Nonfiction Suggestions for 10Th Grade

Nonfiction suggestions for 10th grade

Bibliography
Sorted by Title / Author
976.3 ROS / Rose, Chris, 1960-. 1 dead in attic : after Katrina. 1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk. ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007.
A collection of stories that recalls the first year and a half of life in New Orleans after Katrina from those who lived through it.
921 VAL / Valladares, Armando. Against all hope : the prison memoirs of Armando Valladares. 1st ed. New York : Knopf ;, 1986.
Relates the author's dramatic and harrowing account of 22 years in Castro's prisions for being philosophically opposed to communism.
921 KLE / Klein, Gerda Weissmann, 1924-. All but my life. New, expanded ed. New York : Hill and Wang, 1995.
The author tells of the three years she endured as a slave laborer of the Nazis during World War II.
636.089 HER / Herriot, James. All creatures great and small. Bantam ed. New York : Bantam, 1973, c1972.
The first-person account of a young veterinarian starting his career in the Yorkshires.
636.089 HER / Herriot, James. All things bright and beautiful.New York : Bantam, 1990, c1974.
An English veterinarian reminisces about his life, career, and animal patients in an English village.
940.53 AND / And justice for all : an oral history of the Japanese American detention camps. 1st pbk. ed. Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1999.
Mary Tsukamoto : Jerome -- Eddie Sakamoto : Manzanar -- William Hosokawa : Heart Mountain -- Yuri Tateishi : Manzanar -- Haruko Niwa : Manzanar -- Donald Nakahata : Topaz -- Helen Nurao : Topaz -- Paul Shinoda : "volunteer" evacuee, Grand Junction, Colorado -- Mitsuye Endo : Topaz -- Minoru Yasui : Minidoka -- Tom Watanabe : Manzanar -- Miyo Senzaki : Rowher -- Mabel Ota : Poston -- Morgan Yamanaka : Tule Lake -- John Kanda : Tule Lake, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, France, Italy -- Violet de Cristoforo : Tule Lake -- Iwato Itow : Bismark, North Dakota -- Emi Somekawa : Tule Lake -- Raymond Katagi : Heart Mountain -- Tom Kawaguchi : Topaz, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, France, Italy -- Harry Ueno : Manzanar -- Fred Fujikawa : Jerome -- Theresa Takayoshi : Minidoka -- Yoshiye Togasaki : Manzanar -- Frank Chuman : Manzanar -- Chiye Tomihiro : Minidoka -- Ben Takeshita : Tule Lake -- Wilson Makabe : 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Italy. Presents the recollections of thirty Japanese Americans who were among the more than 115,000 civilians to be imprisoned in U.S. detention camps during World War II.
921 MCC / McCourt, Frank. Angela's ashes : a memoir.New York : Scribner, c1996.
The author chronicles his impoverished childhood in Limerick, Ireland, in the 1930s and 1940s, describing his father's alcoholism and talent for storytelling; the challenges and tragedies his mother faced, including the loss of three children; and his early experiences in the Catholic church, and balances painful memories with humor.
796.323 LEE / Lee, Spike. Best seat in the house : a basketball memoir. 1st ed. New York : Crown, c1997.
A basketball memoir in which filmmaker Spike Lee discusses the influence of basketball on his life, reveals conversations he has had with players like Michael Jordan, as well as disputes he has become involved in from the sidelines, and offers his opinions on sports, movies and the role of African-American athletes in business and culture.
921 WRI / Wright, Richard, 1908-1960. Black boy : (American hunger) : a record of childhood and youth. 1st Perennial Classics ed. New York : Perennial Classics, 1998.
The autobiography of an African-American writer, recounting his early years and the harrowing experiences he encountered drifting from Natchez to Chicago to Brooklyn.
305.8 GRI / Griffin, John Howard, 1920-. Black like me.New York : Penguin, c1976.
The author, a white man, recounts his experiences when he darkened his skin and traveled through the South as an African-American man. Includes an epilogue.
808.3 KER / Kerr, M. E. Blood on the forehead : what I know about writing. 1st ed. New York : HarperCollinsPublishers, c1998.
Using examples from five novels and five short stories, young adult writer M. E. Kerr offers insights into ways writers can get ideas and create successful stories.
978.004 BRO / Brown, Dee Alexander. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee : an Indian history of the American West. 30th anniversary ed. New York : Henry Holt, 2001, c1970.
Documented account of the systematic plunder of the American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century.
958.104 AKB / Akbar, Said Hyder. Come back to Afghanistan : a California teenager's story. 1st U.S. ed. New York : Bloomsbury ;, 2005.
Presents the author's first-hand account and observations of living in Afghanistan when his father is appointed President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesman.
921 LEN / Wiener, Jon. Come together : John Lennon in his time. Illini books ed. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Recreates two decades of rock and rebellion, from the formation of the Beatles in 1960 to Lennon's assassination in 1980.
973.3 PAI / Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809. Common sense. [2nd ed. reprinted] /. Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1976.
302.3 HIN / Hinojosa, Maria. Crews.San Diego, CA : Harcourt Brace, c1995.
Presents a sampling of interviews with gang members. Portrays a sometimes shocking and sometimes heartening picture of the young men and women who live on the edge of poverty and violence.
921 ASH / Ashe, Arthur. Days of grace : a memoir. 1st Ballantine Books ed. New York : Ballantine Books, 1994.
Tennis champion, Arthur Ashe, tells of his life, career, and battles with heart disease and AIDS.
959.704 DEA / Dear America : letters home from Vietnam. 1st ed. New York : Norton, c1985.
Contains letters and poems written to families and friends by soldiers expressing their homesickness and the horrors of war.
921 GUN / Gunther, John, 1901-1970. Death be not proud; : a memoir. [1st ed.]. New York, : Harper, 1949.
A father's account of his teenage son's courageous fight for life during the fifteen months he was dying from a brain tumor.
940.54 UCH / Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert exile : the uprooting of a Japanese American family.Seattle : University of Washington Press, c1982.
A first-person story telling of the U.S. internment of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
364.152 LAR / Larson, Erik. The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York : Vintage Books, 2004, c2003.
Evils imminent -- Prologue, aboard the Olympic -- Frozen music -- An awful fight -- In the white city -- Cruelty revealed -- Epilogue, the last crossing. Tells the parallel stories of Daniel Burnham, the main architect of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and serial killer Henry H. Holmes, discussing the challenges Burnham faced in creating the hugely successful White City, and looking at how Holmes used the opportunities afforded by the fair to lure victims to their deaths.
394.1 SCH / Schlosser, Eric. Fast food nation : the dark side of the all-American meal. 1st Harper Perennial ed. New York : Harper Perennial, 2005, c2001.
Presents an examination of the fast food industry, tracing its history and discussing how it arose in postwar America, as well as the impact it has had on economy, food production, and popular culture.
921 WAL / Walls, Jeannette. The glass castle : a memoir. 1st Scribner trade pbk. ed. New York : Scribner, 2006, c2005.
The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.
599.88 FOS / Fossey, Dian. Gorillas in the mist.Boston, Mass. : Houghton Mifflin, 1983.
Contains case studies over a period of fifteen years of four gorilla families living in the rain forests of the Virunga mountains of Rwanda.
364.3 BOD / Bode, Janet. Hard time : a real life look at juvenile crime and violence.New York, N.Y. : Delacorte Press, 1996.
Young people whose lives have been impacted by violence and crime, either as perpetrators or as victims, tell their stories. Also includes comments from concerned adults who work with these teens.
940.54 HER / Hersey, John, 1914-. Hiroshima. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York : Vintage Books, 1989, c1985.
An account of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, from the viewpoint of the people who lived through it.
943.086 BAR / Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth : growing up in Hitler's shadow.New York : Scholastic, c2005.
A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl.
921 GAN / Gantos, Jack. Hole in my life. Farrar, Straus and Giroux pbk. ed. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004, c2002.
The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.
919.8 BLE / Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. How to survive in Antarctica. 1st ed. New York : Holiday House, c2006.
The author describes her experiences visiting Antarctica and shares information on how to get there, what to bring, what to wear, what to eat, how to build a snow shelter, how to avoid crevasses, how to study Antarctic seals, and other survival strategies.
940.53 BIT / Jackson, Livia Bitton. I have lived a thousand years : growing up in the Holocaust.New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c1997.
A memoir of Elli Friedmann in which she tells about her experiences at Auschwitz concentration camp where she was taken at the age of thirteen in 1944 when the Nazis invaded her native Hungary.
970.004 BEA / Beal, Merrill D., 1898-. I will fight no more forever : Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War.Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1964.
Discusses the ethnohistory and military campaigns of the Nez Perce tribe.
364.1 CAP / Capote, Truman, 1924-. In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences. Signet ed. New York : New American Library, c1965.
Recreates the slaying of the Clutter family of Kansas, and the capture, trial, and execution of their murderers.
921 OPD / Opdyke, Irene Gut, 1921-. In my hands : memories of a Holocaust rescuer. 1st ed. New York : A. Knopf :, c1999.
Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust.
921 MCC / Krakauer, Jon. Into the wild. 1st Anchor Books ed. New York : Anchor Books, 1997.
Tells the story of Chris McCandless, a twenty-four-year-old who walked into the Alaskan wilderness on an idealistic journey and was found dead of starvation four months later. Attempts to discover what led the young man to that point.
796.52 KRA / Krakauer, Jon. Into thin air : a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster.New York : Villard, c1997.
The author relates his experience of climbing Mount Everest during its deadliest season and examines what it is about the mountain that makes people willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.
921 UCH / Uchida, Yoshiko. The invisible thread : [an autobiography]. 1st Beech Tree ed. New York : Beech Tree Paperback, 1995.
Children's author, Yoshiko Uchida, describes growing up in Berkeley, California, as a Nisei, second generation Japanese American, and her family's internment in a Nevada concentration camp during World War II.
921 MAT / Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir boy : the true story of a Black youth's coming of age in Apartheid South Africa.New York : New American Library, 1987, c1986.
Recreates the author's boyhood experiences in South Africa.
910.4 HEY / Heyerdahl, Thor. Kon-Tiki : across the Pacific by raft. 35th anniversary ed. Chicago : Rand McNally, 1984.
Translation of: Kon-Tiki ekspedisjonen. The classic true adventure of crossing the Pacific by raft.
921 X / Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-. Malcolm X : by any means necessary : a biography.New York : Scholastic, c1993.
Chronicles the life of controversial militant leader Malcolm X.
921 JAC / Jackson, Livia Bitton. My bridges of hope : searching for life and love after Auschwitz. 1st ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c1999.
In 1945, after surviving a harrowing year in Auschwitz, fourteen-year-old Elli returns, along with her mother and brother, to the family home, now part of Slovakia, where they try to find a way to rebuild their shattered lives.
921 LOB / Lobel, Anita. No pretty pictures : a child of war. 1st ed. New York : Greenwillow Books, c1998.
The author, known as an illustrator of children's books, describes her experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II and for years in Sweden afterwards.
920 DAV / Davis, Sampson. The pact : three young men make a promise and fulfill a dream. 1st Riverhead trade pbk. ed. New York : Riverhead Books, 2003, c2002.
Presents the true story of three African-American kids from the inner city of Newark, New Jersey, who made a pact to support each other as they rose from an environment of poverty, crime, and drugs, and went on to become successful doctors.
921 BAT / Fradin, Judith Bloom. The power of one : Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine.New York : Clarion Books, c2004.
Presents a biography of Daisy Bates, examining her accomplishments as a civil rights activist, journalist, and organizer, and discussing her role as mentor to the nine African-American students who integrated CentralHigh School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
820.9 NAF / Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books. 1st ed. New York : Random House, c2003.
The author presents a memoir of her life in post-revolutionary Iran, focusing on her organization of a group of young women in 1997 who met secretly once a week to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature.
921 OGR / O'Grady, Scott. Return with honor.New York : HarperPaperbacks, c1995.
Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady tells the story of how he survived after being shot down over Bosnia on June 2, 1995, describing his six day ordeal in hostile territory being hunted by the Bosnian Serbs, his rescue by the U.S. Marines, and his hero's welcome home.
921 GRE / Gregory, Julie. Sickened : the memoir of a Munchausen by proxy childhood.New York : Bantam Books, 2003.
The author describes her life as the daughter of a woman afflicted with Munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse in which a parent, most often a mother, invents or induces illness in a child in order to gain attention from medical professionals, tells how she was able to save herself, and discusses her efforts to have another young girl removed from her mother's care.
796.22 DAV / Davis, James, 1973-. Skateboarding is not a crime : 50 years of street culture.Buffalo, N.Y. ; : Firefly Books, 2004.
796.323 PAL / Palmer, Chris (Chris M.). Streetball : all the ballers, moves, slams, & shine. 1st ed. New York : HarperResource, c2004.
Presents a history of street basketball along with biographies of fifteen streetball players and a description of the game's basic moves.
371.82 MOR / Mortenson, Greg. Three cups of tea : one man's mission to promote peace--one school at a time.New York : Penguin Books, 2007, c2006.
Greg Mortenson recounts the experiences he had while trying to help impoverished villages in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya build schools for their children.
808 SAL / Salzman, Mark. True notebooks : a writer's year at Juvenile Hall. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York : Vintage Books, 2004, c2003.
Somebody -- Just say no -- Gentlemen -- Trip to the museum -- Collision -- Here I am -- Lockdown -- Dream state -- Arcana -- Prisoner or pumpkin -- Feeling special -- Mother's day -- Played -- Day of creation -- Busted -- Happy birthday -- Family life -- Two-face -- Send in the clowns -- Buster -- No mercy walls -- Window tappers -- Man I was supposed to be -- Thanks, hate -- Father's day -- Letter -- Dear friend. Mark Salzman chronicles his first years teaching at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles's most violent teenage offenders, discussing what his students taught him about life.
921 SCH / Albom, Mitch, 1958-. Tuesdays with Morrie : an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson.New York : Doubleday, c1997.
The author, an alumnus of BrandeisUniversity, tells of his meetings with a former professor suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease and of the lessons he learned about life and death from his college mentor.
921 Pau / Paulsen, Gary. Winterdance : the fine madness of running the Iditarod. 1st ed. New York : Harcourt Brace, c1994.
The author's account of his most ambitious quest: to know a world beyond his knowing, to train for and run the Iditarod.