Best Biographies of 2018

Today we are featuring the best biographies and memoirs of the 2018. Picture books and graphic novels dominate the list. This year's best biographies for children and teens feature artists, athletes, politicians, scientists and more!

Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery

by Sandra Neil Wallace

illustrated by Bryan Collier

Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong's Life in Jazz

by Mara Rockliff

illustrated by Michele Wood

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World

by Penelope Bagieu

Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children

by Monica Kulling

illustrated by Julianna Swaney

Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass
by Tonya Bolden

The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler

by John Hendrix

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

by Joyce Sidman

The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague
by Julia Finley Mosca
illustrated by Daniel Rieley

Hey, Kiddo

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles
by Patricia Valdez
illustrated by Felicita Sala

Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten

by Laura Veirs

illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

Library on Wheels: Mary Lemist Titcomb and America's First Bookmobile

by Sharlee Glenn

Photographic:  The Life of Graciela Iturbide

by Isabel Quintero and Zeke Pena

So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth's Long Walk Toward Freedom

by Gary D. Schmidt 

illustrated by Daniel Minter

Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army
by Art Coulson
illustrated by Nick Hardcastle

What Do You Do With a Voice Like That?

by Chris Barton

illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Best History Books of 2018

Today we're highlighting the best history and current events books of 2018. These books for children and teens span topics such as The Great Depression, the Syrian Refugee crisis, the Civil Rights Movement and the invention of Monopoly.

Algeria Is Beautiful Like America

by Olivia Burton and Mahi Grand

Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend

by Karen Blumenthal

Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam

by Elizabeth Partridge

Crash: The Great Depression and the Fall and Rise of America

by Marc Favreau

A History of Pictures for Children

by David Hockney and Martin Gayford

illustrated by Rosa Blake

Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968

by Alice Faye Duncan

illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented

by Tanya Lee Stone

illustrated by Steven Salerno

Spooked!: How Radio Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America

by Gail Jarrow

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

by Don Brown

Top 25 Nonfiction Blogs

We're pleased to announce the Nonfiction Detectives blog has been named 

a Top 25 Nonfiction Blog!

Click here to see the list of all of the top blogs.

Best Science Books of 2018

We're kicking off a three-week blog series featuring the Best Nonfiction Books of 2018. 

Mars, tongues, coral reefs, and road kill! Today we turn our focus to the best science books for children and teens. 

Back from the Brink: Saving Animals from Extinction

by Nancy F. Castaldo

The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs

by Kate Messner

illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

Curiosity: The Story of the Mars Rover

by Markus Motum

Hawk Rising

by Maria Gianferrari

illustrated by Brian Floca

The Hyena Scientist

by Sy Montgomery

photographs by Nic Bishop

Otis and Will Discover the Deep

by Barb Rosenstock

illustrated by Katherine Roy

Plant, Cook, Eat!

by Joe Archer and Caroline Craig

A Seed is the Start

by Melissa Stewart

Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill

by Heather L. Montgomery

illustrated by Kevin O'Malley

Snowy Owl Invasion!: Tracking an Unusual Migration
by Sandra Markle

Terrific Tongues!

by Maria Gianferrari

illustrated by Jua Liu

The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow
by Jan Thornhill

Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World

by Christy Hale

Memphis, Martin and the Mountaintop

Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968
by Alice Faye Duncan
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Calkins Creek, 2018
Grades 2-6

Through the eyes of nine year-old Lorraine Jackson, readers will learn about the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis. The main character is based on Dr. Almella Starks-Umoja, whose father helped organize the strike.

This important picture book combines poetry and prose to describe the events and emotions related to the strike. Using the first person narrative, Alice Faye Duncan provides a child's point of view to the historic strike and tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Most young readers know about Dr. King's life and how he was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel, but few probably know why he was in Memphis that day.

Full-page gouache illustrations depict sanitation workers striking, people gathered at rallies and Dr. King speaking. Christie brilliantly adjusts the color palette to convey the mood and tone of the story. The story ends with a call to action in the form of a poem:

Mountaintop
Dream big.
Walk tall.
Be strong.
March on.
Don't quit.
Never stop.
Climb up the MOUNTAINTOP!

Back matter includes a detailed timeline, lengthy bibliography and a list of museums to visit.
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop fills a void in the history section; it is the first children's book I have seen about the 1968 Sanitation Strike. The book rises to the top of the nonfiction picture books from this year, and it's a recommended purchase for libraries, schools and homes. I expect to see this book pick up multiple awards during the ALA Youth Media Awards.

Listen to the author read Mountaintop from Memphis, Martin and the Mountaintop.

Coming Soon... The Best NF Books of 2018

Beginning next week, we will reveal the best nonfiction books for children and teens published in 2018. Be sure to visit the blog on Dec. 17, 24 and 31 to find out which books made the lists!

Carter Reads the Newspaper written by Deborah Hopkinson

Carter Reads the Newspaper

Written by Deborah Hopkinson; Illustrated by Don Tate

Peachtree. 2018

Grades 2 and up

“Carter G. Woodson didn’t help people escape from slavery, start a bus strike, or lead a movement of millions. Yet without him, we might not have Black History Month. This is his story.”

In this picture book biography, Hopkinson tells the inspiring story of Carter G. Woodson, the man who has been cited as “the father of Black History Month.” 

Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 in Virginia. His parents had been born into slavery and they shared their stories with Carter. Growing up, he didn’t have much schooling, but he did learn to read. His father believed in being an informed citizen, so though he himself was unable to read and write, he had Carter read him the newspaper. “Reading the newspaper gave Carter his first glimpse of the wider world.”

The seed of wanting to learn more about the legacy of his people was deepened while working in the coal mines for three years. While attending Harvard, after a white professor claimed, “Black people had no history” that Carter took up the challenge to prove that professor wrong.

In 1926, Carter established Negro History Week. 

Hopkinson shows that one person can change history.

Tate’s mixed media illustrations complement the text.

Back matter includes an author and illustrator’s note, a list of Black leaders pictured throughout the book, a timeline of Carter G. Woodson’s life, and source notes for quotes.

A perfect book to share when kicking off Black History Month.

The publisher sent me a copy of this book to review

Two biographies on Maria Sibylla Merian

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science

Joyce Sidman

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2018

And

Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer 

By Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby

J. Paul Getty Museum. 2018

Grades 5 and up

To write this review, I borrowed both books from my local public library.

I was first introduced to Maria Sibylla Merian in Margarita Engle's fabulous book, Summer Birds: the Butterflies of Maria Merian. Merian's curiosity was unusual at the time (1647-1717). Thankfully, and with lots of encouragement and a strong self-esteem, through art, Merian shared her discoveries: how caterpillars turned into butterflies, for one.

“Before John James Audubon drew birds from the wild, before Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, before Carl Linnaeus began classifying organisms, there lived a thirteen-year-old girl named Maria Merian who loved to draw bugs.” (Sidman)

Now we have two new biographies of Merian Sibylla Merian for those wanting to learn more about this talented woman.

Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Frankfurt, Germany on April 2, 1647. When she was four, her mother married the still-life painter Jacob Marrel. He will teach her how to paint. At age thirteen, Maria begins to raise and study silkworms. With an eye for detail, a talent for painting, and her keen scientific mind, Maria will go on to paint flowers and other insects and animals. In 1677, she published her first book, 'Neues Blumenbuch' (New book of flowers). In June of 1699, Maria and her daughter sailed from Holland to Surinam in South American. They were the first people to visit the South American jungles purely for scientific reasons.

These two biographies tell the story of a remarkable woman, far ahead of her time. Both books have engaging narratives with the text broken up with quotes from Merian’s books and journals, and sidebars sprinkled throughout on history, science, and art, which helps readers see Merian’s place in history and the bigger picture of the importance’s of her work. 

Both titles are highly recommended, especially for anyone interested in nature and art. As we learned from David Hockney and Martin Gayford, it’s one thing to snap a picture with our phones or a camera, but we learn far more when we use art to make sense of our surroundings. 

Born more than 350 years ago, Maria Merian paintings, drawings, and hand-colored books in museums all over the world.