Nonfiction News

Have you seen the new nonfiction blog in town? The Nonfiction Minute is a project from the creators of Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. The blog features high interest articles and essays written by various nonfiction authors. There's also a page that provides educators with ideas for how to use the articles with students. Be sure to read Pamela S. Turner's post Why Crows Peck Eyeballs.

Betsy Bird recently tackled the issue of invented dialogue in children's biographies. Here's the post if you missed it.  Be sure to scroll down and read the comments below the post.

Tanya Lee Stone wrote a guest post for School Library Journal's Consider the Source column where she explores the issue of what happens when authors blur the lines between fiction and nonfiction. These are issues Louise and I often discuss when evaluating nonfiction for children. Where did the author find the information? Are source notes provided for dialogue? How do we, as readers, know if it is true? Lots of food for thought about children's books, how we define nonfiction and how authors research and present information in nonfiction books.

The 2014 Longlists for National Book Awards were announced this week, and two of the books in the young people's literature category are nonfiction.  The Port Chicago 50 and Brown Girl Dreaming both made the longlist this year.

Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy has written a series of blog posts to help classroom teachers build nonfiction collections. This has been an invaluable series for both educators and librarians who are looking to beef up their nonfiction sections. Here are Alyson's suggestions for books about marine life. 

Judges for the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (CYBILS) were announced this week, and The Nonfiction Detectives will be well represented. Louise was selected to serve as a second round judge in the Young Adult Nonfiction category, and I am the chair of the Book Apps category. Nominations open Oct. 1st.