38. Whale Port by Mark Foster (Houghton Mifflin, 2007)

BOOK/PICTURE BOOK: NONFICTION (ages 7-10)

Brief Description: Foster traces the development of a fictional port he calls "Tuckanucket" over time as the whaling industry grows and wanes off the coast of what is now New England.

Awards: James Madison Book Award, 2008; Massachusetts Book Award, 2008; Mind the Gap Award, 2008

Personal Opinion: I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic book about the development of the fictional whale port. Being a native New Englander, I puzzled during the entire book about the town - I had never heard of it, and wondered how I could have missed such history! Foster includes information at the end of the book about the sources he used to pull together this treatment. Detailed drawings lend themselves to the simple text, permitting the reader to really see how such a port could change over time. Great nonfiction title that I'll be recommending to my young readers!

Curriculum/Programming: This book lends itself to being used in a history class focused on the New England whaling industry. It would make a great supplement to history classes for both younger and middle school students as well.

35. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy (Clarion, 2003)

BOOK: NONFICTION (ages 10-14)

Brief Description: Murphy does it again with this fantastic - "read as fiction" style nonfiction telling of the yellow fever epidemic. He successfully instills fear into the reader as the symptoms are described without censor. He includes both first-hand accounts - medical and non-medical- as well as providing further reading on various topics relating to yellow fever. The last chapter serves to possibly instill great fear in readers as the information conveys that yellow fever is not eradicated, but is labeled "A Modern-Day Time Bomb."

Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence, 2004; Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite Books of the year, 2003; James Madison Book Award, 2004; John Newbery Honor Book, 2004; National Book Awards, 2003; Orbis Pictus Award, 2004; Robert F. Sibert Award, 2004.

Personal Opinion: I had to read this book in one sitting! Wonderful fiction-like telling of the horrors of yellow fever. I had read The Hot Zone years ago, and this had a similar feeling - nonfiction with fear! Then I got to the last chapter which indicated that the aedes aegypti mosquito could still transmit the disease - I had no idea about this, and also the fact that there have been no vaccines produced in recent years, and that there is no cure for yellow fever - all made this book incredibly frightening!

Curriculum/Programming: Studies in science concerning bacteria and viruses would work well with this book; also history courses focused on this time period would benefit from this well-told story.

30. The Cod's Tale by Mark Kurlansky (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2001)

PICTURE BOOK: NONFICTION (ages 7-10)

Brief Description: This book covers the development of cod fishing and the effects of overfishing in general. Told with accompanying illustrations, the book relates the story of the cod and how it came to be a huge industry on the continental shelves around the Atlantic Ocean.

Awards: Orbis Pictus Award

Personal Opinion: The illustrations and accompanying text dramatically portray first the habitat, lifecycle and enemies of the cod - which is a perfect segue into the story of how Cod's greatest enemy, man, has exploited the fishing of the cod to near extinction. I hadn't realized the part the Basques played in the waters off North America; because they did not plant a flag, they lost their fishing rights to Britain and France. I enjoyed The Story of Salt, and was delighted to read another of Kurlansky's books, however frightening the outcome of overfishing.

Curriculum/Programming: I would include this book on a display of books on fishing, and would also add it as required reading for a science curriculum on the study of sustaining the Earth's resources.

23. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Scholastic, 2005)

BOOK: NONFICTION (ages 10-16)

Brief Description: Hitler Youth chronicles the lives of twelve German young people and their participation in or resistance to Hitler's controversial use of children to further his ideology. The accounts are disturbing yet hopeful as readers learn of featured childrens' feelings about their involvement in the Hitler Youth following WWII . What many youth believed was a fun group to belong to eventually learned the truth about the Fuhrer. Firsthand accounts make this book incredibly compelling; photographs complete the horrific visuals of Nazi Germany and the man who changed Germany forever.

Awards: Carolyn W. Field Award, 2006; John Newbery Medal, 2006; Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2006; Parent's Choice Award, 2005; Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2006

Personal Opinion: I have resisted reading this book for some time as my own spouse is German. In fact, a much loved step-mother was a "Hitler Youth" and she cherishes the time she spent in the group having felt a strong sense of belonging. Like many of the youth featured in the book, she was in denial over the true actions being reported about Adolf Hitler. I found the book to be incredibly difficult to read as the content was often beyond human comprehension in the horrors it portrayed, and yet, I found myself racing to the end to see how these people could have come to terms with the part they played, probably unknowingly, in one of the world's most grisly and shocking stories. In short, I truly couldn't put the book down even as I was repelled by its contents. I'm quite interested to read the many books written by the people portrayed here; nearly all whom survived have told their own stories. A truly outstanding book.

Programming/Curriculum: Tweens will be engrossed in this book about kids near to their own age; it should be essential reading material for the study of WWII and the holocaust, and would make an excellent book club discussion book as well, but graphic portrayals may be difficult for some readers, so the book should be focused on the upper age group of tweens.

13. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade, 2011)

BOOK: NONFICTION (ages 9-12)

Brief Description: A wonderful biography of Amelia Earhart - as promised by our instructor! This book chronicles Amelia's life and is broken into chapters describing her childhood through her final flight. As was mentioned by Jonathan, the interesting portions of the book are the sections between the biography which convey the last radio transmissions that Amelia had. Language is simple and appropriate for the 8 - 12 year old audience indicated on the flap. Punctuated throughout the book are wonderful illustrations and photographs - these "extras" enhance the story and enrich the text by bringing the story to life. The biographical portions illustrate dedication to the rights of women and ground breaking attitudes towards equality.

Awards: Starred Reviews from Horn Book, SLJ, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and Kirkus.

Personal Opinion: I loved reading about his amazing and brave woman who flinched at nothing, though I sure wish she had taken the time to learn about her RADIO! I was unaware of her work at Purdue and found her relationship with Putnam surprising, realizing that I knew nothing about Amelia except her legendary disappearance. I found the writing a bit stiff - it could have read a bit more like an exciting novel, but the sections on the radio transmission were very compelling. In fact, I read these aloud as one unit, skipping the biography and going back to read that on its own. I'm eager to recommend this book to kids at the library!

Programming/Curriculum: Candace Fleming has a fantastic curriculum guide on her website. I'd read and discuss this book aloud with students in preparation for them writing their own biographies using some form of narrative similar to the radio transmission section which told a story of their own.