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Tag: nonfiction middle grade

December 29, 2025 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2025 Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

Forget the picture books. Older nonfiction, that nebulous but ultimately satisfying genre, is where the action is. This list today just proves it.

July 3, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, ill. Brett Helquist

The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global CelebrityBy Nicholas DayIllustrated by Brett HelquistRandom House Studio (and imprint of Random House Children’s Books)$22.99ISBN: 9780593643846Ages 9-12On shelves September 5th I sense that we are on the brink of something. I’ve sensed it for a while. Do you remember […]

December 28, 2022 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2022 Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

One thing you will definitely find here today are my favorite reads for older kids in 2022, if those kids happen to be into nonfiction and informational books. These are lean, mean, fact-spouting machines and they are perfect for fact-loving kids.

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Review of the Day: Seen and Unseen by Elizabeth Partridge, ill. Lauren Tamaki

August 17, 2022 by Betsy Bird

By taking three photographers that shot the incarceration camps of WWII in three different ways, in today's book we get a well-rounded portrait of a government desperate to sell a bad idea to the American public under the guise of openness.

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2021 Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

December 27, 2021 by Betsy Bird

Here's a brief smattering of some of the books that I think are deserving of your time and attention. If you know a kid that loves their informational texts, something on this list is bound to whet their whistle.

Review of the Day: While I Was Away by Waka T. Brown

November 19, 2021 by Betsy Bird

Waka T. Brown fills her latest book with all the pathos, yearning, frustrations, and humor you might find in a middle grade novel. The important difference? It’s all true. It’s all real. It’s all enthralling.

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Review of the Day: Race Against Time by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace

September 17, 2021 by Betsy Bird

A thoroughly rousing story, deserving of wider acclaim. The package may be lacking but the contents are gold.

Review of the Day: Timelines From Black History: Leaders, Legends, Legacies by D.K. Publishing

June 22, 2021 by Betsy Bird

This book is NOT the only book on the subject that will ever be written, but right now it appears to be the only book so far. And I’m just relieved that it was good to begin with. A beautifully designed supplement.

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Nonfiction for Older Readers

December 28, 2020 by Betsy Bird

A sliver of the magnificent nonfiction for older readers on offer to kids in 2020.

Review of the Day: The Talk, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson

October 21, 2020 by Betsy Bird

Pitch perfect in tone and content, this is supposedly the book that will help all parents talk to their kids. In truth? This also is the book that will help KIDS talk to their parents. It’s a two-way street and everybody’s driving.

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