31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

While serving on various book committees made up of librarians, the subject area that may be the most difficult to get folks to read is, sadly, older nonfiction for kids. For those of my generation (and earlier, certainly) older nonfiction for kids meant one thing: adult nonfiction. We simply didn’t have a well-established system for conveying this kind of info for older readers. All that changed around 15-20 years ago, but old habits die hard. If you grew up reading fiction, it can be hard to switch to nonfiction. All this is to say that I am certain that I’ve missed some fantastic titles on today’s list, and for that I am sorry. Consider this, then, a jumping off point for some of the best informational texts for older kids coming out in 2023.

If you’d like a PDF of today’s list, you can find one here.

Interested in similar titles? Check out the Older Nonfiction lists of years past:

• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016

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2023 Nonfiction for Older Readers

Alone: The Journey of Three Young Refugees by Paul Tom, ill. Mélanie Baillairgé, translated by Arielle Aaronson

What is it like to leave your family, and even your country, to travel to a new life completely on your own? Follow the stories of three kids who did just that in this powerful and uplifting collection. This book is honestly so gripping that I forgot I was reading nonfiction. When I got to the end and encountered the three photographs of the three kids featured I was honestly shocked. The question with this book is not so much whether or not it’s worthy of this list (which it most certainly is) and more whether, with its young teens that grow to adulthood, it is for kids. I happen to think that it is. Though they go through some harrowing trials I was relieved to see that there no physical violence or abuse of any kind. That allows the story to focus more on the concept of leaving your family behind at such a young age. I loved how different the three kids were in terms of personalities too. Well worth your eyeballs.

The Deep! Wild Life at the Ocean’s Darkest Depths by Lindsey Leigh

Sink deep deep below the waves to meet the creatures that dwell where nothing else can live. A fantastic voyage filled with humor and facts we can guarantee you never knew before! Ahhh. So this is what I’ve always wanted in a deep sea book for older kids. And no shade on the other whale fall book out this year, but I guess I had sort of hoped that that book would have the sheer levels of excitement and interest that this one has. Fashioning her style on old 1950s B-movie posters, Lindsey Leigh packs her book with hilarity and solid factual information. I learned a LOT from this title. Somehow, Leigh manages to sandwich the less interesting info between the fascinating and funny (as well as gross) stuff so beautifully that it’s irresistible. A must read! Previously Seen On: The Older Funny Books List

The Great Giraffe Rescue: Saving the Nubian Giraffes by Sandra Markle

So very well done! It’s certainly a title for older readers, but it doesn’t bog you down with endless pages, coming in instead at a handsome 40. I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the efforts in this book weren’t focused on moving ALL the giraffes out of a region, but a significant number that could increase their numbers over time. LOTS of lovely photographs, which I always enjoy, and Markle even managed to include a kind of giraffe hero into her story (Melman, the giraffe with a kind of wonky jaw). Accessible and cool with a larger message about how we have a tendency to ignore danger to different species until it’s too late. Previously Seen On: The Science and Nature List

Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day by Dan Nott

“Huh, I actually have no idea how the internet works.” “And wait… is there really enough water for everyone all the time?” “And what’s really powering this light? What even IS electricity?” If you’ve ever found yourself asking even one of these questions, Dan Nott has provided a book that is nothing but answers. As he mentions early on, a hidden system is something we don’t notice until it breaks. They’re also supremely hard to visualize, so a graphic novel format actually makes for the perfect vehicle for explaining not simply the mechanics, but also the history, the inequities, and how these systems must be updated in the future if we want to sustain them. I’ve been joking to folks recently that David Macaulay must have retired this year or something since the man has been on a blurbing bender. That said, this book is the PERFECT vehicle for a Macaulay a.k.a. “The Way Things Work” blurb. Just as Macaulay broke down the construction of cathedrals, pyramids, and more, so too does Nott break down whole systems we rely on. And I don’t care how much you think you know about these three things. You’re bound to learn something incredible on almost every page. For example, did you know that the lines that carry our internet follow the exact same paths as the lines that carried telegraph messages originally? An utterly fantastic and fascinating book. Definitely on the upper end of middle grade, but for a savvy reader there’s a lot to be interested in. Previously Seen On: The Science and Nature List

The In-Between by Katie Van Heidrich

The verse memoir. That’s a tricky one. For a nonfiction stickler like me I want so badly to shove it in either a fiction category or a nonfiction category, but here’s where the problem with memory plays a part. If Van Heidrich says this is her memory then it is her memory. There’s dialogue but it’s dialogue as she remembers it. So even if it comes across as a VERY accomplished verse novel, we have to take it on face value that it technically belongs in my older nonfiction category. All that being said, this is an amazingly written title. The premise and the cover? It took me a long time to get past them, which I regret because the writing that I found inside is remarkable. In this story, a single mom with three kids is forced to live for a time in a hotel while she searches for a job. The sheer soul-sucking nature of this situation comes through like an air horn. And it doesn’t help that their dad, with whom they spend every other weekend, has a home with a bunch of empty bedrooms, yet he makes the kids all share a pull away bed together. It’s sparse and spare and manages to deliver so much with so few pages. You are in this room. You feel this story. I also highly recommend that if you are able, listen to the audiobook read by Angel Pean. I love a narrator capable of highlighting just how amazing the language in a book is. And this book? Incredible. 

The Miracle Seed by Martin Lemelman

Everyone knows that the Judean date palm went extinct long ago, right? But when scientists were given 2,000 year old seeds, they decided to see if they’d grow. A tale of history, science, and delicious dates. Sometimes you gotta sit on a book a while to understand what you think about it. I’ll confess that I wasn’t originally going to put this book on this list when I received it. I liked it, but was it memorable? So I put it down for a week or two  . . . and kept on thinking about it. Seriously, it’s amazing how many times I’ve found myself thinking about its implications. For example, I recently was listening to a podcast that was discussing the now extinct plant silphium and found myself wondering what would happen if someone managed to find some silphium seeds. With its panels, speech balloons, and other elements you might find in a comic book, the information here is incredibly accessible for kids. I like how Mr. Lemelman also managed to work in Jewish history as well as the science necessary to understand WHY a seed this old could still be viable. Absolutely fascinating. Previously Seen On: The Science and Nature List

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day, ill. Brett Helquist

How did the world’s most famous painting just get casually stolen on a Monday morning? Easy: She wasn’t famous yet. Take a trip into the past and witness the Mona Lisa heist in this funny and fantastic work of narrative nonfiction. What can I do or say to convince you that this book is one of the most enjoyable you’ll read all year? I’ve always liked the Steve Sheinkin version of narrative nonfiction you’ll sometimes find in a given year, but aside from him and the occasional Deborah Heiligman, few folks take the time to be simultaneously accurate AND amusing. Now we meet Nicholas Day. Amusing? Oh yes. Accurate? Yes, that too. This is a heist like no other and a story you’ve probably only been vaguely aware of. For my part, it all comes down to how he keeps bringing it back to how a person brings their assumptions to the facts, and the dangers that kind of thinking poses today. Expertly crafted and so much fun!

The New Brownies’ Book: A Love Letter to Black Families, edited by Karida L. Brown and Charly Palmer

A gorgeous compendium of Black authors and artists appear in this collection of stories, art, comics, and poems. And now it’s time to talk about something a little more complicated. So what do you like to do with “keepsake” books? Which is to say, books that are meant to be read to children but are primarily aimed at the adults that can judge and appreciate their existence in this world? This book is an update to The Brownies’ Book, which was a children’s magazine started by W.E.B. Du Bois and Jessie Fauset (who rarely gets enough credit) in 1920. I actually remember learning about it in my Harlem Renaissance class in college. Now it’s been updated by a Du Bois scholar and artist for the modern age in book form and it is, quite frankly, gorgeous. It’s also clearly a gift book. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t get on my list, though. Plus, I just love that early story in it, “Nobody Loves the Debbil.”

Nomads: Life on the Move by Kinchoi Lam

The difficulty of the adult reviewer of children’s books is separating out what you, as a grown-up, find fascinating in your children’s literature and what a kid, reading the same book, would actually find interesting. I try to keep my finger on the pulse of such things, but with a book like Nomads it’s a little difficult to determine. Personally, I think this topic is enthralling. It’s about eight different groups on what looks to be five to six different continents and how they maintain their nomadic traditions in the modern world. There’s some history and a lot of logistics worked in there which is neat, and Kinchoi Lam works with this fun style that renders the people quite small most of the time. I think that there is some kid appeal, if the reader is interested in learning about how different folks live all over the world. My real objection is to the fact that since this is a British import there’s really no backmatter to be seen. No list of the resources Lam used to come up with these facts. A Glossary, sure, but not much beyond that. Ah well. Still an interesting book and concept. 

Unseen Jungle by Eleanor Spicer Rice, ill. Rob Wilson

Whether you’re an up-and-coming young scientist or just want a book with the grossest stuff in it, there’s a lot to love in this compendium of microbes and their unseen, highly disgusting, world. Sorry, folks. I hate to be the one to break the news but I found myself a nice super gross book for 2023 and I’m loving it. What’s the name of the game this time? Microbes! Specifically bacteria, fungi, protozoa, archaea, algae, super-tiny animals, and viruses (though Rice acknowledges that some scientists would say they don’t count). The book then systematically goes through every possible place you might encounter them. It gets two germ-encrusted thumbs up from me on the “yuck” factor, but you also learn a TON of info. For example, this may be the first time I’ve ever felt bad for flies. Read the book. You’ll see why. Previously Seen On: The Science and Nature List

We Need to Talk About Vaginas: An Important Book About Vulvas, Periods, Puberty, and Sex! by Allison K. Rodgers, ill. Annika Le Large

Straightforward information about everything from puberty and pregnancy to consent, presented by a gynecologist who knows exactly what questions people with vulvas might have about their changing bodies. And here we come to the complicated question of what to do with a book that is more of a straightforward informational text than anything else. A necessary book? And how! Lord, I don’t think I saw any of this stuff in a book until I went to college and my roommate handed me Our Bodies, Our Selves (am I dating myself much?). Kids today are so lucky. This book does a pretty good job of remaining aware of bodies along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, while also offering straightforward information in a clear cut way. It’s not a particularly creative book or pretty book in that way, but boy am I glad that it’s now in this collection! Previously Seen On: Science and Nature List

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Hope you enjoyed these! Here are the lists you can expect for the rest of this month:

December 1 – Great Board Books

December 2 – Picture Book Readaloud

December 3 – Simple Picture Book Texts

December 4 – Transcendent Holiday Picture Books

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Funny Picture Books

December 7 – CaldeNotts

December 8 – Picture Book Reprints

December 9 – Math Books for Kids

December 10 – Gross Books

December 11 – Books with a Message

December 12 – Fabulous Photography

December 13 – Translated Picture Books

December 14 – Fairy Tales / Folktales / Religious Tales

December 15 – Wordless Picture Books

December 16 – Poetry Books

December 17 – Unconventional Children’s Books

December 18 – Easy Books & Early Chapter Books

December 19 – Older Funny Books

December 20 – Science Fiction Books

December 21 – Fantasy Books

December 22 – Comics & Graphic Novels

December 23 – Informational Fiction

December 24 – American History

December 25 – Science & Nature Books

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 28 – Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

December 29 – Audiobooks for Kids

December 30 – Middle Grade Novels

December 31 – Picture Books

Filed under: 31 Days 31 Lists, Best Books, Best Books of 2023