Trending YA Non-Fiction Books
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Released: January 2011)
Author(s): Yuval Noah Harari
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.22 (1040 Ratings, 110 Reviews)
Pages: 443
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, History, Science, Psychology, Comics & Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Historical, General, Comics
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Released: January 2006)
Author(s): Michael Pollan
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.10 (210 Ratings, 20 Reviews)
Pages: 480
Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. Will it be fast food tonight, or something organic? Or perhaps something we grew ourselves? The question of what to have for dinner has confronted us since man discovered fire. But as Michael Pollan explains in this revolutionary book, how we answer it now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may determine or survival as a species. Packed with profound surprises, The Omnivore's Dilemma is changing the way Americans think about the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating. --back cover
Genre(s): Young Adult, Nonfiction, History, Evolution (Biology), Food habits
A People's History of the United States (Released: January 1980)
Author(s): Howard Zinn, Kathy Emery, Ellen Gordon Reeves
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.23 (164 Ratings, 12 Reviews)
Pages: 642
Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, *A People's History of the United States* is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers.
Genre(s): History, Classics, Young Adult, General, Nonfiction, War
Understanding Comics (Released: January 1993)
Author(s): Scott McCloud
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.29 (172 Ratings, 17 Reviews)
Pages: 215
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Comics, Classics, Young Adult, History
Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Released: January 2003)
Author(s): Lynne Truss
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.82 (118 Ratings, 8 Reviews)
Pages: 209
Anxious about the apostrophe? Confused by the comma? Stumped by the semicolon? Join Lynne Truss on a hilarious tour through the rules of punctuation that is sure to sort the dashes from the hyphens. We all had the basic rules of punctuation drilled into us at school, but punctuation pedants have good reason to suspect they never sank in. ‘Its Summer!’ screams a sign that sets our teeth on edge. ‘Pansy’s ready’, we learn to our considerable interest (‘Is she?’) as we browse among the bedding plants. It is not only the rules of punctuation that have come under attack but also a sense of why they matter. In this runaway bestseller, Lynne Truss takes the fight to emoticons and greengrocers’ apostrophes with a war cry of ‘Sticklers unite!’ ([source][1]) [1]: https://www.lynnetruss.com/books/eats-shoots-leaves/
Genre(s): Young Adult, Nonfiction, Humor, Language Arts & Disciplines, informative
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography (Released: December 1996)
Author(s): Simon Singh
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.20 (82 Ratings, 13 Reviews)
Pages: 434
In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy. Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it. It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is.
Genre(s): Young Adult, History, Nonfiction, War, Juvenile Nonfiction, Ciphers, Coding theory, Cryptography
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (Released: January 1991)
Author(s): Bill Bryson
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.62 (88 Ratings, 6 Reviews)
Pages: 320
The adventures of the farmer Festus and his intrepid cat, this time with a rooster.
Genre(s): Adventure, Humor, Travel, Europe
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (Released: January 2010)
Author(s): Sam Kean
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.94 (76 Ratings, 12 Reviews)
Pages: 391
Explores intriguing tales about every element of the periodic table, sharing their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, evil, love, the arts, and the lives of the colorful scientists who discovered them.
Genre(s): Science, Nonfiction, History, Young Adult, Juvenile Nonfiction, Chemical elements, Friendship, Fiction
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (Released: April 2001)
Author(s): Peter Frankopan
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.23 (65 Ratings, 8 Reviews)
Pages: 656
From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. Frankopan teaches us that to understand what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, we must first understand their astounding pasts. Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century—this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.
Genre(s): History, Young Adult, Nonfiction, War