Summer 2019 Recommended Reading: Nonfiction

Updated May 14, 2024
M
Milton Academy/Cox Library
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The 57 bus
Slater, Dashka,
Paper Book
The riveting New York Times bestseller and Stonewall Book Award winner that will make you rethink all you know about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment. Artfully, compassionately, and expertly told, Dashka Slater's The 57 Bus is a must-read nonfiction book for...
Contemporary Issues
I am Malala : the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban
Yousafzai, Malala,
Paper Book
A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE As seen on Netflix with David Letterman "I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday." When the Taliban took control of the Swat...

Autobiography/Memoir

The art book
Bugler, Caroline,
Paper Book
Learn about key movements like impressionism, cubism and symbolism in The Art Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Art in this overview guide to the subject, great for...
Visual Art
The assist : hoops, hope, and the game of their lives
Swidey, Neil,
Paper Book
Jack O'Brien, the impossibly demanding basketball coach at Charlestown High School in Boston, has led his team to five state championship titles in six years. Less talked about is O'Brien's other winning record: Nearly every one of the players who stuck with his program--poor kids growing up in...
Boston Sports
Astrophysics for people in a hurry
Tyson, Neil deGrasse,
Paper Book
Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit...
Everyday Science
Awkward
Chmakova, Svetlana,
Paper Book
Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don't get noticed by the mean kids.Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them.On her first day at her new school, Penelope--Peppi--Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in...

Everyday Science

Awkward : the science of why we're socially awkward and why that's awesome
Tashiro, Ty,
Paper Book
In the vein of Quiet and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth comes this illuminating look at what it means to be awkward--and how the same traits that make us socially anxious and cause embarrassing faux pas also provide the seeds for extraordinary success. As humans, we all need to belong....

Everyday Science

The best we could do : an illustrated memoir
Bui, Thi,
Paper Book
National bestseller ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family's journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui. ...

Autobiography/Memoir

Between a rock and a hard place
Ralston, Aron,
Paper Book
Icebound meets Into Thin Air in this astonishing, day-by-day account of Ralston's terrible accident, self-amputation, and subsequent rescue and recovery. of full-color photos.

Sports

The blood of Emmett Till
Tyson, Timothy B.,
Paper Book
* Longlisted for the National Book Award * A New York Times Notable Book * A Washington Post Notable Book * An NPR Best Book of 2017 * A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2017 * An Atlanta Journal-Constitution Best Southern Book of 2017 * This...

US & World History

Bossypants
Fey, Tina,
Paper Book
Spirited and whip-smart, these laugh-out-loud autobiographical essays are "a masterpiece" from the Emmy Award-winning actress and comedy writer known for 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and SNL" (Sunday Telegraph). Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina...
Performing Arts
The boys in the boat : Nine americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 berlin olympics
Brown, Daniel James,
Ebook
Now a Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany--from the author of Facing the Mountain. For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the...
It Takes A Team
Brady vs Manning : the untold story of the rivalry that transformed the NFL
Myers, Gary,
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller  From Acclaimed sports journalist Gary Myers comes the definitive inside account of the greatest rivalry in NFL history Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are perhaps the two greatest quarterbacks of all time. They are living legends who...

Boston Sports

Bunk : the rise of hoaxes, humbug, plagiarists, phonies, post-facts, and fake news
Young, Kevin,
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction "There Kevin Young goes again, giving us books we greatly need, cleverly disguised as books we merely want. Unexpectedly essential."--Marlon James Award-winning poet and critic Kevin Young tours us...
Contemporary Issues
Chemical composition of everyday products
Toedt, John,
Paper Book
Chemicals, both helpful and harmful, affect our everyday lives. From cosmetics to medications to cleansers to lighting, automotive, and office products, each is composed of a complex blending of elements to perform a specific task. This book analyzes over 100 groups of products, identifying the...

Everyday Science

The color of law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America
Rothstein, Richard,
Paper Book
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America's cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation--that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions...

US & World History

Dare not linger : the presidential years
Mandela, Nelson,
Paper Book
The long-awaited second volume of Nelson Mandela's memoirs, left unfinished at his death and never before available, are here completed and expanded with notes and speeches written by Mandela during his historic presidency, making for a moving sequel to his worldwide bestseller Long Walk to...
Biography
Feeding the monster : how money, smarts, and nerve took a team to the top
Mnookin, Seth,
Paper Book
The acclaimed author of Hard News presents the in-depth, inside story of the new Boston Red Sox, told with the full cooperation of the owners, management, and players who brought a World Series championship to Boston after 86 years. of photos.

Baseball

Finishing the hat : collected lyrics (1954-1981) with attendant comments, principles, heresies, grudges, whines and anecdotes
Sondheim, Stephen,
Paper Book
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * Titled after perhaps Stephen Sondheim's most autobiographical song, from Sunday in the Park with George--Finishing the Hat not only collects his lyrics for the first time, it offers readers a rare personal look into...

Performing Arts

Friday night lights : a town, a team, and a dream
Bissinger, H. G.,
Paper Book
Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa--the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided,...

It Takes A Team

Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison,
Paper Book
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, NATIONAL BESTSELLER  ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Time Magazine #1 Book of the Year * National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist  Winner of the Stonewall Book Award * Double finalist for...

GN Memoir

Golden : the miraculous rise of Steph Curry
Thompson, Marcus,
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER--ALL-ACCESS LOOK AT STEPH CURRY AND THE 2017 NBA CHAMPIONS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS "A revolutionary player like Curry--whose three-point shooting altered basketball in a way similar to Babe Ruth changing baseball with the home run--deserves an in-the...

Biography

Grant
Chernow, Ron,
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2017 "Eminently readable but thick with import . . . Grant hits like a Mack truck of knowledge." --Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic<...

Biography

Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Lee Shetterly, Margot,
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in...
Scientists
Hunger : a memoir of (my) body
Gay, Roxane,
Paper Book
The New York Times Bestseller National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist Lambda Literary Award winner From Roxane Gay, the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist, a memoir in weight about eating healthier, finding a tolerable form of exercise, and exploring what...
Autobiography/Memoir
The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Skloot, Rebecca,
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE ...
Medical Mysteries
Kabul girls soccer club : a dream, eight girls, and a journey home
Ayub, Awista,
Paper Book
In 1979, Awista Ayub fled her birthplace of Kabul with her family and escaped to the United States. Since then, Awista has been determined to make a difference for girls still living in Afghanistan. She honed in on her love for football and set the wheels for life-changing events in motion by...

It Takes A Team

Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI
Grann, David,
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, "one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."--New...

US & World History

Laika
Abadzis, Nick,
Paper Book
Eisner Award Winner: Best Publication for Teens | Eisner Award Nominee: Best Reality-Based Work Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth's first space traveler. This graphic novel follows her journey. Nick Abadzis masterfully blends...

Graphic Nonfiction

Lawrence in Arabia : war, deceit, imperial folly and the making of the modern Middle East
Anderson, Scott,
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY New York Times * Christian Science Monitor * NPR * Seattle Times * St. Louis Dispatch National Book Critics Circle Finalist -- American Library Association Notable Book A thrilling and...

US & World History

Leonardo da Vinci
Isaacson, Walter,
Paper Book
Soon to be a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS! The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is "a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it...Most important, it is a powerful story of...

Visual Art

Maus : a survivor's tale
Spiegelman, Art.
Paper Book
The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as "the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust" (Wall Street Journal) and "the first masterpiece in comic book history" (The New Yorker) * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * One of Variety's "Banned and...
Moneyball : the art of winning an unfair game
Lewis, Michael
Paper Book
Just before the 2002 season opens, the Oakland Athletics must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players and is written off by just about everyone--but then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins. How did one of the poorest teams in baseball...

Baseball

My friend Dahmer : a graphic novel
Backderf, Derf
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER 2013 ALA/YALSA Alex Award 2014 Revelation Award at Angoul\u00eame 2015 ALA/YALSA Alex Award (Excellence in Narrative Nonfiction) You only think you know this story. In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer - the most notorious serial killer since Jack the Ripper...

GN Memoir

No limits : built to succeed
Phelps, Michael,
Paper Book
"When I'm focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything that can stand in the way of my doing something. There is not. If I want something bad enough, I feel I'm gonna get there."Michael Phelps is one of the greatest competitors the world has ever seen. From teen sensation in Sydney to...

Sports

Orr : my story
Orr, Bobby,
Paper Book
One of the greatest sports figures of all time breaks his silence in a memoir as unique as the man himself. He has never written a memoir, authorized a biography, or talked to journalists about his past, but now he is finally ready to tell his story. Bobby Orr is...

Boston Sports

Primates : the fearless science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas
Ottaviani, Jim,
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Jim Ottaviani returns with an action-packed account of the three greatest primatologists of the last century: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. These three ground-breaking researchers were all students of the great Louis Leakey, and each made...
Graphic Nonfiction
The radium girls : the dark story of America's shining women
Moore, Kate
Paper Book
A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller! "The glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." --NPR Books  Discover the gripping and inspiring true story of The Radium Girls, a groundbreaking work by acclaimed author Kate Moore....

Scientists

Red madness : how a medical mystery changed what we eat
Jarrow, Gail,
Paper Book
One hundred years ago, a mysterious and alarming illness spread across America's South, striking tens of thousands of victims. No one knew what caused it or how to treat it. People were left weak, disfigured, insane, and in some cases, dead. Award-winning science and history...

Medical Mysteries

Seabiscuit : an American legend
Hillenbrand, Laura,
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend. Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular...

Sports

Stitches : a memoir --
Small, David,
Paper Book
The prize-winning children's author depicts a childhood from hell in this searing yet redemptive graphic memoir. One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat...

GN Memoir

Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman! : adventures of a curious character
Feynman, Richard P.
Paper Book
In this phenomenal bestseller, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums--and much else of an...
Scientists
Symphony for the City of the Dead : Dmitri Shostakovich and the siege of Leningrad
Anderson, M. T.,
Paper Book
A 2016 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson delivers a brilliant and riveting account of the Siege of Leningrad and the role played by Russian composer Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony.

Music

The teammates : a portrait of a friendship
Halberstam, David,
Paper Book
Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky were all members of the famed 1940's Boston Red Sox. Their legendary careers led the Red Sox to a pennant championship and ensured the men a place in sports history. David Halberstam, the bestselling author of the baseball classic Summer of...
Baseball
Vincent and Theo : the Van Gogh brothers
Heiligman, Deborah,
Paper Book
Printz Honor Book * YALSA Nonfiction Award Winner * Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner * SCBWI Golden Kite Winner * Cybils Senior High Nonfiction Award Winner From the author of National Book Award finalist Charles and Emma comes an incredible story of...

Visual Art

Wave.
Deraniyagala, Sonali,
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST * One woman's searing account of losing her entire family in a tsunami.  "The most exceptional book about grief I've ever read.... As unsparing as they come, but also defiantly flooded with light.......

Autobiography/Memoir

We were eight years in power : an American tragedy
Coates, Ta-Nehisi,
Paper Book
In this "urgently relevant"* collection featuring the landmark essay "The Case for Reparations," the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me "reflects on race, Barack Obama's presidency and its jarring aftermath"*--including the election of Donald...

Contemporary Issues

Why a curveball curves : the incredible science of sports
Vizard, Frank,
Paper Book
Sports. They get our blood pumping and our hearts racing. Fans scream and cheer as their favorite athletes run, throw, pedal, dive, or swing their way to victory. But what makes an athlete successful? Why do some players excel when others fall behind? In Why a Curveball Curves, the...

Everyday Science

You don't have to say you love me : a memoir
Alexie, Sherman,
Paper Book
A searing, deeply moving memoir about family, love, loss, and forgiveness from the critically acclaimed, bestselling National Book Award-winning author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond...

Autobiography/Memoir


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