Non-fiction booklists for middle school?

[Laura Corin]

Calvin has a high reading level, but mostly reads fiction. I'd like to find some non-fiction (probably not history - he already reads a lot of that) to offer him. Secular suggestions please.

Thanks

Laura

[mom31257]

Is he interested in science fiction? If so, my dd is reading a book that my dh picked up from the library. It's called "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku. This is a book exploring the possibilities of science fiction fantasy becoming reality (light sabers, teleportation, etc.). My dd has never been so interested in non-fiction. It's a real stretch for her, but I figure that's good, right?

[Laura Corin]

Is he interested in science fiction? If so, my dd is reading a book that my dh picked up from the library. It's called "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku. This is a book exploring the possibilities of science fiction fantasy becoming reality (light sabers, teleportation, etc.). My dd has never been so interested in non-fiction. It's a real stretch for her, but I figure that's good, right?

Laura

[dragons in the flower bed]

Carpe Diem by Harry Mount is a funny non-fiction book about Latin.

The Canon by Natalie Angier is a fascinating "whirligig tour" of science.

[Laura Corin]

I loved The Canon myself, but I think that it moves a bit fast for Calvin: he has endless capacity to read fiction (just read David Copperfield for fun) but non-fiction bogs him down. I'll look into Carpe Diem, thanks.

Laura

[dragons in the flower bed]

Okay, in that case, how about Chew On This by Eric Schlosser? It's like Fast Food Nation but written with teens specifically in mind.

[Kareni]

I loved Isaac Asimov's non-fiction when I was in junior high.

Perhaps Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue (about the history of English) which is full of facts but written in the most entertaining fashion.

Larry Gonick's books: he has illustrated versions of history, math and science.

Regards,
Kareni

[Laura Corin]

I loved Isaac Asimov's non-fiction when I was in junior high.

Perhaps Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue (about the history of English) which is full of facts but written in the most entertaining fashion.

Larry Gonick's books: he has illustrated versions of history, math and science.

Regards,
Kareni

He loves Bill Bryson, but hasn't read that one. We've got lots of Larry Gonick history, but should branch out into the science books - thanks for the reminder. I'll look into the Isaac Asimov. Do you have a title to start me off?

Thanks

Laura

[Laura Corin]

Okay, in that case, how about Chew On This by Eric Schlosser? It's like Fast Food Nation but written with teens specifically in mind.

That sounds good.

Laura

[Kareni]

I'll look into the Isaac Asimov. Do you have a title to start me off?



I wish I did but junior high is now a LONG long time ago! I did a little browsing at Amazon in the hopes that a title would ring a bell, however, no luck. This one sounds like fun though --

Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor (http://www.amazon.com/Isaac-Asimovs-Treasury-Humor-Asimov/dp/0395572266/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234745423&sr=1-4).

A couple of other thoughts for your son:

An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (http://www.amazon.com/Evening-Wasted-Tom-Lehrer/dp/B000002KO8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_3_txt?pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00004SWBH&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0V8XJVJ8VGB44PR79FNQ) -- though this is an audio not a book

and

Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character (http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393061329/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234745897&sr=8-4) by Richard P. Feynman and Ralph Leighton. (This copy that I've linked includes a great CD of Feynman telling stories.)

Regards,
Kareni

[Lorna]

Calvin has a high reading level, but mostly reads fiction. I'd like to find some non-fiction (probably not history - he already reads a lot of that) to offer him. Secular suggestions please.

Thanks

Laura


Calvin might enjoy 'Napoleon's Buttons' (http://socksandbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/napoleons-buttons-by-penny-le-couteur.html). The history will draw him in and the chemistry is beautifully and carefully explained. He can easily skip chapters that aren't of interest. I am going to suggest it to Snufkin as a nice finale to her Carbon Chemistry course.

My sister loves the Oliver Sacks books. 'Uncle Tungsten' is his autobiography about his chemistry-filled childhood. My sister loved 'The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat). It is essentially a book about neurological conditions but they are wonderfully quirky and inspiring.

Here is a great list of more popular science books (http://www.scifun.org/Readings/Readings.htm) with reviews.

I love Alain de Botton's books too, especially 'How Proust Can Change Your Life' which inspires one to read more and read well.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin might enjoy 'Napoleon's Buttons' (http://socksandbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/napoleons-buttons-by-penny-le-couteur.html). The history will draw him in and the chemistry is beautifully and carefully explained. He can easily skip chapters that aren't of interest. I am going to suggest it to Snufkin as a nice finale to her Carbon Chemistry course.

My sister loves the Oliver Sacks books. 'Uncle Tungsten' is his autobiography about his chemistry-filled childhood. My sister loved 'The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat). It is essentially a book about neurological conditions but they are wonderfully quirky and inspiring.

Here is a great list of more popular science books (http://www.scifun.org/Readings/Readings.htm) with reviews.

I love Alain de Botton's books too, especially 'How Proust Can Change Your Life' which inspires one to read more and read well.

I saw Napoleon's Buttons on your blog and was wondering about it.

Laura

[Cindy in FL.]

My 13 yo ds just read the Alex Rider series by Horowitz and really enjoyed them.

Cindy

[kalanamak]

Calvin has a high reading level, but mostly reads fiction. I'd like to find some non-fiction (probably not history - he already reads a lot of that) to offer him. Secular suggestions please.

Thanks

Laura

Has he read any Mowat? His Grey Seas Under and The Serpent's Coil are descriptions of sea-tug rescues. How about Wind, Sand and Stars or the other early days of commercial flying adventures, like Night Flight. I read all the above at age 14 and still remember them as very exciting but not twaddle. I was a huge fan of biographies at that time. I wanted to hear about how adults lived.

[nmoira]

Dove by Robin Graham
The 13th Element by John Emsley
The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison by John Emsley
The Brendan Voyage and similar books by Tim Severin
Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived and Zamba: The True Story of the Greatest Lion that Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer
In Code: A Mathematical Journey by Sarah and David Flannery

[Alice]

I may be revealing my geekiness but I loved The Medical Detectives by Berton Rouche at that age. They aren't written for his age group but I think I read them at about that age and loved them. They are about epidemiology but are really really fascinating accounts of how various public health mysteries were solved. It's a collection of essays so each chapter stands alone.

I saw Lorna recommended the Oliver Sacks books. I loved those in high school. If he is interested in that kind of thing another great writer is Harold Klawans who writes very similar things to Sacks. The one I liked was Tosanini's Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Neurology.

One of the best non-fiction books I've read is Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks. It's the story of the people in Britain who made codes during WWII. It's amazing, but might be a little too old for Calvin.

[Herding Cats in NC]

Ds & I liked Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. It might be an easy read for your ds (it's listed as ages 9-12), but it was really fascinating. And what about Double Helix by James Watson? It's been years since I've read it, but I remember it being very engaging.

[Carol in Cal.]

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" which is a memoir by a famous physicist. It is very well-written.

"An Inconvenient Truth for Teens" or some such is by Al Gore, and it seems like it's at a great level for middle schoolers.

"This Organic Life" is not for middle schoolers, but it is clean and true and a pretty easy read. The chapters are reasonably independent. It's about a couple who decides to achieve vegetable self-sufficiency in upstate New York.

"Your Money or Your Life" is the best personal finance book I have ever read. (Although it's not great for investments. But it's great for everything else.) If your son read it and liked it and implemented it, he could end up with a pretty unique life.

"Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Belles on Their Toes" are true books that elicidate life during the early part of the 20th century through the eyes of two of twelve children of a famous family.

I think that it's worthwhile to slowly study a book of Renaissance painting and sculpture and engineering, as those disciplines were so refined and so connected during that period. However, I don't know which to recommend. We have several, but I have not been able to find a good one at the middle school level--there are some that are above and below, but not one right there exactly. The ones that have middle school-level content tend not to have very many pictures or diagrams, and the ones that have younger content are so full of pictures but lacking in information about technique and thought processes.

Some science fiction books encourage one to think scientifically. I know you asked for non-fiction, but "Tales from the White Hart" by Arthur C. Clarke seems to be a good blend of new (at the time) thinking about real science with engaging but pretty clean fictional stories.

"Hospital Sketches" by Louisa May Alcott is a surprisingly interesting account of her work as a Civil War nurse on the Union side.

"Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom" is outstanding.

"Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow" is a Newbury Honor book that conveys it's subject with a good balance of realism and sensitivity to the age level.

"Kids at Work: Lewis Hines and the Crusade Against Child Labor" is both well-illustrated and well written.