Young Adult Nonfiction

One of America's favorite African-American storytellers remembers her childhood in tender, unforgettable new stories. Jackie Torrence, a frequent headliner at the National Storytelling Festival, is known to audiences nationwide as The Story Lady.

Voices of the Titanic is a standout among Titanic books for kids that will give you insights into the disaster like never before. Take a new look at the sinking of the RMS Titanic through the eyes of the heroes and the cowards, the wealthy and the poor, the survivors and those who went down with the ship. In one of the best Titanic books for kids, you’ll hear the stories of real passengers and how they found their place on board. Of all the Titanic books for kids, the fascinating accounts and tantalizing tales in this one will keep you captivated for hours.

The journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark remain the single most important document in the history of American exploration. This compact volume of their journals, compiled by American Book Award nominee Landon Y. Jones, includes all of the most riveting tales of their adventure, in their own words.

At one time Lew Alcindor was just another kid from New York City with all the usual problems: He struggled with fitting in, with pleasing a strict father, and with overcoming shyness that made him feel socially awkward. But with a talent for basketball and an unmatched team of supporters, Lew Alcindor was able to transform and to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Normal. Who is to say what this word means? For Magda Newman, it was a goal. She wanted her son Nathaniel to be able to play on the playground, swim at the beach, enjoy the moments his friends took for granted. But Nathaniel’s severe Treacher Collins syndrome - a craniofacial condition - meant that other concerns came first. Could he eat without the aid of a gastrointestinal tube? Could he hear? Would he ever be able to breathe effortlessly? But Nathaniel looks at “normal” from a completely different perspective.

One day, not so very many years ago, a small peasant boy was chosen to study ballet at the Beijing Dance Academy. His mother urged him to take this chance of a lifetime. But Li was only eleven years old and he was scared and lonely, pushed away from all that he had ever known and loved. He hated the strict training routines and the strange place he had been brought to. All he wanted to do was go home - to his mother, father, and six brothers, to his own small village. But soon Li realised that his mother was right. He had the chance to do something special with his life - and he never turned back.

Although less well known than his famous flight over the North Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd's adventures in Antarctica are just as remarkable. Wide-eyed youngsters will feel the excitement and danger as they learn about the isolated and tight little manned station where Byrd lived, separated from his crew; the temperatures that plunged to 60 degrees below zero; and Byrd's brush with death when a small stove he needed to keep warm - and stay alive - filled the air with carbon monoxide.

A modern update on the ageless idea that girls should know appropriate and courteous responses to any situation. Good manners aren’t just a quaint and old-fashioned concept. They’re an essential aspect of every young lady’s path to adulthood and the skills she’ll need in whatever she chooses to do.

Best-selling author Georgia Bragg delights young people with her quirky characters and unique subject matter. How They Croaked provides all the gory details of the awful ends of 19 awfully famous people. It details Ludwig Van Beethoven’s expansive finale, Henry VII’s explosive end, Albert Einstein’s great brain escape, and Marie Curie’s glowing demise.

Just say know! With drug education for children more important than ever, this nonfiction book draws on the experiences of the New York Times best-selling father-and-son team to provide all the information teens and 'tweens need to know about drugs, alcohol, and addiction. From David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy, and Nic Sheff, author of Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, comes the ultimate resource for learning about the realities of drugs and alcohol for middle-grade listeners.

The world you live in promotes sex as the answer to just about everything. The pressure to go along with the crowd is greater than ever before, and it's easy to compromise in little ways that are a lot more harmful than they seem. You and your friends may become caught up in destructive relationships or sexual activities without even knowing how you got there. You just want to be normal - to fit in, to be liked, to look attractive to the opposite sex. But are you paying too high a price?

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history, including Voltaire, the French writer who believed in equality for all; Charlotte Brontë, the British novelist who wrote Jane Eyre; Mark Twain, the American who wrote Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer; Jacques Prévert, the writer known in France as 'the People's Poet'; Ayn Rand, whose writing expressed her own philosophical ideas; and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about life in a Soviet Labour Camp.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history. Contents: Gaius Julius Caesar, the powerful Roman leader; Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled England for 45 years; George Washington, the first president of the USA; King Louis XVI, the last king of France; Winston Churchill, who led Britain in the Second World War; Che Guevara, the Argentinian doctor who fought for revolution.

Whaling in the Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast was as dangerous as it was lucrative in 1897. In that particular year, winter came early, bringing with it storms and ice packs that caught eight American whale ships and about three hundred sailors off guard. The ships were imprisoned in ice with no hope of escape. With limited provisions on board the ships that hadn’t been crushed by the ice, there was little hope that these men could survive until warmer temperatures arrived at least 10 months later. Martin Sandler tells the incredible true adventure story of three men who were ordered by President McKinley to carry out an overland rescue in the dead of winter.

From the start, his path was never predictable. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption at birth, dropped out of college after one semester, and at the age of 20, created Apple in his parents' garage with his friend Steve Wozniack. Then came the core and hallmark of his genius - his exacting insistence on perfection, his counterculture life approach, and his level of taste and style that pushed all boundaries.

Coyote Peterson, YouTube star, animal enthusiast, and creator of the Brave Adventure series, has tracked down some of the world's most painfully stinging insects and chronicled getting stung by each of them on his YouTube channel. Coyote has saved the best - or possibly the worst - for last, and he's finally ready to share his experience with the most painful sting in the world: the Executioner Wasp. Packed with facts about nature's most misunderstood creatures, The King of Sting is a dream book for any kid that loves animals, bugs, outdoor exploration, and danger!

Sally Hobart Alexander continues the story of her journey into blindness in this uplifting tale of a life rebuilt and love renewed. Suzanne Toren’s perceptive narration perfectly expresses the emotions of Sally’s sometimes fun, often arduous, and always interesting journey. Also available is Taking Hold, My Journey Into Blindness, which tells the first half of Sally’s story.

This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she was supposed to belong to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon. Yoko Ono's moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider.

Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent a harrowing nine years of her life in 14 different foster homes. Her memoir, Three Little Words, captivated audiences everywhere and went on to become a New York Times best seller. Now Ashley reveals the nuances of life after foster care: college and its assorted hijinks, including meeting "the one". Marriage, which began with a beautiful wedding on a boat that was almost hijacked (literally) by some biological family members.

The inspiring stories of six people who changed history. Contents: Henry J Heinz, the man who invented tomato ketchup; William Lever, who made millions from soap; Michael Marks, founder of the Marks and Spencer stores; Henry Ford, who mass produced cars and made them affordable; Coco Chanel, the businesswoman who changed fashion for women; Ray Kroc, the man who created the McDonald's chain of restaurants.