Take Five: Middle Grade Nonfiction

As part of our Mind the Middle project focusing on middle grade books, I’m going to try to do weekly Take Five lists, which is to say, five books on a certain theme. 

These Take Five lists can help you with collection development, displays, reading lists, and more. I have a pretty giant list of potential Take Five themes, but if there’s something you’re desperate for a list for, let me know! All descriptions come from the publishers.

Today’s list is of new and forthcoming nonfiction.

Remember My Story: A Girl, a Holocaust Survivor, and a Friendship That Made History by Claire Sarnowski with Sarah Durand (ISBN-13: 9780316592895 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication date: 01/09/2024, Ages 10-14)

The inspiring true story about how a modern teen girl and her Holocaust-survivor friend fought against hate to create change.

In 2018, fourteen-year-old Claire Sarnowski stood with ninety-two-year-old Alter Wiener in front of the Oregon state senate to champion a cause the two friends both believed in: making Holocaust education mandatory in their state’s public school curriculum. Theirs was an unexpected friendship—she was in elementary school when they met, and he was an aging Holocaust survivor whose memoir she had read—and together they were going to change the American education system.

Alter had spent decades speaking to audiences of all ages and backgrounds about the Holocaust, teaching that “never forgetting” could help spread tolerance and prevent such an atrocity from happening again. But Claire knew hate crimes were still being committed, in her own town and even in her own school. She didn’t want Alter’s efforts on Holocaust education to be in vain.

From strangers to friends to law-changing history makers, Claire and Alter’s mission was always simple: Remember this story. This page-turning memoir is a tribute to a man who survived the worst of humanity, an ode to friendship and community, and an empowering call to activism.

Rebel Girls Celebrate Neurodiversity: 25 Tales of Creative Thinkers by Rebel Girls (ISBN-13: 9798889640271 Publisher: DK Publication date: 02/20/2024 Series: Rebel Girls Minis, Ages 8-12)

TRUE STORIES OF NEURODIVERGENT ICONS

This collection features 25 inspiring tales of neurodivergent artists, athletes, innovators, and more. Read about how these women and girls thought creatively, achieved their dreams, and advocated for the rights of neurodivergent people everywhere.

Walk the runway with Madeline Stuart, the first professional model with Down syndrome. Steal the scene with Salma Hayek, the award-winning actor with dyslexia. Learn how journalist and TV host Lisa Ling thrives with ADD, and how Temple Grandin’s autism has opened up new and compassionate ways of interacting with animals.

This book pairs inspiring, easy-to-read text with colorful full-page portraits created by female and nonbinary artists from all around the world. Plus, scannable codes let you listen to longer stories on the Rebel Girls app!

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming (ISBN-13: 9781338749571 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 8-12)

From award-winning author Candace Fleming, comes the powerful and fascinating story of the brave and dedicated young women who helped turn the tides of World War II for the Allies, with their hard work and determination at Bletchley Park.

Scholastic Focus is the premier home of thoroughly researched, beautifully written, and thoughtfully designed works of narrative nonfiction aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers. These books help readers learn about the world in which they live and develop their critical thinking skills, so that they may become dynamic citizens who are able to analyze and understand our past, participate in essential discussions about our present, and work to grow and build our future.

“You are to report to Station X at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in four days time….That is all you need to know.” This was the terse telegram hundreds of young women throughout the British Isles received in the spring of 1941, as World War II raged. As they arrived at Station X, a sprawling mansion in a state of disrepair surrounded by Spartan-looking huts with little chimneys coughing out thick smoke—these young people had no idea what kind of work they were stepping into. Who had recommended them? Why had they been chosen? Most would never learn all the answers to these questions.

Bletchley Park was a well-kept secret during World War II, operating under the code name Station X. The critical work of code-cracking Nazi missives that went on behind its closed doors could determine a victory or loss against Hitler’s army. Amidst the brilliant cryptographers, flamboyant debutantes, and absent-minded professors working there, it was teenaged girls who kept Station X running. Some could do advanced math, while others spoke a second language. They ran the unwieldy bombe machines, made sense of wireless sound waves, and sorted the decoded messages. They were expected to excel in their fields and most importantly: know how to keep a secret.

Candace Fleming is the award-winning and highly acclaimed author of Crash from Outer Space, The Curse of the Mummy, and many other nonfiction books for young readers. With her canny and compelling narrative voice she makes history come alive. Thick with tension and suspense, this is an extraordinary and relatively unknown story of World War II that will fascinate readers who will be thrilled to see young people playing such an important role in the wartime effort.

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story by Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn (ISBN-13: 9780593567647 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 03/26/2024 Series: Race to the Truth, Ages 10-12)

Until now, you’ve only heard one side of the story, but Chinese American history extends far beyond the railroads. Here’s the true story of America, from the Chinese American perspective.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

If you’ve learned about the history of Chinese people in America, it was probably about their work on the railroads in the 1800s. But more likely, you may not have learned about it at all. This may make it feel like Chinese immigration is a newer part of this country, but some scholars believe the first immigrant arrived from China 499 CE—one thousand years before Columbus did!

When immigration picked up in the mid-1800s, efforts to ban immigrants from China began swiftly. But hope, strength, and community allowed the Chinese population in America to flourish. From the gold rush and railroads to entrepreneurs, animators, and movie stars, this is the true story of the Chinese American experience.

Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Laura L. Sullivan ( ISBN-13: 9780374390815 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication date: 04/09/2024, Ages 8-12)

An epic middle-grade memoir about sisterhood and coming-of-age in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.

Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.

Written with incredible warmth and tenderness, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.

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