High School Boys: Nonfiction
Derf Backderf. My Friend Dahmer. (Abrams ComicArts, March 2012)
Yeah. THAT Dahmer.
Susan Campbell Bartoletti. They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist
Group. (Houghton Mifflin, 2010)
We sometimes wish we could brush some of our history under a rug and try to forget it. We know we
shouldn't, but sometimes our history hurts too much. The Ku Klux Klan is one of our darkest, most
terrifying memories. Men draped in sheets riding through the night to terrorize the innocent is the
stuff of horror films and nightmares. Do yourself a favor and shine a light on those memories with
Susan Campbell Bartoletti's They Called Themselves the K.K.K.
Suzy Beamer Bohnert. Learning Basketball’s Lingo. (B&B Publishing)
From the “Game Day Goddess” comes a book on the language of basketball for the complete novice.
What makes this book special? It covers not just the official terms, but slang as well. Where else are
you going to find a definition of a “ticky-tack foul”? A bit simplistic for the sports buff, but for anybody
who wants to sit down next to dad and watch a game, this is the dictionary for you.
Georgia Bragg. How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. (Walker Books, 2011)
The bullet in President Garfield's back missed all vital organs and wouldn't have killed him. The
infection from the doctors' prying an eight inch trench into his back with their fingers trying to find the
bullet did him in. Einstein's skull and brain were poached by souvenier hunters before he could be
cremated. Napoleon, Caeser, Washington, here are all their bizarre ends.
Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. (Broadway
Books, 1998)
James Buckley. The Bathroom Companion: A Collection of Facts About the Most-Used Room in the
House. (Quirk, 2005)
Mary Morton Cowan. Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter MacMillan, Arctic Explorer. (Calkins
Creek, 2010)
Dreaming of setting off into the unknown? Of braving the elements and the great open wilderness? So
did Donald MacMillan, and his travels into the heart of the arctic did as much to open up this last
frontier as his more famous friends and colleagues Robert Peary and Matthew Hanson. From an
orphan boy in Maine to the first expedition to reach the North Pole, this is the survival story of one of
the men to conquer the arctic.
Samantha Ettus. The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know. (Clarkson Potter, 2004)
Jack Gantos. Hole In My Life. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)
David Gram. The Lost City of Z : A Tale of Deadly Obsession. (Doubleday, 2009)
This nonfiction account covers a hundred years of fateful, and even fatal, expeditions into the heart of
the Amazon region. It is part adventure tale, part horror story, part ecological treatise, all wrapped up
in some amazing storytelling. This is Bill Bryson with teeth! It is a tropical Into Thin Air. Journalist
David Gram follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest explorers ever into a land that even the
great explorers could not conquer to try to solve a mystery as old as history in the New World. He
goes in search of the golden city of El Dorado.
William Gurstelle. The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets,
and More Ancient Artillery. (Chicago Review Press, 2004)
William Gurstelle. Backyard Ballistics. (Chicago Review, 2001)
Dick Houston. Bulu: African Wonder Dog. (Random House, 2010)
A cute little dog story on a boys and books list? Well, this cute little story is true, and this dog adopts
warthogs and fights lions. This is more than a dog story, it is a safari into the wild African bush, with
hippos, giraffes, crocodiles, and real life adventure to spare.
Nawuth Keat. Alive in the Killing Fields: The True Story of Nawuth Keat, a Khmer Rouge Survivor.
(National Geographic Children's Books, 2009)
A true-life survival story written by someone who grew up in the midst of civil and outright war in a
land s distant and different as any in the world.
Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. (Villard, 1997)
Tanya Lloyd Kyi. 50 Poisonous Questions: A Book With Bite. (Annick Press, 2011)
Half this book is about cool poisons in nature, fangs, warts, and clicking mandibles. Very cool. The
other half is about the poisons we humans put into the world and use on each other. Infuriating. All of
it is worth the read.
Roland Laird, Taneshia Nash Laird. Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans. ( Sterling ,
2009)
Michael Lewis. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. (Norton, 2007)
Joy Masoff. Oh Yuck!: the Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty. (Workman, 2000)
Joy Masoff. Oh Yikes!: History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments. (Workman, 2000)
Jennifer Morse. Guiness Book of World Records 2009. (Scholastic Reference, 2008)
Greg Mortenson. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One
School at a Time. (Penguin, 2006)
There is a long history of adolescent boys reaching out to the adult shelves for their reading. This one
showed up as a top pick for adult men in a survey I recently conducted, and its story of heroism will
resonate with boys who want to know what they might do to make a better world.
H.P. Newquist. Here There Be Monsters: The Legendary Kraken and the Giant Squid. (Houghton
Mifflin, 2010)
The only thing more exciting than a monster of myth is when the monster turns out to be real. This
nonfiction, picture book format includes every known picture of the giant and colossal squids, as well
as many of the fanciful pictures of the legendary Kraken. For everyone who likes real life adventure
stories, as well as those fans of a good creature feature.
Deborah Noyes. Encyclopedia of the End: Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More.
(Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2008)
Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. (Chronicle Books,
1999)
Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition.
(Chronicle Books, 2005)
Cal Ripken, Jr. and Mike Bryan. The Only Way I Know. (Viking, 1997)
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Special Edition 2009. (Scholastic, 2008)
Nancy Rica Schiff. Odd Jobs: Portraits of Unusual Occupations. (Ten Speed Press, 2002)
Nancy Rica Schiff. Odder Jobs: More Portraits of Unusual Occupations. (Ten Speed Press, 2006)
Michael J. Rosen, with Ben Kassoy. No Dribbling the Squid: Octopush, Shin Kicking, Elephant Polo,
and Other Oddball Sports. (Andrew McMeel, 2009)
Competitive spitting, shovel racing, backward bicycling, basketball on unicycles, and Octopush
(underwater hockey); there are some really strange sports out there, and they are all in this one little
book, with plenty of pictures of all the zanyness. Two or three pages on each sport, complete with
statistics, rules, and probably too many bad puns makes this a quick, fun read. No need to read it
cover to cover; flip it open to any page and enjoy. (Hint: Kudu Dung spitting on p. 72)
"The Science Of..." (Series)
Mike Flynn. The Ultimate Survival Guide. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2010)
Ever since Piven and Borgenicht's "Worst case Scenario" series, there has been a rash of survival
books, most disappointingly tame and little-related to the great outdoors. This is the real thing, a guide
that talks about real life survival situations from your back yard to the harshest environments on
earth. Complete with activities like building a solar water purifier and a bit of British humor, this is the
book for all those boys who were sorely disappointed by The Dangerous Book for Boys.
Georgina Phillips. Ouch!: Extreme Feats of Human Endurance. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2010)
Dave Reay. Your Planet Needs You!: A Kid's Guide to Going Green. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2009)
Adam Selzer. The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History. (Delacorte, 2010)
The cure for the common history book. This irreverent take on American history digs into such
weighty issues as the place of stupid hats at major junctions of history, who was the most boring
president we ever had, and why Americans have smelled so bad for so long. Read this along side your
real history text book and you might get a few laughs and a little perspective.
Ken Silverstein. The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear
Reactor. (Random House, 2004)
Shelley Sommer. Hammerin' Hank Greenberg: Baseball Pioneer. (Calkins Creek, 2011)
In the 1930's and 1940's, sports went a long way towards breaking down barriers. We all know about
Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens, but few people know the story of Hank Greenberg, the
first great Jewish baseball player, who fought through descrimination to win two MVP awards and the
respect of a nation for his character, his patriotism, and his homerun swing.
Stephen Spignesi. The Weird 100: A Collection of the Strange and the Unexplained. (Citadel Press,
2004)
James L. Swanson. Chasing Lincoln 's Killer. (Scholastic, 2009)
This Book Really Sucks!: the Science Behind Gravity, Flight, Leeches, Black Holes, Tornadoes, Our
Friend the Vacuum Cleaner, and Most Everything Else That Sucks. (Planet Dexter, 1999)
Michael O. Tunnell. Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot". (Charlesbridge,
2010)
The US military is, and has long been, about more than winnin g wars. They also try to win the hearts
and minds of peoples they come in contact with around the world, and sometimes we need to be
reminded of the best of the US Military tradition. The Berlin Airlift "Candy Bomber" is one
great example. Also check out Saving the Baghdad Zoo, by Kelly Milner Halls and William Graham
Sumner.
Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Life in Prison. (Chronicle Books, 2001)
Sally M. Walker. Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917. (Henry Holt, 2011)
What is the connection between the city of Halifax in Canada, World War I, and the Christmas tree in
Boston, Massachusetts? Two thousand deaths in the largest man-made explosion before the atomic
bomb, that's what.
Chris Woodford, et al. Cool Stuff and How it Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2005)
Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock. Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2007)
Chris Woodford. Cool Stuff Exploded. (Dorling Kindersley, 2008)
Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock. The Gadget Book: How Really Cool Stuff Works. (Dorling
Kindersley, 2007)
Chris Woodford. How Cool Stuff Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2008)
Derf Backderf. My Friend Dahmer. (Abrams ComicArts, March 2012)
Yeah. THAT Dahmer.
Susan Campbell Bartoletti. They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist
Group. (Houghton Mifflin, 2010)
We sometimes wish we could brush some of our history under a rug and try to forget it. We know we
shouldn't, but sometimes our history hurts too much. The Ku Klux Klan is one of our darkest, most
terrifying memories. Men draped in sheets riding through the night to terrorize the innocent is the
stuff of horror films and nightmares. Do yourself a favor and shine a light on those memories with
Susan Campbell Bartoletti's They Called Themselves the K.K.K.
Suzy Beamer Bohnert. Learning Basketball’s Lingo. (B&B Publishing)
From the “Game Day Goddess” comes a book on the language of basketball for the complete novice.
What makes this book special? It covers not just the official terms, but slang as well. Where else are
you going to find a definition of a “ticky-tack foul”? A bit simplistic for the sports buff, but for anybody
who wants to sit down next to dad and watch a game, this is the dictionary for you.
Georgia Bragg. How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. (Walker Books, 2011)
The bullet in President Garfield's back missed all vital organs and wouldn't have killed him. The
infection from the doctors' prying an eight inch trench into his back with their fingers trying to find the
bullet did him in. Einstein's skull and brain were poached by souvenier hunters before he could be
cremated. Napoleon, Caeser, Washington, here are all their bizarre ends.
Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. (Broadway
Books, 1998)
James Buckley. The Bathroom Companion: A Collection of Facts About the Most-Used Room in the
House. (Quirk, 2005)
Mary Morton Cowan. Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter MacMillan, Arctic Explorer. (Calkins
Creek, 2010)
Dreaming of setting off into the unknown? Of braving the elements and the great open wilderness? So
did Donald MacMillan, and his travels into the heart of the arctic did as much to open up this last
frontier as his more famous friends and colleagues Robert Peary and Matthew Hanson. From an
orphan boy in Maine to the first expedition to reach the North Pole, this is the survival story of one of
the men to conquer the arctic.
Samantha Ettus. The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know. (Clarkson Potter, 2004)
Jack Gantos. Hole In My Life. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)
David Gram. The Lost City of Z : A Tale of Deadly Obsession. (Doubleday, 2009)
This nonfiction account covers a hundred years of fateful, and even fatal, expeditions into the heart of
the Amazon region. It is part adventure tale, part horror story, part ecological treatise, all wrapped up
in some amazing storytelling. This is Bill Bryson with teeth! It is a tropical Into Thin Air. Journalist
David Gram follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest explorers ever into a land that even the
great explorers could not conquer to try to solve a mystery as old as history in the New World. He
goes in search of the golden city of El Dorado.
William Gurstelle. The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets,
and More Ancient Artillery. (Chicago Review Press, 2004)
William Gurstelle. Backyard Ballistics. (Chicago Review, 2001)
Dick Houston. Bulu: African Wonder Dog. (Random House, 2010)
A cute little dog story on a boys and books list? Well, this cute little story is true, and this dog adopts
warthogs and fights lions. This is more than a dog story, it is a safari into the wild African bush, with
hippos, giraffes, crocodiles, and real life adventure to spare.
Nawuth Keat. Alive in the Killing Fields: The True Story of Nawuth Keat, a Khmer Rouge Survivor.
(National Geographic Children's Books, 2009)
A true-life survival story written by someone who grew up in the midst of civil and outright war in a
land s distant and different as any in the world.
Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. (Villard, 1997)
Tanya Lloyd Kyi. 50 Poisonous Questions: A Book With Bite. (Annick Press, 2011)
Half this book is about cool poisons in nature, fangs, warts, and clicking mandibles. Very cool. The
other half is about the poisons we humans put into the world and use on each other. Infuriating. All of
it is worth the read.
Roland Laird, Taneshia Nash Laird. Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans. ( Sterling ,
2009)
Michael Lewis. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. (Norton, 2007)
Joy Masoff. Oh Yuck!: the Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty. (Workman, 2000)
Joy Masoff. Oh Yikes!: History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments. (Workman, 2000)
Jennifer Morse. Guiness Book of World Records 2009. (Scholastic Reference, 2008)
Greg Mortenson. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One
School at a Time. (Penguin, 2006)
There is a long history of adolescent boys reaching out to the adult shelves for their reading. This one
showed up as a top pick for adult men in a survey I recently conducted, and its story of heroism will
resonate with boys who want to know what they might do to make a better world.
H.P. Newquist. Here There Be Monsters: The Legendary Kraken and the Giant Squid. (Houghton
Mifflin, 2010)
The only thing more exciting than a monster of myth is when the monster turns out to be real. This
nonfiction, picture book format includes every known picture of the giant and colossal squids, as well
as many of the fanciful pictures of the legendary Kraken. For everyone who likes real life adventure
stories, as well as those fans of a good creature feature.
Deborah Noyes. Encyclopedia of the End: Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More.
(Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2008)
Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. (Chronicle Books,
1999)
Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition.
(Chronicle Books, 2005)
Cal Ripken, Jr. and Mike Bryan. The Only Way I Know. (Viking, 1997)
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Special Edition 2009. (Scholastic, 2008)
Nancy Rica Schiff. Odd Jobs: Portraits of Unusual Occupations. (Ten Speed Press, 2002)
Nancy Rica Schiff. Odder Jobs: More Portraits of Unusual Occupations. (Ten Speed Press, 2006)
Michael J. Rosen, with Ben Kassoy. No Dribbling the Squid: Octopush, Shin Kicking, Elephant Polo,
and Other Oddball Sports. (Andrew McMeel, 2009)
Competitive spitting, shovel racing, backward bicycling, basketball on unicycles, and Octopush
(underwater hockey); there are some really strange sports out there, and they are all in this one little
book, with plenty of pictures of all the zanyness. Two or three pages on each sport, complete with
statistics, rules, and probably too many bad puns makes this a quick, fun read. No need to read it
cover to cover; flip it open to any page and enjoy. (Hint: Kudu Dung spitting on p. 72)
"The Science Of..." (Series)
Mike Flynn. The Ultimate Survival Guide. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2010)
Ever since Piven and Borgenicht's "Worst case Scenario" series, there has been a rash of survival
books, most disappointingly tame and little-related to the great outdoors. This is the real thing, a guide
that talks about real life survival situations from your back yard to the harshest environments on
earth. Complete with activities like building a solar water purifier and a bit of British humor, this is the
book for all those boys who were sorely disappointed by The Dangerous Book for Boys.
Georgina Phillips. Ouch!: Extreme Feats of Human Endurance. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2010)
Dave Reay. Your Planet Needs You!: A Kid's Guide to Going Green. (Macmillan Children's Books, 2009)
Adam Selzer. The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History. (Delacorte, 2010)
The cure for the common history book. This irreverent take on American history digs into such
weighty issues as the place of stupid hats at major junctions of history, who was the most boring
president we ever had, and why Americans have smelled so bad for so long. Read this along side your
real history text book and you might get a few laughs and a little perspective.
Ken Silverstein. The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear
Reactor. (Random House, 2004)
Shelley Sommer. Hammerin' Hank Greenberg: Baseball Pioneer. (Calkins Creek, 2011)
In the 1930's and 1940's, sports went a long way towards breaking down barriers. We all know about
Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens, but few people know the story of Hank Greenberg, the
first great Jewish baseball player, who fought through descrimination to win two MVP awards and the
respect of a nation for his character, his patriotism, and his homerun swing.
Stephen Spignesi. The Weird 100: A Collection of the Strange and the Unexplained. (Citadel Press,
2004)
James L. Swanson. Chasing Lincoln 's Killer. (Scholastic, 2009)
This Book Really Sucks!: the Science Behind Gravity, Flight, Leeches, Black Holes, Tornadoes, Our
Friend the Vacuum Cleaner, and Most Everything Else That Sucks. (Planet Dexter, 1999)
Michael O. Tunnell. Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot". (Charlesbridge,
2010)
The US military is, and has long been, about more than winnin g wars. They also try to win the hearts
and minds of peoples they come in contact with around the world, and sometimes we need to be
reminded of the best of the US Military tradition. The Berlin Airlift "Candy Bomber" is one
great example. Also check out Saving the Baghdad Zoo, by Kelly Milner Halls and William Graham
Sumner.
Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Life in Prison. (Chronicle Books, 2001)
Sally M. Walker. Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917. (Henry Holt, 2011)
What is the connection between the city of Halifax in Canada, World War I, and the Christmas tree in
Boston, Massachusetts? Two thousand deaths in the largest man-made explosion before the atomic
bomb, that's what.
Chris Woodford, et al. Cool Stuff and How it Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2005)
Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock. Cool Stuff 2.0 and How it Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2007)
Chris Woodford. Cool Stuff Exploded. (Dorling Kindersley, 2008)
Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock. The Gadget Book: How Really Cool Stuff Works. (Dorling
Kindersley, 2007)
Chris Woodford. How Cool Stuff Works. (Dorling Kindersley, 2008)
| Books For Boys Suggestions by Michael Sullivan |
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