Non-Fiction for
Grades 11 & 12
(ONLY for 11A, 11AP, & 12A students)
ONLY need to choose ONE book from either FICTION, NON-FICTION, or GRAPHIC NOVELS
"Examines the Borden murders, using newspaper articles to recreate the events and the trial and acquittal of Lizzie Borden and exploring Lizzie's story to theorize on what may have happened."
Subjects: Murder, Murder investigation, Parricide, Small town life, Trials (Murder), Women murderers
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Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
"The host of "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" traces his wild coming of age during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed, offering insight into the farcical aspects of the political and social systems of today's world."
Subjects: Autobiographies, Apartheid, Race relations, Humor, Entertainment industry, Television
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"The Boys in the Boat describes how a group of working class youths from the University of Washington rowing team emerged from obscurity to defeat a field of elite international rivals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Sports fans who love a good "Cinderella story" will cheer this fast-paced, emotionally charged account of the players' and coaches struggles set against stark Depression-era realities."
Subjects: History, Olympics, Sports, Boating, Determination in men, Friendship, Rowers, Rowing, University of Washington, Working class men
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Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West
"Presents a portrait of the Donner party, a group ninety pioneers who became stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter of 1846-47."
Subjects: Cannibalism, Donner Party, Frontier and pioneer life, Overland journeys to the Pacific, Pioneers, Survival
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Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandariesby Neil deGrasse Tyson
"This is a vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned for his ability to blend content, accessibility, and humor. Here he covers astral life at the frontiers of astrobiology to the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right."
Subjects: Astronomy, Black holes (Astronomy), Science, Spacetime, Cosmology, Life on other planets, Religion and science, Space biology
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"Recounts the story of the 1820 wreck of the whaleship Essex, which inspired Melville's classic "Moby-Dick," and describes its doomed crew's ninety-day attempt to survive whale attacks and the elements on three tiny lifeboats."
Subjects: Adventurers, Adventure, United States history, Sea stories, Whales, Whaling
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Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GIby Ryan Smithson
"Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI is an autobiographical account of Ryan Smithson's time as a soldier in the Iraq War. Smithson was in high school during the September 11th terrorist attacks, and immediately joined the military after graduation. He was assigned many different missions in Iraq, primarily working on rebuilding areas destroyed by homemade bombs and salvaging equipment for other missions. He writes of his personal experiences, the night terrors he suffered through, and his experiences with the Iraqi children. Smithson discovered that writing this novel and sharing his experiences of the war were helpful in recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder."
Subjects: Middle East, Wars, Terrorism, Military life, Autobiographies, United States history, Iraq War, 2003-2011 Post-traumatic stress disorder, Teenage soldiers, War, Young men
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The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
"A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race..."
Subjects: Diseases, Ebola virus disease, Epidemics, Medicine, Primates as laboratory animals, Viruses
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by James S. Hirsch
"Tells the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a black boxer who was wrongly convicted of three murders and spent nearly twenty years in prison."
Subjects: Boxing, Criminal law, Murder, Racism, African American boxers, Crime Injustice, Judicial error, Racism in law enforcement, Racism in the judicial system
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Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlawby Mark Bowden
"Reveals the inside story of how U.S. special forces and intelligence agencies led the largest manhunt in history to capture and contain Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar, one of the world's most powerful outlaws."
Subjects: Crime, Criminals, Criminal law, Drugs, Espionage, Law, Law enforcement, Politics
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Letter to My Daughter
"Maya Angelou's Letter to My Daughter is a collection of short essays about events in her life that played a major role in making her the well-known poet and author she is today. While Angelou never had a daughter, she dedicates this collection to the young woman she feels would have existed had she had more children. Many of Angelou's vignettes tell tales of her childhood and adolescence. Some entries are embarrassing and honest, while others are humorous and light."
Subjects: Autobiographies, Parent-child relations, Adolescence, Family, Love
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The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedomby Slavomir Rawicz
"Describes the four-thousand-mile journey across the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas of seven men who escaped from a Siberian prison camp."
Subjects: History, Autobiographies, Wars, Prisoners of war, Escapes, Forced labor, Hunger, Prisoners of war, Wilderness survival, World War II
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No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Ladenby Mark Owen, Kevin Maurer
"Examines the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, details the selection and training process for one of the most elite units in the military, and describes previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11."
Subjects: Biographies, Military life, Military science, History, Terrorism, Afghan War, 2001-, Commando operations, Qaida (Organization), Special forces, Special operations (Military science), United States Navy SEALs, War on Terrorism, 2001-2009
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by Bryan Mealer
"Traces the intertwined stories of an orphaned quarterback, a celebrated football coach and an aspiring medical student whose prospects were collectively shaped by the formidable challenges, shameful history and football enthusiasm of their hometown in the Florida Everglades."
Subjects: Poverty, Football, Gangs, Sports, Neighborhoods, Disadvantaged persons, Small town life
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"In this book (a rare nonfiction work), author Stephen King discusses his career and offers advice to those interested in pursuing writing as a vocation. King reflects back on his early failures and ultimate triumphs, while at the same time crediting his family for much of his success. He also discusses at length his drug and alcohol addiction and the impact that an auto accident had on his life and work. In addition, King provides guidelines, a recommended reading list, and a host of other material for aspiring writers."
Subjects: Autobiographies, Horror, Literature, Writing
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Running with Scissors
"The author describes his bizarre coming-of-age years after his adoption by his mother's psychiatrist, during which he witnessed such misadventures as a fake suicide attempt and front-lawn family/patient sleepovers."
Subjects: Autobiographies, Childhood, Humor, Survival, Abandoned teenagers, Adopted teenagers, Adoptive families, Eccentric families, Eccentrics and eccentricities, Growing up
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Strongerby Jeff Bauman & Bret Witter
"A survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, who helped to set off one of the biggest manhunts in the country's history, discusses his experiences that day and his ongoing mission to walk again after losing both legs."
Subjects: Bombings, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon Bombing, Convalescence, First steps, People who have had amputations, Terrorism
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Silver Like Dust: One Family's Story of America's Japanese Internmentby Kimi Cunningham Grant
"Relates how the author rejected her Japanese heritage until learning the details of her grandmother's time in a Japanese internment camp along with 112,000 other Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor."
Subjects: Internment camps, Concentration camps, Japanese Americans, World War II
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"Explains why major changes in society often happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Also describes the personality types who are natural originators of new ideas and trends."
Subjects: Culture, Psychology, Sociology, Causation, Contagion (Social psychology), Context effects (Psychology), Human behavior, Information science, Knowledge theory, Memetics, Social change, Social psychology
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Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film
"This book examines the Twee culture--a softer, gentler look at the world that the author traces back to the 1950s. Unlike many pop culture trends, Twee is said to cross generations and attract everyone from millennials to some baby boomers with its emphasis on the friendly, innocent things of childhood. Examples include Hello Kitty, Charlie Brown and Peanuts, and the works of Dr. Seuss. Twee culture also focuses on indie films and music, and artist-created or locally sourced items. The book starts with a detailed verbal tour of Brooklyn and an explanation of how it has become the epicenter of the Twee movement. The author then moves through a plethora of pop icons such as Walt Disney, Truman Capote, J.D. Salinger, Nirvana, the Kinks, and many others as he sorts through the nature and impact of the Twee culture."
Subjects: Popular culture, Literature, Music, Theater, Movies, Fashion, Television, Counterculture, Mass media and teenagers, Popular culture, Social indicators
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Virtual Unreality: The New Era of Digital Deceptionalso known as: Virtual unreality: just because the Internet told you, how do you know it's true?
by Charles Seife
"The Internet disseminates facts, opinions, and outright fraud, and its questionable reliability has become a significant concern in public discourse. In Virtual Unreality, journalism professor Charles Seife describes in detail how information on the Internet can be falsified, manipulated, and perpetuated. Providing concrete examples of Internet fakery, Seife serves as an engaging and witty guide through the wilderness of digital information, both reliable and fraudulent. Virtual Unreality doesn't suggest that people avoid using the Internet for research, but does provide techniques for identifying the useful and verifiable sites and services -- how to find the wheat amid all that chaff."
Subjects: Computer network resources, Electronic information resources, Internet, Internet fraud, Internet literacy
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"Ten years after the disastrous 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, journalist Svetlana Alexievich began conducting hundreds of interviews with people affected by the devastation. She has edited and arranged their oral accounts, which range from a monologue of several pages to collections of paragraphs that are grouped as choruses. Many people interviewed were relocated from the area; some had returned, while still others found Belarus safer than war-torn Tajikistan. This book (first published in London in 1999) functions as both a tale of living with catastrophic events and a snapshot of the Soviet Union's last years."
Subjects: Conduct of life, Death, Disasters, Environmental history, Diseases, Nuclear power plants, Radioactive waste disposal, Russians, Radiation injuries, Radiation victims, Radioactive fallout, Survival
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Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
"Traces the controversial story of NFL player and soldier Pat Tillman, describing the military's efforts to hide the truth about his death by friendly fire, in an account that draws on Tillman's journals and letters as well as interviews with family members and fellow soldiers."
Subjects: Football, Military life, Biographies, Afghan War, 2001-, Duty, Football and war, Football players, Government cover-ups, Patriotism, Soldiers, War casualties
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