Nonfiction Newbery BooksLike this list

11 items

• Hitler Youth

  Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

  Bartoletti, Susan Campbell

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  Over seven million young people joined the Hitler Youth organization to support the efforts of the Nazi government. What was it like to belong to that group? The author shares true stories of Hitler Youth participants, including some who resisted.

• The American Plague

  the Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History

  Crosby, Molly Caldwell

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  More than two centuries before COVID and 125 years before the 1918 flue pandemic, the yellow fever spread through Philadelphia and took over 5,000 lives. How did scientists, politicians, and ordinary people deal with a lethal epidemic in the 1790s?

• 26 Fairmount Avenue

  DePaola, Tomie, 1934-2020

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  Award-winning author/illustrator Tomie DePaola reminisces about his childhood years in 1930s Connecticut in this short memoir. His time as a five-year-old included a new home, a chocolate/laxative mix-up, and a kindergarten walkout.

• The Voice That Challenged a Nation

  Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

  Freedman, Russell, 1929-2018

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  Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial was a historic event, helping to set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. This biography traces the life of the celebrated singer and her times.

• Claudette Colvin

  Twice Toward Justice

  Hoose, Phillip M., 1947-

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  Nine months before Rosa Parks made history, a teenager was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Though her story is not as widely known, Claudette Colvin’s courage played a key role in the civil rights movement.

• Carver, a Life in Poems

  Nelson, Marilyn, 1946-

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  The remarkable life of botanist George Washington Carver is told in 59 short free verse poems, from his early life as the child of enslaved parents to his teaching career and his groundbreaking scientific achievements.

• Bomb

  the Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

  Sheinkin, Steve,

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  A spy caught in his pajamas. An eccentric scientist in New Mexico. A team of Norwegian commandos on skis. Two United States presidents. These are among the many historical figures involved in the true story of the creation of the atomic bomb.

• Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

  Sidman, Joyce,

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  Meet the animals of the night, from the “snail at moonrise” to the “dark emperor,” also known as the great horned owl. Lyrical poems are paired with fascinating facts to bring the darkness to life until the moon finally fades.

• All Thirteen

  the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team

  Soontornvat, Christina,

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  In 2018 twelve young soccer players and their coach were trapped by water in an underground cave. Although thousands of people contributed to the rescue effort, they remained in the cave for over two weeks. Did all thirteen survive?

• Box

  Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom

  Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-

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  In 52 six-line poems (to match the number of sides in a box), poet Carole Weatherford tells the true story of Henry Brown, who escaped slavery by mailing himself in a box: “...They pry open the lid, / And I step out a free man. I burst into song.”

• Brown Girl Dreaming

  Woodson, Jacqueline,

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  Jacqueline Woodson was born in 1963, in “a country caught between Black and White.” In this free verse memoir, she recalls growing up in South Carolina, then in New York, telling about the experiences and the people that led to her writing career.