Resource Type: Books: Non-Fiction

Below is a collection of our recommended non-fiction books for readers at middle school level and above. You can find non-fiction illustrated books for children in our Picture Books collection.

Coal Mountain Elementary

Book — Non-fiction. By Mark Nowak. 2009. 190 pages.
An expose of the coal industry using a combination of poetry, images, first person testimonies, and newspaper accounts.
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Book cover of Clint Smith's book of poetry, Counting Descent

Counting Descent

Book — Non-fiction. By Clint Smith. 2016. 84 pages.
A teacher and scholar celebrates Black humanity, and guides readers toward self-reflection through his coming-of-age poems that are political, historical, and deeply personal.
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Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968

Book — Non-fiction. By Stephen Lawson and Charles Payne. 2006. 227 pages.
Introduces and examines the complex story of the modern Civil Rights Movement as it should be taught, providing key background information and analysis for teachers.
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A Disability History of the United States

Book — Non-fiction. By Kim E. Nielsen. 2013.
Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, this is the first book to place the experiences of people with disabilities at the center of the American narrative.
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