29 Apr Teen NonFiction that Reads Like Fiction
Is life truly stranger than fiction? Here are a few Teen Central nonfiction stories that read like fiction. Give them a try and find out for yourself.
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out
by Nicholas Day
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora sent vast amounts of ash into the atmosphere, destroying harvests worldwide and causing famine and social collapse. The resulting darkened, fiery skies and violent weather were felt across continents and turned sunsets into eerie, molten scenes. During that same disastrous summer in Switzerland, Mary Shelley, after fleeing England with Percy Shelley, witnessed dramatic storms and conceived the world-changing story Frankenstein.
Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown
Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdownby Steve Sheinkin
As World War II ends, the United States and the Soviet Union rise as the two dominant powers at opposite ends of the political spectrum. After the U.S. used an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Soviets accelerated their own weapons program and Communism spread globally. The superpowers compete to build more powerful bombs, win the Space Race, and gather intelligence through spy planes, submarines, and covert agents. This long rivalry peaks with the Cuban Missile Crisis, bringing the world dangerously close to a third world war.
Save the People!: Halting Human Extinction
Save the People!: Halting Human Extinctionby Stacy McAnulty
Scientists estimate that 99% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct, so humans could eventually become fossils too. Possible causes include supervolcanoes, asteroids, the Sun dying, climate change, or human-caused catastrophes. You never know what could take us out, but studying past disasters may help us avoid future ones.
Coming Home
Coming Homeby Brittany Griner
On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow to play for a Russian women’s basketball team but was arrested at a security checkpoint for carrying less than one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. She describes how her arrest occurred days before Russia invaded Ukraine and how she felt bewildered and isolated while navigating a foreign legal system during her trial and sentencing. Griner recounts enduring emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman in a Russian penal colony, while the #WeAreBG movement advocated for her release.
Flowers in the Gutters: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers who Resisted the Nazis
Flowers in the Gutters: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers who Resisted the Nazisby K.R. Gaddy
Flowers in the Gutter follows Gertrude, Fritz, and Jean—three working-class youths in 1930s Cologne—showing how political activism shaped their childhoods under the rise of the Third Reich. During the war they survived heavy bombing, resisted the Nazis through fights with Hitler Youth and the Gestapo, distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets, aiding POWs and forced laborers, and sabotaging factories. After the war, several of their peers suffered tragic fates, and postwar politics and prejudices left many of these young resisters stigmatized as criminals for decades.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osane Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann
In the 1920s the Osage Nation in Oklahoma became the richest people per capita after oil was found under their land, allowing them lavish lifestyles. Members of the Osage—including Mollie Burkhart—began dying mysteriously: shootings, poisonings, and other unexplained deaths targeted families. Local investigators who probed the killings were often murdered, and as more than two dozen Osage were killed the recently formed FBI took over after initial mishandling. Under J. Edgar Hoover, agent Tom White led an undercover team that worked with Osage community members to uncover a vast, sinister conspiracy.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything American History Textbooks Get Wrong
by James W. Loewen
Lies My Teacher Told Me for Young Readers challenges the misleading optimism and falsehoods found in many history textbooks by retelling American history from pre-Columbian times through events like the first Thanksgiving, My Lai, 9/11, and the Iraq War. This streamlined version for young readers preserves vivid details and primary-source quotations from the original. It offers a candid, humorous, and integrity-driven account meant for a new generation of students, parents, and teachers.
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothersby Deborah Heiligman
The deep, enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh profoundly influenced both their lives. Theo was Vincent’s confidant and supporter as Vincent struggled to find his path, and the brothers shared personal stories, successes, disappointments, and dreams. Drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo, Deborah Heiligman carefully reconstructs their intertwined lives and the brothers’ love for one another.
– written by Alex B, Teen Central Library Assistant
