Staff Picks Youth Nonfiction

The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century

by Neil Bascomb

This book gives the reader a gripping description of the greatest prison breakout of the 20th century. 29 prisoners tunnel their way out of Holzminden prison in Germany during World War I. It’s replete with photographs, letters and maps. 

 Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Torpedoed: the true story of the World War II sinking of “The Children’s Ship”

by Deborah Heiligman

Very readable non-fiction book on the torpedoing of the ship ‘The City of Benares’ in 1940. Includes pictures and quotes from survivors. This title is also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Obsessed: a memoir of my life with OCD

by Allison Britz

This memoir is intense. If you have no experience with or knowledge of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) then you’ll expand your know-how significantly in reading this book. Allison has sudden onset OCD in her sophomore year of high school. The struggles she details will both fill you with sympathy and make you cringe in disbelief. Also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Your Place in the Universe

by Jason Chin

By the author of Grand Canyon, Jason Chin has once again created a book that has magnificent illustrations to go along with text that makes size and distance very understandable. Starting out with the idea that most eight-year-olds are about five times as tall as the book and continuing comparisons on and on into the universe. This is an engaging way to grasp perspectives of things on earth and in space. There is more information found in the back of the book. This is a mind boggling book and a must see to believe.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Into the Clouds: the Race to Climb the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain

by Tod Olson

A white knuckle account of the dangers faced and challenges overcome to be the first to reach the top of K2. The book tells the stories of three different groups over 15 years who tried to reach the top. Suffering from frostbite and illnesses and storms and many other dangers, this book reads as if you are there. For thrills and chills from safely on the ground, this is a must read.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Otis and Will discover the deep: the record setting dive of the Bathysphere

by Barb Rosenstock

A little known true story about an engineer and an explorer who built a hollow metal ball, a bathysphere, to dive deep into the ocean. Not only does the text make this story suspenseful, but the watercolor drawings make this a mesmerizing book. As the two men went deeper and deeper into the ocean, not only the risks of something going wrong grew, but also the rewards in the sights they were the first to see. Read this book to follow them down into the deep. Also available on OverDrive.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Leave it to Abigail : the Revolutionary life of Abigail Adams

by Barb Rosenstock

“Everyone knew that good girls kept quiet, but…leave it to Abigail” is an example of how this biography about Abigail Adams is set up with information about her life and times and then how she managed to prove that women could do more. Colorful illustrations are complemented by cross-stitch pictures of that time period. Abigail Adams throughout her life was truly a revolutionary woman in a revolutionary time…a Founding Mother.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Honeybee : the busy life of Apis Mellifera

by Candace Fleming

Follow Apis, a honeybee, from her birth to death, a life cycle around 35 days. Detailed illustrations and fascinating facts abound in this book and keep the reader entertained while learning. End pages detail the anatomy of the worker honeybee as well as further information about life in a hive, and how to help honeybees.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Ibn-al-Haytham, The Man who Discovered How We See

by Libby Romero

I recommend “Ibn -al-Haytham, The Man who Discovered How We See.” He is an Arabian scholar from Basra (Iraq) who lived in the 10th & 11th centuries during the gold Muslim time. While he was under arrest for more than 10 years, Ibn al-Haytham made many important discoveries about light and vision. He took advantage of that time to read and learn and come up with new ideas that would change how people saw the world. Thanks to him that we know now how vision works and even cameras.

Recommended by: Ghada Rafati, Patron Services

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Cells: an owner’s handbook

by Carolyn Fisher

Told from a cell’s point of view, this is a complete, but easily understood informational book. From interesting facts, to understanding mitosis, or different types of cells, the book is not only readable but the illustrations are extremely useful. A great combination for learning.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction