Informational Books

Informational books are found in the non-fiction section of the library, but not all non-fiction books are informational. After all, Mr. Dewey originally shelved fiction in the 800 section, which is the designation for literature, plays and poetry. And let's not forget the folk tales and fairy tales belong in the 398 section because the 300 section is where informational books on the social sciences, which include culture and government, are shelved.

A fair number of students read informational books for pleasure. This type of reading is often overlooked but is no less legitimate than the reading of fiction. Each year since 2001, the American Library Association awards the Robert F. Sibert Award for the best informational literature of the year. In 2003, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 , by Jim Murphy won not only the Sibert Medal, but a Newbery Honor and was a National Book Award Finalist.

The books below are ordered by author's last name since informational book writer's books might be found in multiple Dewey categories. For example, Jim Murphy's books can be found in the 300's, 600's, 700's and 900's as he has written about social issues, inventions, sports, and historical subjects. The Dewey Decimal number is listed with the title of the book. Most of the books listed may be found at the school library. All may be ordered through the Bergen County Cooperative Library System.

Author	Title
Aaseng, Nathan	Navajo Code Talkers(940.54) This is a very readable account which describes the use of Navajo men who were fluent in both English and the Navajo language as code talkers because the Japanese code breakers were deciphering all the American codes during World War II. The recruits' mission was top secret. Not only did the Navajo recruits suffer from racist discrimination during boot camp as well as in combat, none received post-war honor or recognition by the U. S. Military until very recently.
Armstrong, Jennifer	Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (919.8) After reading Shackelton's Stowaway, I became curious about the expedition and decided to read more about it. This book is wonderfully accessible to the middle school reader. The cover is quite dramatic and inviting. The text reads like a story and although the font is not large, there is a great deal of white space and many interesting reproductions of black and white photos taken on the expedition and saved by Shackelton as documentation.
Auerbacher, Inge	I am a Star: Child of the Holocaust It is too bad that the design of this book is so poor because the writing is very good. Auerbacher was one of only 100 children to survive the Terezin concentration camp during World War II. Over 15,000 children went through. She was around 6 went her family was deported to the "model" camp. She gives younger students an easy-to-understand account of the historical events which led up to Hitler's dictatorship. Then simply relates the details of her life from her earliest memories through the celebration of her 11th birthday and ultimate emmigration to the U. S. The photographs and artwork are not well reproduced and the placement of Auerbacher's many poems disrupt the flow of the text. Additionally, no notes are given regarding when the poems were authored. Since there is another book called, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, which reproduces the poetry and artwork done by the children of Terezin; I thought that it was poetry that might have been written during the war, except that Auerbacher was very young to be writing such sophisticated poems.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell	Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow I was inspired to read Hitler Youth after reading Bartoletti's The Boy Who Dared. She was inspired to write The Boy Who Dared after writing Hitler Youth. Hitler stated that Germany's hope was in its youth and he exploited the idealism and energy of Germany's children by creating the Hitler Youth group and eventually making membership compulsory. Although membership in the early years was attractive to many if not most German children, there were some that resisted joining or resisted the ideology.
Bernier-Grand, Carmen T.	Frida ¡Viva la vida! (Long Live Life!) This biography told in poems is for older readers and at 63 pages, it is technically not a picture book. Twenty-six biographical poems inform the reader of life-shaping events in Kahlo's life, including her husband, Diego's infidelities and her miscarriages. Most of the poems are juxtaposed with reproductions of Kahlo's work. A two page prose biography follows selected entries from Kahlo's diaries. A chronology, glossary and interesting source notes follow.
Blumenthal, Karen	Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed The Future of Girls in America (796) Prior to the passing of Title IX in 1972, there were very few opportunities for girls to compete in team sports at the high school and college levels. If there were girls' teams, they frequently had to do their own fundraising for uniforms and equipment. Let Me Play is an interesting recounting of the history of women's sports. It contains sidebars with fascinating in depth bios of "the players," many black and white photo reproductions and charts comparing statistics.
Collard, Sneed B.	Pocket Babies and Other Amazing Marsupials (599.2 COL) Extremely readable text and generous, spectacular color photographs combine to make a wonderful book about marsupials. The slightly oversized pages are uncluttered and attractive. Explanations of these unusual mammals are easy to understand. The text covers the rise of the mammal group from prehistoric times to the present and then presents a chapter on each of the types of marsupials that currently populate the earth, ending with how they are currently endangered and the various ways they are being protected.
Conyea, Mark	Another Book about Design: Complicated Doesn't Make it Bad This eye-catching, simple, but visually stunning book explains the ins and outs of graphic design from idea to design in ten, easy-to-understand chapters. Beginning with the cover, featuring a superhero in manly red tights, through the decorated endpages and witty dedication, each recto page presents brilliant color and/ or shapes and illustrates the ideas explained on the verso pages. These ideas are presented with large text centered in the middle of a white page and build on the previous information logically so that the final product can be fully appreciated.
Fleming, Candace	Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt's Remarkable Life (Biography) This remarkable, oversize presentation does have the look and feel of a scrapbook as we are taken along a journey of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, America's most influential First Lady. There are plenty of snippets of information from Mrs. Roosevelts birth through her death accompanied by photograps and reproductions.
Freedman, Russell	Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (B) Freedman won a Newbery Honor for his biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. She was a complex person whose early life was filled with sadness. She was intensely shy but immensely perceptive and possessed great warmth and concern for people. She became her husband's eyes and ears, as first lady of the state of New York when FDR was governor and then as first lady of the nation.
Freedman, Russell	Franklin Delano Roosevelt (B) Freedman wrote this biography in 1990 and while writing it, became interested in the life of Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor. (See above.) Roosevelt had his admirers and his detractors and the country certainly hasn't had a leader like him since his unprecedented four terms of presidency. He guided this country out of the Great Depression, was famous for his "fireside chats" on the radio, and shepherded the country through World War II. He was a dynamic and energetic leader in spite of being confined to a wheelchair due to a bout with Polio at age 39.
Freedman, Russell	Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Independence (973.3) Wow, the story of the Founding Fathers is pretty familiar stuff, but Freedman rekindles the drama and uncertainty of those times in Give Me Liberty! Nice font size, plenty of white space and tons of reproductions of paintings, woodcarvings and maps make this slim volume a good resource for report writing or reading for pleasure.
Freedman, Russell	In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America's Bill of Rights (342.7) This is a good source for report writing. Freedman describes the actual process of the writing of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and the various challenges to each of them, making them particularly relevant to teens by describing cases involving children. The work is a good reminder that the Bill of Rights is a living document as important today as when it was written "in order to form a more perfect union."
Freedman, Russell	Indian Chiefs (920) This is a collective biography of six chiefs of western Indian tribes who had to deal with the invasion by whites of their territory. Some fought, some acquiesced, but each was a strong and wise leader.
Freedman, Russell	Indian Winter (917.804) In 1833, a German prince hired a young painter and sailed to America with the hopes of meeting some real native Americans. The eventually made their way west to the Mississippi and to what is now North Dakota. Freedman retells the story of the journey and the winter they spent among the Sandan Indians using Prince Maximillian's diary and Karl Bodmer's brilliant paintings.
Freedman, Russell	The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights (B) I am looking for Freedman to win either another Newbery or a Coretta Scott King Award this January for this moving biography of Marion Anderson. Although Anderson was singer of extraordinary talent, she constantly faced bigotry from being denied admission to a music school through being denied hotel rooms and meals at restaurants. Eventually she became a world renowned singer, and yet she was denied the opportunity to sing in Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race. Largely through the efforts of an outraged Eleanor Roosevelt, among others, she gave a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939 to 75,000 fans. Freedman dramatically uses Anderson's own autobiography to relate her story from a poor childhood in Philadelphia which was rich with love and support through the graceful dignity with which she fought discrimination.
Fussell, Paul	The Boy's Crusade (940.54) Historian Paul Fussell's moving narrative is not a feel-good book about the "Good Fight." His is a collection of essays that hopscotch from battle to battle depicting the experience of "the boys" the United States sent to Europe to fight, poorly trained, led by poorly trained officers and poorly outfitted to meet the demands of warfare. I was unable to read this book without stopping for a break and without thinking of the young men and women now serving overseas who may be poorly trained and outfitted.
Giovanni, Nikki	On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals (782.25) Poet Nikki Giovanni reflects on the history of slavery and the evolution of the spirituals as communication, consolation, protest, and tools for escape in a series of essays which weave the lyrics of some forty-odd spirituals.
Gourley, Catherine	War, Women and the News: How Female Journalists Won the Battle to Cover World War II During the time between the two world wars, female journalists, if they landed a job, could count on being ridiculed as "news hens" or "sob sisters" and relegated to reporting on minor news and not hard stories. While the focus of Gourley's book is on the role female journalists played during the second World War, she provides valuable historical context by describing the decades prior. In an almost conversational tone, and in double columns of text, she discusses the trials and tribulations of the pioneers of female journalists.
Gourse, Leslie	Sophisticated Ladies: The Great Women of Jazz Fourteen short biographies of female jazz musicians and innovators of the twentieth century. Each entry is illustrated with vibrant, full-color portraits. Many of the women grew up poor and not only faced racism, but often had unhappy personal lives. Some of the entries soft-peddle the details but all invite the reader to do further reading and provides a list of recommendations as well as a discography of recommended recordings.
Gottfried, Ted	The Fight for Peace: A History of Antiwar Movements in America(303.66) Anti-war movements in the United States date back to the time of the Revolution and continued through the War of 1812, the War Between the States, both World Wars, the Vietnam War and the two Iraq Wars. Protestors have been praised and villified as traitors depending upon one's point-of-view. This book contains many photos, a timeline and copious source notes and is a serious scholarly work. Some of the reading is a bit difficult to get through, but the book is an important addition to a nation's history of wars.
Grady, Denise	Deadly Invaders: Virus Outbreaks Around the World, from Marburg Fever to Avian Flu Denise Grady is a science reporter for The New York Times. Beginning with a firsthand account of her visit to Angola to report on an outbreak of Marburg fever, she covers seven deadly and recent epidemics. Her accounts, especially the Marburg fever sections are absolutely riveting. She explains the science and medicine very clearly in layman's terms without oversimplification. The text is pretty straightforward and uncluttered, except for crisp color photographs and the occasional side bar. Source notes and Internet resources are provided as well as multiple references to articles from The New York Times.
Graham, Amy	A Look at the 18th and 21st Amendments: The Prohibition and Sale of Intoxicating Liquors This book explains the history of the 18th and 21st Amendments to the U. S. Constitution in a chatty, basic narrative. The font is easy to read, the text is occasionally broken up by screen shots from related web sites and black and white period photos. The book is a ”Myreportlinks.com" book, meaning that readers of this book can view web sites related to the subject of the book that have been screened by the editors and updated regularly. Readers use a password found at the beginning of the book. There are about 30 websites, many of which I already knew about, but it was nice to have them grouped for browsing. A couple of unusual finds included The Al Capone Museum site and the FBI web pages on Al Capone.
Horn, Joseph	Mark it with a Stone: A Moving Account of a Young Boy's Struggle to Survive the Nazi Death Camps The powerful memoir of Joseph Horn, who grew up outside Warsaw, Poland in a climate of anti-Semitism even before the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939.
Lourie, Peter	Arctic Thaw: The People of the Whale in a Changing Climate (305.89) A visually stunning and easily understood narrative explaining both the science of arctic climate change and how it has impacted the native culture of the Inupiaq Eskimos.
Johnson, Dolorer	Onward: A Photobiography of African-American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson(Biography/ 910.92) Robert Peary's quest to be the first to step foot on the North Pole was long and arduous. It was fraught with failure and tragedy. Matthew Henson shared Peary's dream and perhaps sacrificed more because he was constantly belittled in the U. S. because of the color of his skin. Where Peary returned to a life of relative ease in between expeditions, Henson worked menial and demeaning jobs to survive.
Macy, Sue	Winning Ways: A Photobiography of American Women in Sports (796.01) In the thirty-something years since Title IX, several generations of girls have grown up with nearly equal access to sports as boys and may just take that access for granted. This book is written in a very personal style by author Macy, who was also a journalist. She is intrigued by the power of photographs and described the power that a photo of Babe Didrikson and Amelia Earhart held for her. She also acknowledges the impact her interview of tennis legend, Althea Gibson had on her as a young journalist. The book is divided into chunks of time beginning in the 1800's and flits through time stopping here and there along the way to highlight a person or event of interest.
Marquez, Heron	Roberto Clemente: Baseball's Humanitarian Hero This short, readable biography showcases the life and career of a rare person in American sports, one with integrety and humility and a singular desire to do the right thing on the baseball field and in life. It covers the early life of Roberto Clemente growing up poor in Puerto Rico, his career and his tragic death in a plane crash delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua on New Year's Eve in 1972. He was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers and played one season with their minor league Montreal Team before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he remained for eighteen years. Liberally sprinkled with black and white photographs of Clemente and other major figures of the time, the biography reminds readers of the racism that not only kept athletes of color off of major league teams, but once they broke the color barrier, dealt with racism of fans and the institutionalized segregation of the south.
Martin, Albert	Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster (614.5) Most people outside of the medical profession probably did not think about Smallpox until the threat of its use as a weapon of terror post-9/11. The disease was declared eradicated since 1980. We no longer need to get vaccinated against it. This very readable book is a twin biography of both Dr. Edward Jenner, discoverer of the vaccine and of the disease itself. Interestingly, the recent threat of the use of smallpox as a weapon is not new. Marrin states that during the revolutionary times, the British left blankets of Smallpox victims for poorly supplied American troops to discover, use and hopefully contract the disease. in 1521, the Spanish were helped in their war against the Aztecs because the disease all but wiped out the native population. He also explains how the immune system helps us in a very understandable way.
McClafferty, Carla Killough	The Head Bone's Connected to the Neck Bone (614.5 MAR) What is cooler than your own x-ray? Well, until the advent of advanced imagery, not much, other than watching your own operation. Using plain language, McClafferty presents a readable history of the discovery of x-rays by Dr. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. The cover is a real attention-grabber: a side view an x-ray of a human skull and spinal column. The book sets the reader in the time period in its prologue by describing what life was like in 1895. There are plenty of black and white photo reproductions, as well as reproductions of other primary source material, such as political cartoons, a photo of a sculpture of Dr. Roentgen which was melted for its metal during WWII and photos of handwritten notes of the initial experiments. I particularly liked her description of his accidental discovery of this new ray and how careful he was to keep his suspicions to himself until he was able to replicate the experiment. He had forgotten to take notes once he saw the bones in his hand! The resulting furor over this discovery was interesting and somewhat comical as the machine became an instrument of entertainment at sideshows. McClafferty alludes to the then unknown dangers but later explains the toll that repeated exposure to radiation took on, not only the people who worked with the machines, but unwitting participants in such treatments as acne cures with radiation! She also describes the non-medical scientific uses and every day uses of x-rays, such as security in airports.
Meltzer, Milton	Hear that Train Whistle Blow! How the Railroad Changed the World ( 385.09) This history of rail transportation is very readable, especially for students with an interest in railroads and trains. Meltzer traces the history back to 1827 and provides plenty of photos and reproductions.
Murphy, Jim	An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (614.5 MUR) Until I read Fever: 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, I was unaware of the yellow fever epidemic and its effects on not only the city of Philadelphia, but also the infant government. After reading Murphy’s treatment of the story, I not only realize how historically accurate Anderson’s fiction is, but what a good storyteller Jim Murphy is as well. He is as meticulous a researcher, sharing nearly 13 pages of sources and background notes. The story of the rise and fall of an epidemic is told chronologically. While our twenty-first century knowledge of health may cause us to cringe at the backwardness of colonial medicine, I would caution young people reading this book that our medical treatments might seem quaint, or even dangerous several hundred from now. Murphy illustrates how the crisis showed the true character of citizens, either bringing out the best or the worst in them. We, in the United States, enjoy adequate health care for the most part, so that a young person these days might not be exposed too much death or deadly disease. Murphy’s descriptions are so graphic, I could almost smell the stench. The text is sprinkled liberally with reproductions of paintings and woodcarvings and newspaper articles. Each new chapter begins with a full-page reproduction of newspaper columns listing the dead. Whether this was by Murphy’s design or the book designer, the effect is sobering. This book deservedly won the Sibert Award as well as a Newbery Honor and was a finalist for the National Book Award.
O'Connor, Patricia T.	Woe is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English (372.6 OCO) This is a short, humorous and extremely readable grammar reference book for anyone who hopes to understand the sometimes confusing rules of English grammar.
Perl, Lila & Marion Blumenthal Lazan	Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story (940.53 PER) Co-author Marion Blumenthal Lazan was five-years-old when, in 1939, her family fled Nazi Germany for Holland. They had passage booked on the Holland-America line for America. Unfortunately, Germany invaded Holland, which fell very quickly, trapping the Blumenthal family, the Jewish refugees who had fled their and Holland's Jews as well. The Blumenthals were relatively lucky in that the family remained intact during their imprisonment, first in Westerbork and later in Bergen-Belson. The four perfect pebbles referred to in the title is the belief that young Marion had that if she could find four perfect pebbles, her family would survive intact. This is a relatively short, very accessible memoir. There are two sections of photographs of the Blumenthal family, archival photos of the camps, reproductions of historical documents and post-war photos.
Phelan, Glen	Killing Gerns, Saving Lives: The Quest for the First Vaccines (615.37 PHE) This attractive book traces the history of the development of life-saving vaccines starting in 1749, with Edward Jenner's birth. The book is loading with amazing illustrations from microscopic photographs of various germs to reproductions of period paintings.
Redsand, Anna S.	Viktor Frankl: A Life Worth Living Viktor Frankl was a brilliant young psychiatrist about to begin private practice in his native Vienna when his medical licence was revoked because he was Jewish. This compelling biography covers Frankl's early life and provides historical background of Hitler's rise to power. It explains the importance of Frankl's theories of psychiatry and how those theories helped him survive the unspeakable horror of the four concentration camps he was put in the last year of the war. Black and white period photos are liberally sprinkled throughout this very readable biography and includes exhaustive lists of chapter notes, additional reading, films and websites.
Rubin, Susan Goldman	Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin This profoundly moving book describes not only the life and spirit of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and her gift of art that she shared with the children of Terezin, but serves as an accurate portrayal of life during Nazi occupation for a slightly younger audience that might not be mature enough for more graphic photographs and descriptions of The Holocaust. Liberally sprinkled with photographs of the artwork produced by the children of Terezin, the book stands as testimony to the strength of hope and goodness in a world gone mad.
Schroeder, Peter W. & Dagmar Schroeder-Hildebrand	Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial (940.53) Students at Whitewell Middle School did not represent diversity. Almost everyone in this tiny community was Christian and white. When teachers set about trying to implement a curriculum which exposed students to diversity, they thought they had a challenge. But the students rose to it. While brainstorming a way of representing just how much six million is, one student suggested collecting paper clips. When everyone in their tiny community contributed paper clips, and the total was a mere 1,000 paper clips, they reached outside the community by launching a letter writing campaign. Regular people and famous people, such as Henry Winkler, Bill Clinton and Steven Spielberg sent paper clips and letters, all of which were put into binders and scrapbooks. Even then, they received just 160,000 paper clips; a far cry from the goal of 6,000,000. The students designed a web site describing their project. The book's authors, White House Correspondents for some German newspapers, came across the website and appealed to the people of Germany. Soon, Whitewell students found themselves inundated with paper clips. So many, in fact, that there was not enough people to count them nor room to store them. So the students set about trying to find a way of creating a space worthy of their collection. They began searching for a railcar. This book and story are simply amazing. Thanks to Mrs. Doyle for letting me know about the project and the documentary which was produced to tell the story visually.
Ten Boom. Corrie	The Hiding Place Corrie Ten Boom was a spinster living with her sister Betsy, also a spinster and her father, Caspar in Haarlem. The family owned a watch repair shop and were devout Christians. As the atrocities against Jews mounted during Hitler's rise to power, the Ten Booms refused to bow to the pressure to ostracize the Jews. Eventually, they found themselves in a position to hide Jews until the Dutch Resistance could find a place for them. The Ten Booms were discovered by the Nazis and sent to separate concentration camps. but did not betray the Jews who were hiding in the secret room in their home/ Corrie and Betsy's moral compass are driven by their faith in God. Betsy is the stronger of the two sisters and Corrie draws strength from Betsy's visions.
Wiesel, Elie	Night (940.53)(B) Elie Wiesel's searing memoir of life in Hungary during WWII, the Nazi occupation and exportation of Jews to German concentration camps. Wiesel was a studious, religious boy during Hitler's rise to power. In 1944, Wiesel and his family were deported to Auswitz, where his mother and sister were sent left and he and his father were sent right.
Worth, Richard	Saladin Sultan of Egypt and Syria (B) This book is part of a new series by Enslow featuring Rulers of the Middle Ages. I must confess that I did not know much about Saladin prior to choosing this biography to read for review. I was prompted to pick this book to review partly because we had no books in the library and partly because I had seen the movie, The Kingdom of Heaven and realized that I knew very little about the Crusades and the Middle East. Sometimes, reading a historical fiction or viewing a movie can prompt a person to seek out informational books to learn more about the real person or event. Unlike many informational books which jazz up the text with lots of white space, text boxes and illustrations, this book gives "just the facts" about Islam, the Middle East and Saladin's life straight up. In fact, the text boxes and illustrations interrupt the flow of the text, which is interesting in and of itself. The ten chapters are heavily footnoted and a glossary and timeline are also provided along with additional resources. The illustrations consist of a combination of present day photographs and photographs of artifacts with color and engraved black and white illustrations of scenes from the time. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the cover illustration. However, I found the text to be easy to follow and engaging. Students who are interested in the time period will find this interesting and students who have been assigned a report will find the book easy to access.