Non Fiction books for teens
December 12, 2023 7:51 AM Subscribe
My kid (16M) is a reluctant reader.
I've got a few books for him on the fiction side, but am looking for some great non fiction.
He's generally interested in politics, history and geography. I'm looking for interesting, easy to read books on more recent current events. Maybe something like something like Bill Bryson, but more focused.
He really enjoys youtube Oversimplified, No such thing as Fish podcast, MythBusters, QI
I've got a few books for him on the fiction side, but am looking for some great non fiction.
He's generally interested in politics, history and geography. I'm looking for interesting, easy to read books on more recent current events. Maybe something like something like Bill Bryson, but more focused.
He really enjoys youtube Oversimplified, No such thing as Fish podcast, MythBusters, QI
Steve Sheinkin has written multiple good history books aimed at teens. They are written in a lively manner but without too much of the "hey kids isn't this neato!" feel.
https://stevesheinkin.com/books/
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:25 AM on December 12, 2023
https://stevesheinkin.com/books/
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:25 AM on December 12, 2023
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin is about a historical weather event that reads like a thriller. Especially good to read during the winter!
It's about a group of school children who get caught in one of the worst blizzards in US history and also shows how the weather service worked in 1888.
posted by mulcahy at 8:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's about a group of school children who get caught in one of the worst blizzards in US history and also shows how the weather service worked in 1888.
posted by mulcahy at 8:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
The No Such Thing as a Fish elves have written a number of books:
https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/books
Some are fiction but The Theory of Everything by Dan Schreiber is supposed to be more like the podcast. James and Anna just released Everything to Play For but it's sports focused so it may not be up his alley.
posted by macfly at 8:39 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
https://www.nosuchthingasafish.com/books
Some are fiction but The Theory of Everything by Dan Schreiber is supposed to be more like the podcast. James and Anna just released Everything to Play For but it's sports focused so it may not be up his alley.
posted by macfly at 8:39 AM on December 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Into Thin Air is pretty gripping, and if he likes that, there are a lot of less-well-known mountaineering disaster books out there.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:15 AM on December 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:15 AM on December 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah? It often reads like comedy, but also has gripping narratives on race, class, apartheid, domestic violence, etc.
posted by hessie at 9:37 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hessie at 9:37 AM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I tore through The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Stephen Brusatte earlier this year.
It’s about as far as you can get from current events, but it’s what immediately sprang to mind. Something more contemporary would be Surveillance Valley: The Rise of the Military-Digital Complex
by Yasha Levine. It’s not exactly a breezy read, but it’s possible it might grip them as “hidden knowledge”.
posted by potent_cyprus at 9:58 AM on December 12, 2023
It’s about as far as you can get from current events, but it’s what immediately sprang to mind. Something more contemporary would be Surveillance Valley: The Rise of the Military-Digital Complex
by Yasha Levine. It’s not exactly a breezy read, but it’s possible it might grip them as “hidden knowledge”.
posted by potent_cyprus at 9:58 AM on December 12, 2023
Randall Munroe, who does xkcd, has several books out which might work.
Would he find comics-based books attractive? Larry Gonick's Cartoon History books are informative but also entertaining.
posted by zadcat at 10:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Would he find comics-based books attractive? Larry Gonick's Cartoon History books are informative but also entertaining.
posted by zadcat at 10:26 AM on December 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I don't know if you're familiar with Heather Cox Richardson. She's a history professor at Boston College and during the Trump years she started her "Letters from an American" series of almost daily posts on on FB (and now Substack) analyzing current events from the perspective of U.S. history.
They're terrific, and she has a new book that sort of grew out of the daily posts. My teenagers actually subscribe to her on Substack and we talk about the posts all the time. I haven't seen the book yest but I imagine it would push a few of his buttons.
They also love Randall Munro's books, esp. "What If," and while McPhee might be a bit of a lift for most teens, "The Control of Nature" is a good starting point, esp. as it's really a collection of four long-ish magazine pieces.
posted by martin q blank at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2023
They're terrific, and she has a new book that sort of grew out of the daily posts. My teenagers actually subscribe to her on Substack and we talk about the posts all the time. I haven't seen the book yest but I imagine it would push a few of his buttons.
They also love Randall Munro's books, esp. "What If," and while McPhee might be a bit of a lift for most teens, "The Control of Nature" is a good starting point, esp. as it's really a collection of four long-ish magazine pieces.
posted by martin q blank at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2023
There are some excellent YA graphic novels on non-fiction topics. Would he be into that? My kids (a few years older than yours) would gobble up graphic novels even when they weren't in big reading phases. What I've done is go to my local library, go to the YA non-fiction area, and try to find anything they might be vaguely interested in.
March is a graphic novel series about the US Civil Rights movement, and I bet it's at your local library, and of course online for sale too.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:47 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
March is a graphic novel series about the US Civil Rights movement, and I bet it's at your local library, and of course online for sale too.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:47 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
As mentioned previously, this is the age I read Phantoms in the Brain and it had a huge impact on me.
History-wise he may like A People’s History of the United States if he likes being a little bit contrarian to more orthodox history teachers. American Prometheus (esp if he saw/liked Oppenheimer) and The Making of the Atomic Bomb are dense but enjoyable for science-warfare-history.
posted by supercres at 11:16 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
History-wise he may like A People’s History of the United States if he likes being a little bit contrarian to more orthodox history teachers. American Prometheus (esp if he saw/liked Oppenheimer) and The Making of the Atomic Bomb are dense but enjoyable for science-warfare-history.
posted by supercres at 11:16 AM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This isn't quite out yet but there's a graphic novel anthology coming out called Failure To Launch that's all about things people tried to accomplish in history but failed at.
Once it's out you can get it at the Iron Circus store.
posted by foxfirefey at 12:06 PM on December 12, 2023
Once it's out you can get it at the Iron Circus store.
posted by foxfirefey at 12:06 PM on December 12, 2023
How to Invent Everything by Ryan North would be pretty good I think.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:13 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:13 PM on December 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Stamped (the YA version of Stamped from the Beginning) is terrific.
For a cool WWII survival story: We Die Alone, by Howarth.
posted by RedEmma at 1:45 PM on December 12, 2023
For a cool WWII survival story: We Die Alone, by Howarth.
posted by RedEmma at 1:45 PM on December 12, 2023
If he has the perverse fascination with disasters that I had at his age (and I still have TBH) then Midnight in Chernobyl might fit the bill.
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:15 AM on December 13, 2023
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:15 AM on December 13, 2023
My son liked all these:
Shadow on the Mountain, Margi Preus
The Spy and the Traitor, Ben Macintyre
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing
The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown
Paddle to the Amazon, Don Starkell
Running the Amazon, Joe Kane
The Tracker, Tom Brown Jr.
Long Haul, Finn Murphy
The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure, by Mark Jenkins
A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park
A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierley
The Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher
posted by kiblinger at 8:55 AM on December 13, 2023
Shadow on the Mountain, Margi Preus
The Spy and the Traitor, Ben Macintyre
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing
The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown
Paddle to the Amazon, Don Starkell
Running the Amazon, Joe Kane
The Tracker, Tom Brown Jr.
Long Haul, Finn Murphy
The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure, by Mark Jenkins
A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park
A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierley
The Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher
posted by kiblinger at 8:55 AM on December 13, 2023
If he's interested in politics, what about social justice and activism? Me And White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad is a real eye-opener; there's a Young Readers' Edition too. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson is an open, frank discussion about what all the letters in LGBTQIA+ mean, and also touches on how to be a better ally. Ibram X. Kendi's How To Be An Antiracist (and also a Young Antiracist) are both great at taking you step by step through understanding and identifying systemic racism, and how to be (and why it's important to be) actively antiracist.
Don't be put off by the "young readers" label on some of the books. While they are certainly rewritten to be more approachable to younger readers, they are by no means dumbed down, and the subject matter is, frankly, some heavy stuff. As a dude in his 40s, I appreciated the more digestible tone of those editions, and found them much easier to engage with. I have both editions of both the books I linked, and it's the young readers version that I find myself going back to to refresh a topic, and to share with friends.
posted by xedrik at 2:45 PM on December 13, 2023
Don't be put off by the "young readers" label on some of the books. While they are certainly rewritten to be more approachable to younger readers, they are by no means dumbed down, and the subject matter is, frankly, some heavy stuff. As a dude in his 40s, I appreciated the more digestible tone of those editions, and found them much easier to engage with. I have both editions of both the books I linked, and it's the young readers version that I find myself going back to to refresh a topic, and to share with friends.
posted by xedrik at 2:45 PM on December 13, 2023
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posted by kerf at 8:03 AM on December 12, 2023