Texas Topaz Nonfiction List for Grades K-12

Here are just some of the 57 recommended titles for grades K-12 from the 2025 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 July 1, 2025
Lewisville Public Library
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And yet you shine : the Kohinoor diamond, colonization, and resistance
Kelkar, Supriya
Paper Book
The story of one of the world's most famous diamonds--stolen from South Asia during colonization and now among the crown jewels in London--is a call to action for readers to decolonize and hold their heads high. The Kohinoor diamond, one of the most famous diamonds in the world,...
Attacked! : Pearl Harbor and the day war came to America
Favreau, Marc
Paper Book
The true story of Pearl Harbor as you've never read it before--action-packed, informative, and told through the eyes of those on all sides of the violence who experienced the terror of the unprecedented attack firsthand. A single day changed the course of history:...
Daughter of the light-footed people : the story of indigenous marathon champion Lorena Ramírez
Cabot, Belen Medina
Paper Book
Meet Lorena Ramírez, an Indigenous Rarámuri athlete from Mexico who is internationally known for winning ultramarathons in her traditional skirts and rubber sandals, in this nonfiction picture book. From the copper canyons of Mexico, her swift footsteps echo. Clip clap, clip...
The enigma girls : how ten teenagers broke ciphers, kept secrets, and helped win World War II
Fleming, Candace
Paper Book
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book. With numerous starred reviews and accolades, from award-winning author Candace Fleming, comes the powerful and fascinating story of the brave and dedicated young women who helped turn the tides of World War II for the Allies, with their hard work and...
Erno Rubik and his magic cube
Aradhya, Kerry
Paper Book
This first picture book biography of Rubik's Cube creator Erno Rubik reveals the obsession, imagination, and engineering process behind creating an iconic puzzle. Celebrating 50 years of the most popular puzzle in history! An Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Honor Book...
The girl who figured it out
Dentler, Minda
Paper Book
The uplifting true story of Minda Dentler, the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship triathlon. Minda Dentler made history when she became the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the world's toughest triathlon, using only her arms to finish a...
The iguanodon's horn : how artists and scientists put a dinosaur back together again and again ... and again
Rubin, Sean
Paper Book
Highlighting the role of artists in the scientific process, this crowd-pleasing look at dinosaurs explores how new discoveries deepen our understanding of the world. AN ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 2024 KID'S BOOK AWARD WINNER A HORN BOOK FANFARE TITLE ...
Impossible Escape A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe
Sheinkin, Steve.
Paper Book
From three-time National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust--one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape. It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolf (Rudi...
José feeds the world : how a famous chef feeds millions of people in need around the world
Unger, David
Paper Book
The true story of Jose Andres, an award-winning chef, food activist, and founder of World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief organization that uses the power of food to nourish communities after catastrophe strikes. When a terrible earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, chef Jose Andres knew he...
Kid-ventors : 35 real kids and their amazing inventions
Pew, Kailei
Paper Book
What do swim fins, Popsicles®, Infection-Detecting Stitches, the Braille alphabet, and Taco vs. Burrito all have in common? They were all invented by kids! When Remya Jose had to spend many hours washing her family's laundry by hand, she invented a pedal powered washing...
Log life
Hevron, Amy
Paper Book
A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids 2024 A Junior Library Guild Selection Discover the tiny, fascinating world of nurse logs in this first book in an illuminating picture book series that explores how even the smallest habitats play big roles in nature.<...
Mushroom rain
Zimmermann, Laura K.
Paper Book
What can smell like bubble gum, glow neon green at night, be poisonous and yet still eaten by humans, and even help create rain? The answer is mushrooms! From their hidden networks underground to the fruiting body above, mushrooms can do incredible things. But don't call them plants--mushrooms are...
My lost freedom : a Japanese American WWII story
Takei, George
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A CALIBA GOLDEN POPPY AWARD WINNER . A moving, beautifully illustrated true story for children ages 6 to 9 about growing up in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II-from the iconic Star Trek actor, activist, and author of the New...
Puzzled : a memoir of growing up with OCD
Cooke, Pan
Paper Book
Growing up with undiagnosed OCD sure isn't easy, and here Pan Cooke shares his own experiences with that condition in a graphic-novel memoir that is as funny as it is powerfully candid and openhearted. Pan Cooke is ten years old when anxious thoughts begin to take over his brain...
Stealing Little Moon : the legacy of the American Indian boarding schools
Jones, Dan C.
Paper Book
"Stealing Little Moon is both a moving family saga and an expertly told true story that all Americans should know." --Steve Sheinkin, New York Times bestselling author of Bomb and Undefeated Scholastic Focus is the premier home of thoroughly researched,...
Sweet justice : Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rockliff, Mara
Paper Book
An inspiring picture-book biography about the woman whose cooking helped feed and fund the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956, from an award-winning illustrator. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NewYork Public Library . Chicago Public Library Georgia...
Thomas Jefferson's battle for science : bias, truth, and a mighty moose!
Anderson, Beth
Paper Book
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year 2025 Texas Topaz List Thomas Jefferson is one of the most famous founding fathers, but did you know that his mind was always on science? This STEM/STEAM picture book tells how Jefferson's scientific thinking and method battled against...
Uprooted : a memoir about what happens when your family moves back
Chan, Ruth
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of New Kid and A First Time for Everything, a joyful and tearful debut middle grade graphic memoir about one girl being uprooted when she moves to Hong Kong, a place where her family fits in but, for her, it's nothing like home. Ruth Chan loves...
Wings of an eagle : the gold medal dreams of Billy Mills
Mills, Billy
Paper Book
A ROBERT F. SIBERT INFORMATIONAL BOOK AWARD HONOR BOOK Just in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics, here is a dramatic and inspiring autobiographical tale of overcoming odds by Native American gold medalist Billy Mills, with stunning...

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