Book Theme Graphic - Big Fat Notebook

 

Book Review - The Far Away Brothers

📖Recommend for Grades 7 and up📖

The Far Away Brothers (Adapted for Young Adults):

Two Teenage Immigrants Making a Life in America

by Lauren Markham

After ending up on the wrong side of a gang in El Salvador, seventeen-year-old Ernesto Flores must flee to the United States for his safety. His identical twin brother Raul soon follows for his own safety. After facing a treacherous journey to cross the border, the boys are met with a challenging life in the States. Ernesto and Raul are fortunate they have their older brother who had traveled North years early, making certain things more manageable. However, since he also traveled illegally to the States, there are still several obstacles. 

Names and certain aspects were changed for privacy reasons, but this is a true story—the book adapted from the adult novel of the same name. Ernesto and Raul’s story is the main focus, but readers also get insight into the family they left behind. Their story is eye-opening into what immigrants go through to get to a safer life in the United States but still met with challenges. Certain aspects of the story are a little heavy but handled in an age-appropriate way. At times the story reads like fiction, making it easier to read for those who aren’t non-fiction fans. It is just important to remember that while names may be changed, this story is not made up. 

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Book Review - This Book is Anti-Racist

  📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

This Book Is Anti-Racist:

20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work

by Tiffany Jewell

Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Tiffany Jewel expertly tackles these questions in this book. The book mixes facts and personal experience. Sections and chapters end with a journal exercise that readers can choose to do or not. 

This book feels like a textbook, without feeling like a textbook. Tiffany wonderfully shares and explains the information presented. For those looking to start their anti-racist work, this is a great place to start. For those already working on it, this book is still a valuable tool. Though geared towards a middle and high school audience, this book can be valuable to adults as well. Either on their own or with their middle and/or high schooler. 

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Book Review - When They Call You a Terrorist

  📖Recommend for Grades 7 and up📖

When They Call You a Terrorist

by Patrisse Khan-Cullors

One of the Black Lives Matter movement founders shares her personal story and experience as a member of the Black community in the United States. Patrice shares what the Black men in her life experienced, how BLM came to be, and how members of the Black Community are and have been viewed in this country.

When They Call You a Terrorist is an essential and informative memoir, readers will likely get something from it. Originally written for an older audience, this is the adaptation geared towards younger readers. The topics covered in this book can be sensitive for some readers. Please beware if you are triggered by certain topics such as death, police violence, and severe mental illness. Throughout the story are black and white photos of Patrice and her family and friends. This addition adds some faces to the story even though the photographs aren’t captioned.

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Book Theme Graphic - Non-Fiction

 

E-books - Even More NonFic

• Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand

• Stamped--Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

• Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune by Pamela S. Turner & Gareth Hinds

• A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein

• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

E-books - Non-Fiction Anthologies

• Hope Nation: YA Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration by Rose Brock

• Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength, and Courage by Amy Klobuchar

• Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America by Amy Reed

• Rookie on Love by Tavi Gevinson

• Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House by Molly Dillon

E-books - Boredom Busters

• The Craft-a-Day Book: 30 Projects to Make with Recycled Materials by Kari Cornell

• The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen Kids

• The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide by Allan Bedford

• The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen Kids

• Sticky Fingers: DIY Duct Tape Projects--Easy to Pick Up, Hard to Put Down by Sophie Maletsky

Book Review - Stamped

📖Recommend for Grades 7 and up📖

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

In a remix of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped: From the Beginning, Jason Reynolds reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. He shares how racist views have always existed and why it continues to linger today. Also, while these racist ideas came easily into existence, they can be discredited as well.

You may be thinking, why would you want to read a history textbook? But as Jason Reynolds states, “This is NOT a history book.” While history books can be long, stuffy, and dull, Jason Reynolds shares this narrative freshly and more conversationally. This book also shows a side of history you won’t learn in school.

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E-books - MORE Non-Fiction

• Sabotage: The Mission to Destroy Hitler's Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb
• A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human by Kay Frydenborg
• Also available on Hoopla
• The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin
• Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town by Warren St. John
• Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

E-books - Non-Fiction

• Life Inside My Mind ed. by Jessica Burkhart
• The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
• Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
• The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
• We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai

E-books

• Becoming Kareem by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Courage to Soar by Simone Biles
• Also available on Hoopla
• Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
• Knots in My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli
• I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

Book Theme Graphic - Learn to Cook

Book Theme Graphic - Can't Miss Non-Fiction

Book Theme Graphic - Try Your Hand at Drawing

Book Theme Graphic - Literary Selfies

Book Review - Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue

📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

Rising Water:

The Story of theThai Cave Rescue

by Marc Aronson

            In 2018 twelve Thai soccer players and their assistant coach Ekapol decided to go explore some caves after a game. Around midnight, their families were worried when they still weren’t home. Luckily some teammates knew where the boys went but unfortunately the cave was flooded with the boys and Ekapol somewhere inside. Thai rescue workers, with help from rescue workers from other countries, banded together to find and rescue the team to bring home safely.

            This is the true and fascinating account of what happened during the Thai cave rescue. The author breaks down the days of when the boys were missing, found but still trapped, and being rescued. For those who followed the story on the news probably know much of what the author shares. Those who didn’t will be surprised at what was done and how they all managed to survive and be rescued.

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Book Review - Disaster Strikes!: The Most Dangerous Space Missions of All Time

📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

Disaster Strikes!: 

The Most Dangerous Space Missions of All Time

by Jeffrey Kluger

            In 1959 a group of seven Naval Test Pilots got a new job; Astronauts. This marked the start of space exploration for The United States, with the first man going up in 1961, and continuing today. While there have been many accomplishments (the US put the first man on the moon), there have also been missteps and even tragic accidents. From the Liberty Bell 7 sinking in 1961 to an Astronaut almost drowning in space in 2013, these are twelve disaster stories of space travel and exploration.

            Warning: You may want to have tissues prepared for some of these stories. The author wonderfully breaks down each of the stories into chapters so readers can stop and process, or reflect on what they just read. Some may be familiar with certain stories (Apollo 13 in 1970) while others are likely to be brand new. You can even read this with an adult and ask them which of these stories they remember. There is an index included in the back of the book to easily check when names pop up again in later chapters to check where you read it before.

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Book Review - Glimmer of Hope

📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

Glimmer of Hope

by March For Our Lives Founders

            On February 14, 2018 the lives of students, teachers and falculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida were forever changed when a gunman walked into their school, killing 17 people. Instead of wallowing in their grief, various students began to take action and came together to fight for gun control and formed March for Our Lives. On March 24, 2018, just 5 weeks and 3 days later, their protest took place not only in Washington D.C., but all over the world. This is the story of how they got there.

            An impactful, collaborative collection of stories written by the teens who organized March For Our Lives. These individuals include Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky, David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, and Alex Wind. Each organizer shares how they felt after that tragic February day, why they decided to get involved, and how they felt on that remarkable March day. Those sensitive to the topic of gun violence may want to pass on this one (though the focus isn’t the day itself) but others should not miss this inspiring read.

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Book Review - Life Inside My Mind

📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

Life Inside My Mind

ed. by Jessica Burkhart

“A mental illness is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling or mood. Such conditions may affect someone's ability to relate to others and function each day. Each person will have different experiences, even people with the same diagnosis.”

https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-conditions

            Nobody is immune to mental illnesses. In this anthology authors share their experiences with various mental health including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These experiences are either with their own mental illness(es) or that of a family member or friend. Each person’s story is different, even those who live life with the same diagnosis.

            Each contributor does a wonderful job sharing their story. Different stories will have different effects on each reader. Just like how no two people experience mental health the same way, no two readers will experience each essay the same way.

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