SJPL Picks: Award-Winning YA NonfictionLike this list

50 items

• Accountable

  the True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

  Slater, Dashka,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2024 Winner. When a high school student started a private Instagram account using racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as edgy humor. Once everyone found out, no one…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• America Redux

  Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History

  Aberg-Riger, Ariel,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2024 Finalist. America Redux explores the themes that create our shared sense of American identity and interrogates the myths we’ve been telling ourselves for centuries. With iconic American…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Family Style

  Memories of An American From Vietnam

  Pham, Thien,

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  Also available as an eBook. 2024 Finalist. A moving young adult graphic memoir about a Vietnamese immigrant boy's search for belonging in America, perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and The Best We Could Do!

• From Here

  a Memoir

  Mufleh, Luma,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2024 Finalist. In her coming-of-age memoir, refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee.

• Nearer My Freedom

  the Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself

  Edinger, Monica, 1952-

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2024 Finalist. Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Victory. Stand!

  Raising My Fist for Justice

  Smith, Tommie, 1944-

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  Available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2023 Winner. In this stunningly illustrated graphic memoir, 1968 Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith recounts how his love of running and his passion for activism resulted in one of the most enduring…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Abuela, Don't Forget Me

  Ogle, Rex,

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  Also available as an eAudiobook. 2023 Finalist. Touching on topics including domestic abuse, homelessness, racism, homophobia, and poverty, Ogle demonstrates how the unconditional love of his Abuela saved his life. Ogle’s powerful and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• American Murderer

  the Parasite That Haunted the South

  Jarrow, Gail,

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  Also available as an eBook, eAudiobook, and Spoken Word CD. 2023 Finalist. Jarrow takes a close look at hookworm, the parasitic scourge that sickened and killed millions of Americans at the turn of the 20th century. Primary sources and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Face for Picasso

  Coming of Age With Crouzon Syndrome

  Henley, Ariel, 1991-

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  Also available as an eBook. 2023 Finalist. Ariel Henley, diagnosed with Crouzon syndrome shortly after birth, details the many grueling surgeries she faced with her twin sister and her tumultuous feelings toward the art of Pablo Picasso.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Unequal

  a Story of America

  Dyson, Michael Eric,

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  Also available as eBook and eAudiobook. 2023 Finalist. Dedicated to revealing the history of systemic racial inequality and segregation in the United States, Dyson and Favreau connect important historical events to the current day.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ambushed!

  the Assassination Plot Against President Garfield

  Jarrow, Gail,

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  Also available as an eBook. 2022 Winner. An intricately detailed narrative of the assassination of President Garfield, Jarrow uses historical documents, newspaper accounts, and diary entries to create an engaging chronology of events as…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Birds in the Sky

  the Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

  Colbert, Brandy,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2022 Finalist. Colbert contextualizes the Tulsa Race Massacre which had its hundredth year anniversary this year to commemorate the harrowing events using her skillful writing for teen audiences.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry

  the Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement

  Yoo, Paula,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2022 Finalist. Yoo weaves an emotional story within a story of a movement that began after the death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American at the hands of two white men. The book follows the chain…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers

  the Second, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years After the 9/11 Attacks

  Brown, Don, 1949-

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  Also available as an eBook. 2022 Finalist. For a new generation living in a post-9/11 era, Brown writes and illustrates the events of the terrorist attack immediately after not only at Ground Zero but the country and military operations…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Woman All Spies Fear

  Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life

  Greenfield, Amy Butler, 1968-

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2022 Finalist. With her work buried and credit given to others, female codebreaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman’s life and accomplishments are given prime coverage. The book celebrates her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh

  Fleming, Candace,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2021 Winner. Charles Lindberg is one of the most complicated icons in American history. Celebrated aviator, dogged scientist, heartbroken father, Nazi sympathizer, unapologetic eugenicist,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• All Thirteen

  the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team

  Soontornvat, Christina,

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  Also available as an eBook and Spoke Word CD. 2021 Finalist. On June 23, 2018, twelve young soccer players and their coach became trapped by flood waters in a northern Thailand cave. Clear maps, diagrams, photography and first hand…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Cat I Never Named

  a True Story of Love, War, and Survival

  Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. 2021 Finalist. In 1992 Amra's life is forever changed when Serbian troops seize her hometown of Bihać, Bosnia. Her family and other Muslims face hate, violence, and unimaginable horrors of war. A…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How We Got to the Moon

  the People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity's Greatest Adventure

  Rocco, John,

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  Also available as an eBook. 2021 Finalist. This extensively researched and illustrated account demonstrates the magnitude of ingenuity and creativity involved in the years' long effort to reach the moon. John Rocco's exquisite…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• You Call This Democracy?

  How to Fix Our Government and Return Power to the People

  Rusch, Elizabeth,

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  2021 Finalist. From gerrymandering and the electoral college to voter suppression and unequal representation, Elizbeth Rusch breaks down some of the most important problems facing our country's representative democracy. This nonpartisan…Read moreRead more of this annotation