The following books are in our collection, and are HIGHLY recommended for students. I encourage you to share these recommendations with your classes and consider requiring one non-fiction book for independent reading.

Alicia: My Story by Alicia Appleman-Juman (940.53 APL)
A teenager in Poland escapes the Nazis and helps other Jews in the process.

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger (796.33 BIS)
Odessa, Texas is obsessed with high school football, and this examination of its devotion and financial dedication the team is an incredible look at American values.

I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust by L. Bitton-Jackson (940.53 BIT)
The memoir of one of the few teenage residents of Auschwitz.

In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais (796.323 BLA)
One successful season of high school girls’ basketball in Amherst, MA is the subject of this book. Sports fans and athletes will find it inspiring.

The Secret Family: Twenty-four Hours Inside the Mysterious World of the Human Body by D. Bodanis 612 BOD
A day in the life of the human body. With pictures to illustrate, this book will teach some things you’d never known about yourself.

All Over But the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
Rick Bragg’s mother made some amazing sacrifices for her three sons, including going eighteen years without a new dress. Her middle son writes the story of her hardships and his own success as a journalist in this funny, touching memoir.

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by David Breshears (796.5 BRE)
Breshears writes about his experiences as a mountain climber.

The Baby Train and Other Lusty Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand
Curses! Broiled Again by Jan Harold Brunvand 398.2 BRU
The Mexican Pet by Jan Harold Brunvand 398.2 BRU
The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand 398.2 BRU
All of Brunvand’s books are about urban legends and their origin. He traces the different versions of various stories, explaining where they came from and why they ought to be questioned.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 364.15 CAP
The account of a brutal murder in the fifties still fascinates readers nearly thirty years after its original release, has inspired two movies, and is a classic work of American writing.

People Who Sweat: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Pursuits by Robin Chotzinoff 613.7 CHO
Fantastic, true accounts of people with unusual athletic pursuits, including tree climbers, spelunkers, and heavy weight marathoners. A story about a surfing grandmother is my favorite.

Educating Esme: The Diary of a Teacher’s First Year by Esme Codell (372.11 COD)
A talented teacher keeps an amusing, insightful diary of her first year teaching in an inner-city school.

The Man Who Tasted Shapes by Cytowic 152 CYT
Synesthesia is a neurological disorder in which the circuits sending signals from our sense organs to the brain are crossed, resulting in an astonishing phenomena: victims’ perceptions are stranglely skewed so that they taste shapes, smell colors, and have other disordered sensual perceptions. Amazing and fascinating book.

Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Needed to Know About History But Never Learned (973 DAV)
Corrections to major historical fallacies, as well as new-but-obscure facts about events, people, and places in American history.

Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First Hundred Years by Sarah and Elizabeth Delaney (929 DEL)
Two elderly African-American sisters recount their lives together and the American history they have witnessed and made.

Lost at Sea by Patrick Dillon (917.97 DIL)
In 1984, two Anacortes fishing vessels left on a routine commercial fishing expedition. Both boats sank off the waters of Alaska, one never to be recovered. All of the fishermen aboard—all men in their teens and twenties—were lost. This is the story of what happened.

The Casebook of Forensic Detection by Colin Evans (614.1 EVA)
A forensic detective tells of the various crimes that have been solved by assorted forensic techniques. Extremely interesting.

Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipovic (921 FIL)
A Bosnian girl keeps a diary of her life in the war-torn region. Readers who like Anne Frank’s diary will like this one, too.

Harvesting Minds: How TV Commercials Control Kids by Roy Fox (305.23 FOX)
Just how dangerous are fruity pebbles? Read here and find out how advertisers manipulate minds and train children to be consumers.

Dove by Robin Graham (910.4 GRA)
Have you ever dreamed of escaping your parents? Robin Graham did just that—by sailing around the world alone!

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy (921 HEA)
A rare form of cancer struck the author as a child, and resulted in facial scarring that made her the object of ridicule. Despite this, she writes about having a happy life and learning to love herself for her inside, not her outside.

Modoc by Ralph Helfer (791.3 HEL)
An incredible friendship: a man and an elephant born on the same day become friends for life, traveling together and accomplishing amazing feats of heroism. A true animal story that will move you.

Hiroshima by John Hersey (940.544 HER)
The story of the impact of the nuclear bomb dropped on the residents of this Japanese city.

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia by Marya Hornbacher (616.85 HOR)
A more personal book about the effect of these eating disorders on a young woman’s life and her self of self.

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison (921 JEM)
The true story of a young woman who is captured and learns to live with the Indian tribe that captures her.

Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang (951.05 JIA)
Jiang grew up in China during the cultural revolution, when Chairman Mao and his policies held sway and intelligence and independent thought were looked down upon. This is the story of how one family is torn apart—and ultimately healed—despite the difficulties they face at the hands of a repressive leader.

The Acorn People by Ron Jones (PB JON)
A group of disable people learn and grow together at a special summer camp. Especially appropriate for students interested in careers working with the disabled.

The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger (974.4 JUN)
The heroic acts of the Coast Guard and the last sail of the Andrea Gail are documented by a survivor of the storm.

The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr (818.54 KAR)
Alcoholism. Cancer. Madness. All three plagued Mary Karr’s family, and she grew up in Texas amidst their rage, their insanity, and their sorrow. This is the incredible story of how she not only survived, but thrived as a person and a poet despite the overwhelming odds against her.

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (921 KAY)
In the 1960’s, Kaysen’s refusal to follow the expectations of her family and her teachers lands her in a psychiatric hospital for supposed "personality problems." During her two year stay, she befriends some unusual people, and learns a great deal about herself.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (917.98 KRA)
A young man gives away all he owns and disappears into the Alaskan wilderness to pursue his dream of living simply in the woods. A year later, his body is discovered. How, and why did he die? Seattle writer Jon Krakauer explores these questions by retracing the steps of Chris McCandless and unraveling the mystery of his death.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (796.5 KRA)
Krakauer was part of a group of climbers who endured an enormous tragedy on Mt. Everest: 12 of their group were killed when an extreme storm struck unexpectedly.

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (813.54 LAM)
Lamott’s personal memoir of her experiences finding faith—religious faith as well as faith in herself. Funny, insightful, and unforgettable.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon (917.3 LEA)
Traveling around the country for a year in a van, William Least Heat Moon explored the back roads of America, visitin quirky small towns and encountering strange folk and interesting, little-known things about the U.S. and its people. Anyone who likes travel, and especially those who’ve read books like Travels With Charley, will like this book.

And the Blood Cried Out: A Prosecutor’s Spellbinding Tale of the Power of DNA by Harlan Levy (345.73)
An account of the power of DNA evidence to incriminate people accused of crimes.

Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong by James Loewen (973 LOE)
Loewen looked at more than one hundred historical sites across America, monuments and markers where mistakes have been made in reporting what happened at those locations. A fascinating study of the way we record our traditions and our beliefs about our country.

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (973 LOE)
One of the most interesting and informative books I have ever read about American history. Using primary source documents, Loewen examines numerous early-American events and challenges the way they’ve typically been presented in American history textbooks. A must-read for students and teachers of history.

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (910.4 LOR)
The Night Lives On by Walter Lord (910.4 LOR)
Two books about the dramatic events the night the Titanic sank.

The Real Team by Richard Marcinko (921 MAR)
Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko (921 MAR)
Both books are about the author’s experiences as a Navy Seal in the Vietnam War, and the first book, The Real Team, contains stories of other real Navy Seals and their actions.

The Emporer’s Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood by Jeffrey Masson
Excellent, highly readable study of the biology of animal fatherhood with interesting facts and anecdotes.

The Color of Water by James McBride (921 McB)
A man’s memoir of growing up in Harlem with his eleven sisters and brothers and their father, an African-American who abandoned their family, and their white, Jewish mother, who raised them all and put them all through college despite personal and financial hardship.

Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America by Nathan McCall (305.26)McCall’s troubled youth and his rise out of poverty and crime to become a writer help illustrate the difficulties of being an African-American man.

Angela’s Ashes by Fank McCourt (921 McC)
The author’s miserable Irish childhood, complete with a long-suffering mother and an alcoholic, ever-absent father, are the subject of this award-winning book.

Home Waters: Fishing With an Old Friend by Joseph Monninger (636.75 MON)
A man takes his best canine friend on a last fishing trip after she’s diagnosed with cancer. Great story for dog-lovers and fishers.

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke (940.53 OPD)
The author recounts her experiences rescuing Jews and hiding during the Holocaust.

My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen (921 PAU)
Cookie saved his life. Dirk protected him from bullies. Read about the dogs who have been a part of this writer’s life and influenced his career. Great for readers who love his book, or just those who love dogs.

Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen (921 PAU)
The growth and accomplishments of his sled dogs in the subject of Paulsen’s non-fictional book.

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (362.7 PEL)
The author experienced extreme abuse as a child at the hands of his mother and lived to write about how he overcame his traumas and lead a happy, productive life.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston (614.5 PRE)
A deadly and contagious virus—one that makes its victims literally lose their guts—is the subject of top secret U.S. experiments, experiments which are not supposed to harm anyone—until the virus is accidentally released.

Joe and Me: An Education in Fishing and Friendship by James Prosek (799.1 PRO)
Have you ever had a teacher or older friend who changed the way you looked at life? You might enjoy the story of how one young man’s life is forever altered by his friendship with an older man who teacher him about fishing—and about living.

Alive:The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read (613.6 REA)
A soccer team’s plane crashes in the Andes mountains, and the survivors slowly run out of food and begin to go hungry. They are left with a horrible choice: starve to death or eat the dead.

Road Swing: One Fan’s Journey Into the Soul of American Sports by Steve Rushin 070.4 RUS
Rushin, a writer for Sports Illustrated decided to take a year to travel around the United States visiting the sites of famous sports events, including museums, players’ hometowns, and other quirky places. This is a funny, interesting travelogue about how athletics shape America.

Lost in Place by Mark Salzman (921 SAL)
Mark Salzman grew up in California in the 70’s, obsessed with martial arts and Buddhism, and this is the hilarious story of how he pursued his interests and eventually, became a martial arts master and a scholar of Asian studies.

The Cage by Ruth Sender (940.53 SEN)
A teenage girl recounts the suffering and persecution of her family under the Nazi reign in a Polish ghetto and later in a concentration camp.

Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck (917.3 STE)
Imagine traveling coast to coast across America with a French poodle. Steinbeck did just that, and this is story—about America, about himself, and about his dog.

Feeding Frenzy by Stuart Stevens (647.5 STE)
Two friends set out to travel through Europe—eating their way through in a hilarious dare to see whether or not they can indulge in the greatest cooking and culture of the various countries. If you like—or plan—to travel Europe, this would make an excellent reading experience.

The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Thomas (599.74 THO)
A woman follows her dogs around, observing their behavior and studying their relationships with other animals, discovering fascinating things about the canine world.

Night by Elie Wiesel (940.53 WIE)
A young Jewish boy witnesses the death of his family in a concentration camp; as an adult he recalls the events and reports on how they have affected his life.

Passing for Normal by Amy Wilensky (362.1 WIL)
Imagine twitching constantly and feeling an uncontrollable urge to count repetitively or insist upon a series of daily, meaningless routines. Amy Wilensky suffered from these and other symptoms her entire life, always being blamed for acting "crazy" or not controlling herself. Finally, she discovered as an adult that she had obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s Syndrome, two neurological disorders that are treatable with medication. This is an interesting story about the effects of those disorders on her life and her sense of self.

This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff (PB WOL)
Concrete, Washington, is the scene of this story about how Tobias Wolff suffered and endured his cruel stepfather and tried to escape from his life with him.

The Pigman and Me by Paul Zindel (921 ZIN)
Zindel’s life on Staten Island, and the effects of his own "pigman" mentor are the subject of this memoir.