Harry Houdini’s astonishing magic tricks and escape acts enchanted and thrilled audiences the world over. Houdini himself, though, found magic in something more commonplace: books.
Informational
Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
This luminous biography of Jewish activist and anarchist Emma Goldman spotlights her turn-of-the-century activism while highlighting contemporary issues.
Ablaze: The Story of America’s First Female Smokejumper
Deanne Shulman’s childhood love of nature became a passion for fighting wildfires with the U.S. Forest Service when she was an adult. The work was physically and mentally arduous, but Deanne excelled as a member of wildland crews and hotshot crews, working twenty-four-hour days in extreme heat.
My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda
A series of oral reports on animals is delivered by other animals in a fiction/nonfiction hybrid that is equal parts hilarious and informative.
I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive
“[W]hen winter comes / and hunger thrums / and danger hovers overhead—” it’s roosting time for the murder of American crows that narrates this poetic informational picture book.
American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation
A prank blossoms into a nationwide phenomenon in this meticulously researched account of two acclaimed spiritualists. In Hydesville, New York, in 1848, unexplained rapping noises in the Fox family home, interpreted as messages from a murdered peddler buried in the cellar, draw widespread attention. Maggie (14) and Kate (11) are the only ones able to communicate with the spirit.
Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa
“Up and down the crooked spine of the / Andes goes Alberto, playing an epic / game of paka paka con la papa, / potato hide-and-seek.” A delightful picture book about Peruvian scientist Alberto Salas describes his travels around the Andes collecting potatoes.
Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
On a Norwegian island not far from the North Pole, deep inside a mountain, more than 580 million seeds are stored in three temperature-controlled vaults. The seeds originate around the globe and are sent to Svalbard as a backup: “Just in case.” There they are preserved and carefully protected, available to be withdrawn and planted at any time, even centuries from the time of deposit.
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown
Opening with a description of the gruesome scene that confronted U.S. troops after the mass deaths of Jonestown residents in 1978, this account delves into the history of Jim Jones and his cult.
Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured Eleanor Roosevelt’s Heart
In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, Lorena Hickok was a skilled and popular journalist, chronicler of the Depression for the U.S government, and intimate friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. This fascinating biography begins with Hickok’s childhood.