Nonfiction

The Young Adult Library Services Association announced the finalists for the Morris Award for a YA title by a previously unpublished author and the Excellence in Nonfiction Award for nonfiction YA books for ages 12 to 18.

NCTE has announced Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools by Dan SaSuWeh Jones and The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, illus. by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, as the 2025 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck award winners, respectively. 

With these titles, young readers can see some of the many different ways people celebrate Christmas around the world.

The blossoming ranks of stellar biographies for young readers continue to crowd the shelves. Japanese athletes hit their summits in two vastly different ways, an author attempts to right the record on Rosalind Franklin, and a forgotten sports hero at last gets his due. And that's just the start of the Best Books in the category of nonfiction for the elementary grades. Come have a look.

SLJ's 2024 best middle and high school nonfiction selections run the gamut from insightful memoir; thoughtful explorations of cultural, biological, and environmental phenomena; to unrelenting exposures of dark times in our world's sociopolitical history—and the crucial lessons we must learn from the past.

The best poems educate with their facts and inspire with their beautiful flow of words. These 11 titles contain poems that do both exceptionally for young readers of all ages. 

SLJ will reveal the 193 titles selected for this year's Best Books list starting November 19 and culminating November 25 with a live webcast.

This roundup of 2024 books centering Native American stories offers something for every reader to enjoy this November and all year long.

In these recent releases, text and visuals complement each other to explain complicated concepts such as historical battles and biological cycles.