Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Grades K-12

Here are just some of the 57 recommended titles for grades K-12 from the 2024 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List! The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children, teens, and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. It is intended for recreational reading and is not designed to support any particular curriculum. Visit txla.org/topaz for the full list and lists from previous years.

Updated February 9, 2024
Lewisville Public Library
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Battle of the butts : the science behind animal behinds
Rish, Jocelyn
Paper Book
Did you know manatees swim using farts? Or that herrings communicate by passing gas? Butts are used for breathing, eating, swimming, talking, and even killing in the animal kingdom. Focusing on ten different animals and their derrières, and offering fun facts...
Mexikid : a graphic memoir
Martin, Pedro
Ebook
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER * An unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican American boy's family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico "One of those books that kids will pass to their friends as soon as they have finished it."-...
Caves
Beckerman, Nell Cross
Paper Book
A masterful exploration of one of nature's most curious ecosystems, Caves is a magical journey into subterranean wonders perfect for fans of Jason Chin. In the shade of the woods is a hill with a hole. Beaconing black. Goosebump chills. Excitement and fear battle. What will win?...
How do you spell unfair? : MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Ebook
A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book "This moving picture book portrays a girl who met injustice with dignity and excelled."-Booklist (starred review) MacNolia Cox was no ordinary kid. Her idea of fun was reading the dictionary....
How to make a book (about my dog)
Barton, Chris
Paper Book
How do you make a picture book? Well, you need an author, an illustrator, and . . . a dog?! Acclaimed author Chris Barton and his trusty pooch Ernie show readers how to make a nonfiction picture book . . . about Ernie! From coming up with ideas, researching, and writing a first draft to...
Ice cream man : how Augustus Jackson made a sweet treat better
Armand, Glenda
Paper Book
Discover the inspiring story of Augustus Jackson, an African American entrepreneur who is known as "the father of ice cream," in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography. Augustus Jackson was born in 1808 in Philadelphia. While most African Americans were enslaved at...
Hardcourt : stories from 75 years of the National Basketball Association
Bowen, Fred
Paper Book
Celebrate seventy-five years of the NBA in this exciting and beautifully illustrated middle grade account of the legendary athletes, coaches, and teams that changed basketball forever and created a national phenomenon enjoyed by millions today. The National Basketball Association...
A first time for everything : a true story
Santat, Dan
Paper Book
*Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature* A middle grade graphic memoir based on bestselling author and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's awkward middle school years and the trip to Europe that changed his life. Dan's always been a...
The Mona Lisa vanishes : a legendary painter, a shocking heist, and the birth of a global celebrity
Day, Nick
Ebook
A "witty thriller" (The New York Times) for middle-grade readers about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, how the robbery made the portrait the most famous artwork in the world--and how the painting by Leonardo da Vinci should never have existed at all. ...
Money out loud : all the financial stuff no one taught us
Anat, Berna
Ebook
Spearhead : an American tank gunner, his enemy, and a collision of lives in World War II
Makos, Adam
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER  "A band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershing's turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of...
The animal toolkit : how animals use tools
Jenkins, Steve
Paper Book
Did you know animals can use tools In this fascinating book by award-winning pair Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, we learn all about what makes a tool a tool and the remarkable ways animals can use them to find food, protect their young, and more. Until 1960, when Jane Goodall...
The fastest girl on Earth! : meet Kitty O'Neil, daredevil driver!
Robbins, Dean
Paper Book
Gear up for this high-powered picture book biography about Kitty O'Neil, the stuntwoman and racecar driver who broke the women's land speed record! Kitty O'Neil was a force to be reckoned with. She became deaf as a child, and grew up loving sports and action. Kitty jumped, ran,...
The little spacecraft that could : New Horizons' amazing journey to Pluto and Arrokoth
Lapin, Joyce
Paper Book
Ride along with the New Horizons spacecraft as she rockets three billion miles to Pluto! Watch her take the first close-up photos of Pluto, and then journey another billion miles to mini-world Arrokoth. You'll whiz through space at more than 10 miles per second; learn how giant planet Jupiter helped...
Family style : memories of an American from Vietnam
Pham, Thien
Ebook
Race against death : the greatest POW rescue of World War II
Hopkinson, Deborah
Ebook
A face for Picasso : coming of age with Crouzon syndrome
Henley, Ariel
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens "Raw and unflinching . . . A must-read!" --Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends "[It] cuts to the heart of our bogus ideas of beauty." -Scott Westerfeld,...
Braiding sweetgrass for young adults : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things--from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen--provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young...

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