong, Ed
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "thrilling" (The New York Times), "dazzling" (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science...
In the shadow of the moon : America, Russia, and the hidden history of the space race
Cherrix, Amy E.
Audiobook
An exhilarating dive into the secret history of humankind's race to the moon, from acclaimed author Amy Cherrix. This fascinating and immersive read is perfect for fans of Steve Sheinkin's Bomb and M. T. Anderson's Symphony for the City of the Dead. You've heard of the space race, but do...
The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales
Sacks, Oliver
Paper Book
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NBC SERIES BRILLIANT MINDS * In his most extraordinary book, the bestselling author of Awakenings and "poet laureate of medicine" (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients inhabiting the compelling world of neurological disorders,...
Napoleon's buttons : 17 molecules that changed history
Le Couteur, Penny
Paper Book
The authors present a surprising history of the world--told on a chemical continuum of why things happened rather than when. This fascinating book tells the stories of 17 molecules that, like the tin of Napoleon's coat buttons, greatly influenced the course of history.
A short history of nearly everything
Bryson, Bill.
Audiobook
One of the world's most beloved writers and New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body takes his ultimate journey--into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. In A Walk in the Woods, Bill...
Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers
Roach, Mary.
Audiobook
An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For 2,000 years, cadavers-some willingly, some unwittingly-have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space...
The story of more : how we got to climate change and where to go from here
Jahren, Hope
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of Lab Girl comes a slim, urgent missive on the defining issue of our time: here is Hope Jahren on climate change, our timeless pursuit of more, and how the same human ambition that got us here can also be our salvation. Hope Jahren is an award...
What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology,...
Women in science : 50 fearless pioneers who changed the world
Ignotofsky, Rachel
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER .This "wittily illustrated and accessible volume" (The Wall Street Journal)highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from the ancient to the modern world. ...

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