Young Adult Nonfiction

You’ve heard of the space race, but do you know the whole story? The most ambitious race humankind has ever undertaken was masterminded in the shadows by two engineers on opposite sides of the Cold War - Wernher von Braun, a former Nazi officer living in the US, and Sergei Korolev, a Russian rocket designer once jailed for crimes against his country - and your textbooks probably never told you. From Amy Cherrix comes the extraordinary hidden story of the space race and the bitter rivalry that launched humankind to the moon.

Imagine having everything taken away from you - permanently - with no hope of resuming a normal life. This is the case for many teenagers in America who are tried and convicted as adults for the crime of murder. Here Susan Kuklin takes you behind bars for frank interviews with a collection of young men who will spend the better part of their lives in jail. She lets them speak for themselves, providing the raw details of their incarceration and the anger, despair, and surprising hope they experience every day. Kuklin also provides an in-depth look at the American penal system, highlighting its many intricacies and inequities while focusing on capital cases involving juveniles.

America is a nation of immigrants. People have come to the United States from around the world seeking a better life and more opportunities, and our country would not be what it is today without their contributions. From writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, to scientists like Albert Einstein, to innovators like Elon Musk, this book honors the immigrants who have changed the way we think, eat, and live. Their stories serve as powerful reminders of the progress we've made, and the work that is still left to be done.

Wrongful intolerance has existed in American society for more than four centuries. Us and Them illuminates the shadowy corners of our national past and traces the country’s continuing efforts to measure up to its lofty ideals. Through 14 dramatic narratives, listeners witness epic struggles that shaped our collective identity. These and eight other forgotten incidents of history come to life in clear and vibrant prose.

Ellen thinks she has everything she wants. Her summer program couldn't be better. She's half in love with Harrison Shaw, and she's going after her next scholarship. But when she kisses Harrison, she can only remember how Cam Campbell used kiss her better, sweeter, and how he used to make her feel like she could fly....

Los Balbuena acaban de aterrizar en una expedición vikinga rumbo al norte más allá del norte. Es el año 850, hielo, fuego y guerreros despiadados les reciben. La aventura acaba de empezar y los vikingos no se andan con tonterías.

These are no longer the happy days for kids in America. School shootings, drugs and alcohol, and premature promiscuous sex are only symptoms of a toxic culture run rampant. Let's face the fact that the Disney song "It's a Small World After All" no longer hold true. It is a big world and a dangerous world for kids growing up today. Raising Teens in a Toxic World is a guidebook to help parents navigate their way through the passage we call adolescence. Its goal is not to tell parents what to think. Its goal is to get them to think...to parent consciously...and confidently.

Jiordan's family was never quite like everyone else's, with her father's mood swings, her mother's attempts at normalcy, and her two older sisters with a different last name. But on the surface, they fit in. Until the day the FBI came knocking on the door. After that, her father's mood plunged to a dangerous new low. After that, there was an investigation into his business and a sentencing in court. Soon Jiordan's father would have to leave home, and her family would change forever.

Whether it's getting better grades, creating better relationships with your friends, parents, or teachers, getting a car, getting into the college that's right for you, getting a date for the prom, or finding your dream job, the Law of Attraction works! Like attracts like - when we align our goals with our best intentions and highest purpose, we can more easily have a better, brighter life.

In this Lean In-style inspirational memoir, 12-year-old Jesselyn Silva offers a ringside seat to girl power and what it takes to win in the ring and in life: punch by punch. My Corner of the Ring shows kids what it means to be true to yourself and stick with your dreams even when facing adversity and ridicule. Supported by her single dad, Jesselyn (JessZilla in the ring) first donned her boxing gloves at seven years of age, making her one of very few female boxers in the country.

Twenty essays on Irish women, historical and contemporary, who have defied cultural norms around femininity and achieved great things. The subjects include Irish women from Queen Medb to Eileen Gray, from Constance Markievicz to Sonia O’Sullivan, covering stateswomen, artists, writers, activists and rebels of all kinds. Written by multi-award-winning author and first Laureate na nÓg (Irish Children’s Laureate) Siobhán Parkinson. Perfect for use in schools as well as for leisure listening, this collection celebrates the role of women in Ireland’s changing society.

After rising to national fame as the general who defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson ran for president as a political outsider, championing the interest of common farmers and frontiersmen. Determined to take down the wealthy, well-educated East Coast elites, he pledged to destroy the national bank, which he believed was an engine of corruption serving the interest of bankers and industrialists. A staunch nationalist, he sought to secure and expand the nation's borders.

Bess Cunningham has never been popular, and she plans to do something about it. She's got a fresh style, with plenty of unique clothes, and she's the new stage manager for the musical at her middle school. She couldn't care less about the volunteer work her parents do at a soup kitchen until she meets Grace Jarvis Battle. The kind, elderly woman reminds Bess of her grandmothers except for one significant difference - Grace lives on the street and finds food in dumpsters.

Did you know that state universities in Virginia turned away more than 20,00 women in the early 1960s, but not a single man was denied admission? In the 1970s, the University of Georgia men's golf team got all the golf balls they needed, while the women's team was allowed only one per round. Here listeners are treated to the origins of the historic Title IX legislation that, among other things, mandated that equal funds must be available to boys' and girls' activities and interests.

At the age of 14, Francisco Jiménez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for 20 hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice.

Dovey Johnson Roundtree was most famous for her successful defense of an indigent Black man accused of the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer, a prominent White Washington, DC, socialite, in 1965. Despite her triumph in this high-profile case, Roundtree continued to represent the poor and the underserved. She was the first lawyer to bring a bus-desegregation case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, clinching the ruling that enabled Robert F. Kennedy to enforce bus integration. She was also among the first Black women to enter the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. The factory was crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stayed inside. One hundred forty-six people - mostly women - perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history, until September 11, 2001. But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life.

Cuba, años 70. Rosa cría a su hijo Sonny a escondidas en una casa de Placetas, convencida de ser la esposa de Dios y de que Su regreso al mundo de los hombres se encuentra próximo. El ingreso hospitalario de la mujer, obliga a Sonny a salir de casa, provocando una notable conmoción entre sus vecinos. El muchacho no comprende nada. Por primera vez a sus dieciséis años de vida, se encuentra solo y desamparado, expuesto a la crudeza de un mundo que empieza ahora a mostrarse ante sus ojos en toda su plenitud.

The world’s teenagers have never been so challenged as they are today. The constant demands of parents, school, work, peers, social media, athletics, music, etc. has created a generation who, while tremendously capable, are also tremendously stressed. Today’s teens are expected to not only do it all but to do it now. Having personally coached thousands of students over his years as an educator and a professional performance coach, Dr. Bernstein understands and connects with today’s young adults.

A few months ago, Dan had to make a choice. Go to Geneva with his parents for a year, board at school, or move into a house with his 22-year-old bass-playing aunt, Jacq, and her friend, Naomi. He picked Jacq's place.

Now he's doing his last year at school and trying not to spin out, trying to master calculus, and trying to pick up a few skills for surviving in the adult world. Problem is, he falls for Naomi, and things become much more confusing.