Best Informational Books for Older Readers of 2023Like this list

20 items

• Breaking the Mold

  Changing the Face of Climate Science

  Levy, Dana Alison,

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  Meet a cave explorer turned science writer, a disabled vulcanologist who spends time near active volcanoes, an Indigenous Hawaiian surfer who studies the microbiomes of other surfers and more in this anthology featuring sixteen of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Chinese Menu

  the History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

  Lin, Grace,

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  If you love Chinese food, you may have wondered how your favorite dishes got their names. Take a deep dive into the history, myths and legends behind your favorite foods in this beautifully illustrated book laid out just like a Chinese…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Coretta's Journey

  the Life and Times of Coretta Scott King /

  Duncan, Alice Faye,

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  Explore Coretta Scott King’s life through poetry and prose, highlighting all the many ups and downs that she and her family weathered through determination, hard work and gumption. Coretta’s parents taught her those values and she brought…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A First Time for Everything

  a True Story

  Santat, Dan,

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  Come along with Dan Santat as he shares his amazing, and sometimes cringeworthy, experiences on a group trip to Europe at age 13. His experiences with friendship, embarrassment and first love are relatable, and his illustrations of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Holding Her Own

  the Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes

  Todd, Traci N.,

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  Artist, journalist, cartoonist, activist, fashionista and doll designer – Jackie Ormes was all these things and more! But first, Jackie Ormes was Zelda Jackson, a little girl from Pennsylvania with two artistic parents and a knack for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Just Jerry

  How Drawing Shaped My Life

  Pinkney, Jerry,

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  In this memoir, Jerry Pinkney, one the most renowned children’s book illustrators of all time, gives us an inside look into his world as a little boy growing up on East Earlham Street in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 50s. From funny family…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Learning to Be Wild

  How Animals Achieve Peace, Create Beauty, and Raise Families

  Safina, Carl, 1955-

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  Are humans the only animals on Earth with culture – the ability to learn from each other and pass along certain behaviors socially? This young reader’s edition exploring the social lives of chimpanzees, macaws, and sperm whales suggests…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Making More

  How Life Begins

  Roy, Katherine,

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  Where do baby [rabbits, snakes, humans] come from? Using scientific terms and diagrams, Katherine Roy describes how various species “meet, merge, and create.” Roy’s stunning and scientifically accurate drawings illustrate the concepts…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mexikid

  a Graphic Memoir

  Martin, Pedro, 1967-

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  In this graphic memoir, author, illustrator, and self-proclaimed “Mexikid” Pedro/Peter Martinez takes us all the way back in time to 1977 when Star Wars was his favorite movie, Superman was his favorite action hero, and his entire family –…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Mona Lisa Vanishes

  a Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity

  Day, Nicholas, 1991-

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  Travel back and forth in time through this thrilling nonfiction narrative to discover how the Mona Lisa became THE Mona Lisa. Not only will you walk the footsteps of the thief and detectives to solve the greatest heist in history, but you…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Monkey Trial

  John Scopes and the Battle Over Teaching Evolution

  Sanchez, Anita, 1956-

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  Could a science teacher be arrested for teaching students about a scientific theory? In Dayton, Tennesse in 1925, the answer was yes. This is the page-turning true story of a court case once deemed “the trial of the century.”

• More Than a Dream

  the Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

  Williams, Yohuru, 1971-

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  More than likely, you have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, but how did the day it happened come to be? Any huge event takes much planning, as did the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• My Head Has a Bellyache

  More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-ups

  Harris, Chris, 1970-

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  Be prepared before you open this book: anything can happen with the poems inside. A meteor might crash into a poem, there may be a poem in the footnotes, one poem might suddenly become a snake. There might even be a book-within-the-book.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Of All Tribes

  American Indians and Alcatraz

  Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-

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  A lesser-known but no less noteworthy chapter of history, this is the powerful story of a group of Native American activists who in 1969 occupied the abandoned island and prison of Alcatraz for over a year, declaring it stolen – and now…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Place Called America

  a Story of the Land and People /

  Thermes, Jennifer,

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  This history of America, from 15,000 years ago until today, selects major historical events to tell the story of the United States. And while that may not sound groundbreaking, the book centers the perspective of the colonized and/or…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Polar

  Wildlife at the Ends of the Earth

  Carmichael, L. E. (Lindsey E.),

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  Even though the Arctic and Antarctica are at opposite ends of the Earth, they have a lot in common: they’re both cold, windy, and dark for six much each year! Due to these environmental similarities, distinctly different animals have…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Shining a Light

  Celebrating 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World

  Bybee, Veeda,

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  Meet a variety of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in this collective biography with a bold portrait paired with an informative essay. This small selection starts in the 19th century and takes us through the present featuring notable…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Total Garbage

  a Messy Dive Into Trash, Waste, and Our World /

  Donnelly, Rebecca,

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  From compost to conservation, reducing to recycling, this book reveals the entire life cycle of the endless tons of trash that humans create daily. Beyond being a fascinating discussion on what are the easiest materials to recycle and why,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Voices of the People

  Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-

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  A gorgeous and innovative showcase of 34 prominent Indigenous leaders from 1000 A.D. to today. Each two-page spread contains a poem on one side discussing the titled figure and their deeds while the other side provides unique illustrations…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Your Freedom, Your Power

  a Kid's Guide to the First Amendment /

  Matulli, Allison,

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  The first amendment offers freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government but what does that mean for kids? Do you have the right to protest at school? Are curfew laws allowed under the first amendment? …Read moreRead more of this annotation