10-12+Nonfiction

//**Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!**// by Mo Willems. A pigeon who longs to drive a bus sees the chance of a lifetime when the driver takes a short break. (Elledge)


 * 33 Revolutions per minute: A History of Protest Songs, From Billie Holiday to Green Day – By Dorian Lynskey. Profiles thirty-three protest songs that have had a significant impact on world culture form the 1930s through the early twenty-first century.
 * Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom – By Yangzom Brauen. Author Yangzom Brauen shares details about her life and the lives of her mother and grandmother, who lived in Tibet during Chinese rule and were forced to find ways to preserve their identity and culture while in exile.
 * American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History – By Chris Kyle. Recounts the life and military experiences of Chris Kyle, a U.S. Navy Seal, who recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history, was so feared by Iraqi insurgents that they placed a bounty on his head, and presents an eye-witness account of war in Iraq, shares the strains of war on his marriage and family, and honors his fellow warriors.
 * Americapedia: Taking the Dumb out of Freedom – By Jodi Lynn Anderson. Blends humor and facts in a look at events in America and the world, providing information about the electoral system in the U.S., the world economy, the role of religion in conflict, America’s place in the world, and other topics, and including advice on how to get involved.
 * Ductigami: The art of the tape by Joe Wilson. Presents step-by-step instructions and diagrams for creating over fifteen items with duct tape, including a shower curtain, a tool belt, a woven purse, and pet rain gear.
 * How to Draw Steampunk/(Pocket Manga) by Rod Espinosa
 * Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell examines the background of extremely successful people to explore the common traits leading to their success.
 * The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan. Recounts the experiences of six families and their communities as they struggle to survive the dust storms that terrorized America’s High Plains during the Dust Bowl.

Graphic Novels


 * Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. Anya, embarrassed by her family and lacking confidence in her body and her social skills, finally finds a friend after falling down a well, but quickly learns there are drawbacks to having a ghost for a friend.
 * BB Wolf and the Three LPs by J.D. Arnold. BB Wolf, a farmer and family man who fancies himself a blues musician by night, is forced into action when Mr. Littlepig tries to use a legal technicality to take his land.
 * Buried in the Bitter Waters by Elliot Jaspin. Reveals the events surrounding the widespread racial cleansing that took place above and below the Mason-Dixon Line in the period between Reconstruction and the 1920s.
 * Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown. Documented account of the systematic plunder of the American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century.
 * Level Up by Gene Luen Yang. Dennis Ouyang is visited by four angels who prompt him to give up his dream of playing video games professionally and pursue a medical degree as his late father wanted, but a crisis reveals the true nature of the angels and brings Dennis to a crossroads in his path to the future.
 * Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell. Teenage stepsiblings Ruth and Perry try to make sense of their psychological problems while dealing with the trials and tribulations of adolescence.
 * Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey by Gia-Bao Tran. A graphic memoir in which Gia-Bao “GB” Tran, a Vietnamese American artist who was born and raised in South Carolina, shares his family’s history, describes his relationship with his Vietnamese parents and his visit to Vietnam, where he gains a better understanding of his parents.

Carla Brown, LD Bell HS/Trinity HS


 * //Feynman//** by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick. Bring on the bongos and the quantum physics! This biography of Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman includes his safe cracking exploits as well as his work on the Challenger space shuttle disaster. (Gilbert)


 * //Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty//** by G. Neri and Randy Duburke. Yummy is an 11 year old gang killer. Follow his story in this graphic novel depiction of a 1994 gang shooting. (Gilbert)

//**Outliers**// by Malcolm Gladwell: Why are some people so successful? Mr. Gladwell's answers might surprise you. He says we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and not enough to where they are from: their culture, their family, their generation, the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Learn the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. (Townsley) This choice seconded by Townsley.

//**Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World**// by Don Tapscott. He characterizes tech savvy youth born between 1978 and 1994 by the strengths inherent in their collaborative, connected, passionate approach to life. Cautioning baby boomers and gen-Xers to think twice before condemning behavior that appears distracted or immature, he explains the work habits of the net generation can be highly productive, their civic engagement and volunteerism is exemplary, and by every traditional measure, they are as intelligent as their elders, if not more so. (Townsley)