Taiohi: Non-fiction titles you'll enjoy

There isn't very much non-fiction out there that is published specifically for young adults, so we've brushed off some of our favourite titles from across our library collections that we promise you will enjoy.

Updated November 27, 2025
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Wellington City Libraries Youth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Taiohi: Non-fiction titles you'll enjoy

There isn't very much non-fiction out there that is published specifically for young adults, so we've brushed off some of our favourite titles from across our library collections that we promise you will enjoy.

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Make a zine! : start your own underground publishing revolution
Biel, Joe
Paper Book
Do you have a passion that you want to obsess about in a love letter to the world? In this new edition of Microcosm's popular DIY guide to zine-making, Joe Biel updates the information provided in the first edition (edited by Biel and the late and great Bill Brent) to address zine making in today's...
The poisoner's handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in jazz age New York
Blum, Deborah
Paper Book
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum follows New York City's first forensic scientists to discover a fascinating Jazz Age story of chemistry and detection, poison and murder. Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of...
Smash the patriarchy
Breen, Marta
Paper Book
★ "This is a well-told and highly informative read. Highly recommended for young adult graphic novel and nonfiction collections." - School Library Journal (STARRED review) Winner of the 2024 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated Young Adult...
Survive Aotearoa
Bronwen Wall
A short history of nearly everything 2.0
Bryson, Bill
Paper Book
In this fully revised and updated edition of the best-selling popular science book of the 21st century, Bill Bryson makes complex subjects clear and compelling for everyone with an interest in the world around them. NOW FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED. 'Possibly the...
The observologist : a handbook for mounting very small scientific expeditions
Clarkson, Giselle
Paper Book
A highly illustrated, playful field guide for budding natural scientists and curious observers of the world right under our noses. Observology is the study of looking. An observologist makes scientific expeditions, albeit very small ones, every day. They notice interesting details in the...
Trans history : from ancient times to the present day
Combs, Alex L.
Paper Book
"Combs and Eakett do a fantastic job of providing readers an incredibly comprehensive and strongly researched--yet somehow compact--look into the history of trans identity." --School Library Journal (starred review) An essential introduction to trans history, from...
The history of science fiction : a graphic novel adventure
Dollo, Xavier
Paper Book
Journey through time and space with this graphic novel history of the science fiction genre, from Jules Verne, Jonathan Swift, and Mary Shelley to William Gibson and Philip K. Dick to Ken Liu and Ted Chiang, and beyond. Trace the progress of SF through modern<...
Smoke gets in your eyes : and other lessons from the crematory
Doughty, Caitlin
Paper Book
Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty--a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre--took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life's work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both...
Will my cat eat my eyeballs? : big questions from tiny mortals about death
Doughty, Caitlin
Paper Book
Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. The best questions come from kids. What would happen to an astronaut's body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? In Will My Cat Eat My...
Drinking game, the
Espiner, Guyon
Paper Book
An incisive analysis of how our drinking culture is influenced by the government, media and big business, by investigative journalist Guyon Espiner.
Hitler's people: the faces of the third reich
Evans, richard J.
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER 'Elegantly written and powerfully argued ... it ranks among the best works on this terrible period' Sunday Times A biographical study of Hitler's inner circle offers a new way to understand the horrors...
Mythos
Fry, Stephen
Paper Book
STEP INTO ANOTHER WORLD - OF MAGIC, MAYHEM, MONSTERS AND MANIACAL GODS - IN STEPHEN FRY'S MOMENTOUS SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, MYTHOS 'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times
We are all Greta : be inspired to save the world
Giannella, Valentina
Paper Book
"Humans are very adaptable: We can still fix this. But the opportunity to do so will not last for long. We must start today. We have no more excuses" GRETA THUNBERG Follow in the footsteps of the Swedish teenage activist and Nobel Peace Prize candidate in We Are All Greta<...
The Anthropocene reviewed : essays on a human-centered planet
Green, John
Paper Book
Goodreads Choice winner for Nonfiction 2021 and instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down. "The perfect book for right now." -People <...
Sapiens : a graphic history. Volume one, The birth of humankind
Harari, Yuval N.
Paper Book
Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout. #1 New York Times Bestseller  The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg,  now available as a beautifully packaged paperback From a renowned historian...
The story of art without men
Hessel, Katy
Paper Book
**OUT NOW: How to Live an Artful Life, Katy Hessel's new guide to finding art in the everyday** WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A long overdue, revisionist history of art by the...
Cats who changed the world
Jones, Dan
Paper Book
The cat-tastic companion to Dogs Who Changed the World. 50 awe-inspiring stories of cats who have altered history, inspired art and literature, reunited lost lovers, saved lives, or just ruined everything. These inspiring, humorous, heart-breaking, or just plain weird...
Amazons, abolitionists, and activists : a graphic history of women's fight for their rights
Kendall, Mikki
Paper Book
A bold and gripping graphic history of the fight for women's rights by theNew York Timesbestselling author ofHood Feminism "A beautifully drawn, hold-no-punches, surprisingly deep dive through the history of women's rights around the world, which will entrance...
Into thin air : a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster
Krakauer, Jon.
Paper Book
Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is the true story of a 24-hour period on Everest, when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended in the worst single-season death toll in...
Insectopolis : a natural history
Kuper, Peter
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the 2025 Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books Award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper transports readers through the 400-million-year history of insects and the remarkable entomologists who have studied them. This visually immersive work of graphic...
Bad gays : a homosexual history
Lemmey, Huw
Paper Book
These "very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history" offer a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond identity (Vogue). What can we learn from the homosexual villains, failures, and baddies of our past? ...
30 queer lives conversations with LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders
McEvoy, Matt
Paper Book
IDENTITY, UNDERSTANDING AND CELEBRATION THROUGH THE STORIES OF 30 REMARKABLE NEW ZEALANDERS 30 Queer Lives explores the lives, struggles and successes of LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders. The author, Matt McEvoy, notes that as a young gay Kiwi kid growing up, books about All Blacks and Sir Edmund Hillary...
The age of magical overthinking : notes on modern irrationality
Montell, Amanda
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BookPage Best Nonfiction Book of 2024 From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores...
I am autistic : an interactive and informative guide to autism (by someone diagnosed with it)
Moriah, Chanelle
Paper Book
An essential guide to understanding autism - for autistic people and their families, friends and workmates.
This is ADHD : an interactive and informative guide
Moriah, Chanelle
Paper Book
An essential guide to understanding ADHD, written and illustrated from the perspective of someone with ADHD.
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
SPECIAL UPDATED 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE MILLION-SELLING POP SCIENCE CLASSIC WHAT IF... one man decided to answer all the unanswerable questions, using science. 'Randall Munroe is nerd royalty' BEN GOLDACRE 'Brilliant' ROLLING STONE...
What if? 2 : additional serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
Munroe, Randall
Paper Book
WHAT IF... one man decided to answer all the unanswerable questions, using science.The Sunday Times-bestselling author and xkcd creator, Randall Munroe is here to provide the best answers yet to the important questions you probably never thought to askThe millions...
How to Speak Whale : A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication
Mustill, Tom.
Paper Book
'Fascinating' Greta Thunberg 'Extraordinary' Merlin Sheldrake 'A must-read' New Scientist 'Enthralling' George Monbiot 'Brilliant' Philip Hoare As a biologist and nature filmmaker, Tom Mustill had always liked whales. But when one landed...
An outbreak of witchcraft : a graphic novel of the Salem Witch Trials
Noyes, Deborah
Paper Book
A gripping tale of paranoia at its worst, this bewitching narrative nonfiction graphic novel visually imagines the haunting details behind the Salem witch trials. From 1692 to 1693, fear reigned in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts. The night Abigail...
Supremacy : AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world
Olson, Parmy
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND SCHRODERS 2024 BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD In November of 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was an AI chatbot called ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer...
A history of New Zealand in 100 objects
Phillips, Jock.
Paper Book
Authored by award-winning historian Jock Phillips, The History of New Zealand in 100 Objects is gripping, inclusive, often revelatory and deeply human. A colourful and characterful retelling of our shared past, relevant to today, particular to all of us. The sewing...
Around the world in 80 trains : a 45,000-mile adventure
Rajesh, Monisha
Ebook
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER AWARD FOR BEST TRAVEL BOOKSHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD'Monisha Rajesh has chosen one of the best ways of seeing the world. Never too fast, never too slow, her journey does what trains do best. Getting...
Fuzz : when nature breaks the law
Roach, Mary
Paper Book
What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers...
Side quest : a visual history of roleplaying games
Steenz
Paper Book
A Mary Sue Best YA Graphic Novel Runner-Up! For fans of dungeon crawls and dice rolls--and anyone wanting to know more about them--Side Quest is a stand-alone graphic novel history of roleplaying games (RPGs), from ancient games to those played today, with personal stories...
The incredible story of cooking : from prehistory to today : 500,000 years of adventure
Simmat, Benoist
Paper Book
For the first time, a graphic novel tells the story of humanity through the evolution of cuisine. From the discovery of fire to organic cooking, this book is aimed at all curious people and foodies. By the authors of Wine, A Graphic History. As soon as humans mastered fire, they invented cooking....
Kid activists : true tales of childhood from champions of change
Stevenson, Robin
Paper Book
Moving, relatable, and totally true childhood biographies of MartinLuther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Malala Yousafzai,and 12 other inspiring activists. Every activist started out as a kid-and in some cases they were kidswhen their activism began! But even the world...
No one is too small to make a difference
Thunberg, Greta
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate crisis activist who has become the voice of a generation. 'Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.' In August 2018 a fifteen...
Radical sewing : pattern-free, sustainable fashions for all bodies
Weiss, Kate
Paper Book
Take control of your wardrobe and learn how to escape from the never-ending cycle of fast fashion. Regardless of your sewing experience, gender, or body type, this illustrated guide will empower you to make your wardrobe your own - with information on basic sewing techniques, how to alter your...
The age of video games : a graphic history of gaming from Pong to VR and beyond
Zeid, Jean
Paper Book
Press Start on an immersive journey revealing the pixels, polygons, and people that revolutionized entertainment forever. Join journalist Jean Zeid, artist Émilie Rouge, and their console pal Roby to learn how digital dreams built an industry now worth...
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https://librarian.syndetics.com/syndeticsunbound/lp/1043.1411/list/6813

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