A promising selection of books for eager and reluctant readers, the 2013 Nonfiction Honor List showcases data-filled works about

nature, socializing, and history. Intriguing titles promote dipping into elegantly illustrated compendia and perusing the accomplishments and heroism of famous people from Albert Einstein to Aung San Suu Kyi. Each book met the criteria of the selection committee, including middle grade readers, librarians, teachers, parents, and reviewers with compelling combinations of research and visual and literary appeal.

Baines, Francesca, Ed. History Year by Year. DK, 2013. 320p. $24.99. 978-1-4654-1418-2. Appendices. Illus. Photos. Glossary. Index.

An era-by-era survey of humankind, Baines’s illustrated timeline of three million years of history surveys ancient fresco, jewelry, and statuary as well as soldiery, seafaring, and key figures, from Alexander the Great to the Hopewell society. Commentary on subsequent events introduces readers to the Dome of the Rock, Taj Mahal, Mormons, and Michael Jackson.

Berne, Jennifer. On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein. Chronicle, 2013. 56p. $17.99. 978-0-8118-7235-5.

Berne’s humanization of one of the geniuses of the modern era enables students to view brilliance as only one aspect of Einstein’s life. By characterizing experiments, the text introduces readers to a sequence of events beginning with a compass and study of navigation and leading to atomic power.

Houston, Rob, Ed. It Can’t Be True: The Book of Incredible Visual Comparisons. DK, 2013. 192p. $19.99. 978-1-4654-1422-9. Charts. Index.

A visually engaging work for the curious, DK’s question-and-answer format coaxes middle-school readers to identify the

largest sharks and snakes, deepest snows, biggest caves, and most powerful space vehicles. The text emphasizes various forms of measurement—light years, Fahrenheit, miles, pounds, kilometers—as well as feats of engineering, including the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza and the Empire State Building in New York City.

_______. Where on Earth: The Ultimate Atlas of What’s Where in the World. DK, 2013. 192p. $19.99. 978-1-4654-0245-5. Maps. Index.

An explorable reference work keyed to middle-school interests, Houston’s six-chapter compendium entices the reader to identify the Seven Wonders of the World. Entries venture from shipwrecks, phosphorescent animals, natural disasters, and mummies to the Internet, empires, and the stars of car racing.

Jenkins, Steve. The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest—and Most Surprising—Animals. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. 208p. $21.99 978-0-547-55799-1. Glossary. Biblio. Index. Illus.

This gem won hands down as a stimulating children’s book, middle-grade home school text, coffee table/gift book, and good read for a professional office waiting room. Field tested on three-year-old Oakley Brittain, five-year-old William Owen, seven-year-old Bradley Armstrong, and thirteen-year-old Jacob Cruz, as well as the clients of a veterinary hospital, the animal drawings and collages mesmerized all. Gracefully arranged images accompany just enough fact to keep readers turning pages.

nonfiction honor list

PUBLISHERS: How to NomINatE YoUR BookS foR VOYA’S NExt NoNfIctIoN HoNoR LISt

If your 2014 publications for middle/junior high school readers fulfill the criteria on the following page, you may nominate qualified titles. Please note that the minimum grade level interest is grade six.

1. Select your finest publications; you are limited to five titles from each imprint. 2. Send five copies of each nominated book to our committee chair, addressed to: Mary Ellen Snodgrass VOYA Nonfiction Honor List Committee5591 Ashley Court, Hickory, NC 286013. Be sure that we receive your books as early as possible but no later than January 31, 2015. 4. Winning selections will be featured in the next edition of the Nonfiction Honor List, an annotated bibliography in the August 2015

issue of VOYA. 5. Refer procedural questions to VOYA Editor in Chief, RoseMary Honnold at rhonnold@voyamagazine.com.NOTE: Books submitted for the Honor List are not automatically reviewed in VOYA. Please send review copies to Lisa Kurdyla, Review

Editor, 16211 Oxford Ct., Bowie, MD 20715.

Reminder: See our February 2014 issue or our website at http://www.voyamagazine.com for how to nominate your fiction titles for our annual Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers list.

VOYA booklists are reproducible without permission for library, classroom, and workshop use. Reprinting in any medium for sale by a commercial or nonprofit entity or posting on the Internet requires written permission from the publisher.

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Lewis, J. Patrick. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. Chronicle, 2013. 44p. $16.99. 978-1-4521-0119-4.

A poet’s survey of freedom fighters in North America, South Africa, Burma, India, Japan, Thailand, and Bagladesh, Lewis’s collection informs children of the heroism of seventeen activists. The book does not shrink from cruel assaults and murders. The text and drawings by artists Meilo So, R. Gregory Christie, Jim Burke, John Parra, and Tonya Engel extol Aung San Suu Kyi, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Jackie Robinson, Nelson Mandela, Dennis Banks, Michael Schwerner, Mohandas Gandhi, Harvey Milk, Sylvia Mendez, Mitsuye Endo, Mamie Carthan Till, Helen Zia, Josh Gibson, and Muhammad Yunus and their risks on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised.

Martin, Iain C. Gettysburg: The True Account of Two Young Heroes in the Greatest Battle of the Civil War. Sky Pony, 2013. 208p. $16.95. 978-1-62087-532-2. Photos. Portraits. Appendices. Glossary. Biblio. Index. Maps.

A fact-rich history issued on the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg’s decisive battle, this account incorporates military organization, ranks, and types of artillery alongside day-by-day combat at Cemetery Ridge and during Pickett’s Charge. Eyewitness accounts by Tillie Pierce and Daniel Skelly remind readers that teenagers were not exempt from a national cataclysm. Commentary on the outfall of so great a clash leads to “The Gettysburg Address,” an epilogue, and a postscript.

Metz, Lauren. The Prom Book: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need. Zest, 2013. 160p. $16.99 Trade pb. 978-1-936976-28-7. Photos.

An unusual young adult work among the other titles on the list, Metz’s manual prepares readers for an enjoyable rite of passage, the school prom. Focusing on female readers, detailed entries based on articles in Seventeen magazine cover budget, attractive

garments and makeup, hairstyles, restaurant manners, after-parties, sleepovers, and couple safety. Key to the book’s appeal are light, witty observations meant to reduce disappointment.

Trumbore, Cindy. Parrots over Puerto Rico. Lee & Low, 2013. 48p. $19.95 Trade pb. 978-1-62014-004-8. Photos. Illus. Chronology.

A burst of Crayola colors on fabric shapes, Trumbore’s illustrations tie the spread of the green and blue parrot over eras of island history and exploration. Trumbore balances the opposing forces of land settlement and the collapse of bird habitat. The salute to conservation efforts highlights how islanders rescued the island’s most colorful bird from extinction and returned its vulnerable winged beauty to stable nesting sites.

Vansant, Wayne. Gettysburg: The Graphic History of America’s Most Famous Battle and the Turning Point of the Civil War. Zenith, 2013. 96p. $19.99. 978-0-7603-4406-4. Maps.

An action-packed segment of U.S. history, Vansant’s graphic storytelling orients young readers to the locales of North and South, and their combat in south central Pennsylvania. Comic-book style sketches present forty-three significant figures as well as surveillance by hot air balloon of the battle’s topography and outcome. Insightful glimpses of cannoneers, horse wranglers, and armorers instruct youth on the types of skilled labor involved in nineteenth-century warfare.

Woodward, John. Smithsonian Geography: A Visual Encyclopedia, DK, 2013. 304p. $29.99. 978-1-4654-1218-8. Photos. Charts. Glossary. Index. Maps.

A superbly organized examination of planet Earth, Woodward’s text moves from the solar system through the shaping of land and water to climate, weather, nature, human population, and continental data. Essential to Woodward’s commentary is the interrelated workings of animal, vegetable, and mineral as humankind advances from primitive lifestyles to walking on the moon. n

NoNfictioN HoNor List 2013 Books Meet tHe foLLowiNg criteria

• Suitable for middle school/junior high readers in grades six through eight• Address curricular needs or personal reading interests• Were published in 2013• Contain some element(s) that raise them above other books on the same topic, such as unique research, creative presentation,

inventive use of photography, or filling a niche at the middle level

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mEEt tHE 2013 SELEctIoN commIttEE mEmBERS

Lisa Neal of Wilmington, Delaware, holds a library science degree from UNC-Asheville and heads youth services at the Patrick Beaver Library. In addition to selection of books, software, and videos for children and YA shelves, she organizes mountain music fests, book parades, bookmark contests, puppetry, and storytelling sessions.

Hannah Owen of Baltimore, Maryland, facilitated the VOYA review of 2013 nonfiction as co-chair. Retired as deputy director and head of youth services of the Patrick Beaver Library in Hickory, North Carolina, she holds a master’s degree in library science from UNC-Greensboro. She chairs a citizen’s book club and volunteers in reference and children’s departments.

Mary Ellen Snodgrass of Hickory, North Carolina, chaired the 2013 VOYA Nonfiction Honor List. A twenty-three-year veteran of teaching high school and university English and Latin, she has written textbooks and reference works for more than thirty-two years. In addition to winning a number of reference books-of–the-year awards from ALA, Choice, and Library Journal, she has reviewed adult and children’s reference for ARBA, Booklist, Choice, Isis, Linworth, and VOYA.

Suzanne White of Newton, North Carolina, director of the Catawba County Library System, oversees the growth of regional libraries with an annual budget of $2,264,000. Current projects include a new facility at Sherrills Ford, the Hoopla digital service for music and films, and a youth services community vegetable garden.

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