Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
I greatly enjoyed the compact On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (reviewed here), which gave a brief look at twenty ways tyranny begins to appear in government. So, I was hoping for something similar in Timothy Snyder‘s On Freedom (published 2025). He gave a nice explanation of what freedom means and entails, but it was not
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic Code by Walter Isaacson (with Sarah Durand; published 2022) is the bestseller nonfiction adapted for young readers. It details the life and work of one of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners, a woman who managed to learn to edit genes at the
Outside In by Deborah Underwood (illustrated by Cindy Derby, 2020) is a lusciously illustrated picture book that captures the beauty of nature by observing how it comes into our modern lives. The illustrations stand out to me, as they are created with watercolor, graphite, and dried flower stems in ink. I love the combination of
Talk about meta! The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (published 2022) is a novel written as if a writer (Hannah) is writing a novel about a writer (Winifred) writing a novel. While Winifred, or Freddie as she known, is writing her novel, she must solve a real mystery of her own about a
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! Yes, I’m writing about Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (published 2021). I read it in 2022 shortly after it came out, and I desperately wish I’d reviewed it before the movie came out, so I could give you my movie-free perspective. After I watched the movie, I did listen to it
Middle grade novel Big Tree by Brian Selznick (published 2023) tells the story of two sycamore tree seeds (Merwin and Louise) using a mix of illustration and text. In their journey from seed to tree, they encounter dangers as well as other creatures, including a butterfly, small microscopic creatures in a seashell, a seaweed, ferns,
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal (published 2024, Random House) is a sweeping overview of some of the many nations of Native Americans throughout history. It begins by looking at the societies that thrived long before European contact and continues looking at major nations through to today. It is a comprehensive
In The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency, David M. Rubenstein documents his number of interviews with historians, writers, and presidents themselves as they discuss what the presidency means to the presidents of the United States of America. When Rubenstein interviews an historian, it is one who has studied the particular president at length.
The middle grade novel Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac (published 2021) tells the legend of the mysterious man who, with Hiawatha, spread peace throughout the Iroquoian nations many hundreds of years ago. Prior to his coming, the various Iroquois people violent raided and kidnapped each other. In the novel, young Okwaho faces the reality of his
Maizy faces a lot of new things during her summer in Last Chance, Minnesota, in the middle grade novel Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee (published 2022). It’s hard to pinpoint just what her most influential learning moments are. Almost-twelve-year-old Maizy goes with her mom to help her grandfather during his illness, and she
The first-person poetic middle grade novella All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson (published 2025) captures the essence of grief in the aftermath of the sudden death of a friend. Thirteen-year-old Sage learns to deal with the pain of losing her friend as well as dealing with guilt as she meets with a
Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-Up by Ha Dinh (Zonderkidz, 2025) is the first in the early chapter book Ly-Lan Finds a Way series, which features a spunky third grader who has a strong sense of right and wrong. Our main character faces ordinary kid challenges and seeks solutions through a Christian perspective. In this
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