Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 15: Read a YA nonfiction book.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia or The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon - National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature (2021)

I read Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson when this category popped up a few years ago, and it was fascinating, thoughtful, and sensitive, without condescending to the reader. Highly recommended if you’re already interested in classical music and/or Russian history—and even if you’re not!

Either one of these:

Caste

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Would The 57 Bus work?

I will probably also read Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People. Thanks for the rec.

Liza wrote: "Would The 57 Bus work?"

Definitely!

I love YA nonfiction, and I'm really excited to read more for this task. At the top of my list of possibilities for this task are Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America, Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People, The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia, A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama, or maybe a Catherine Reef biography (such as The Brontë Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne or Victoria: Portrait of a Queen or Jane Austen: A Life Revealed). There's so many excellent options to choose from.

I would personally recommend:
-Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Albert Marrin
-Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
-Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin
-They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
-Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
-A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield
-My Body, My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights by Robin Stevenson
-Heroines, Rescuers, Rabbis, Spies: Unsung Women of the Holocaust by Sarah Silberstein Swartz
-Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
-Here We Are by Kelly Jensen
- Don't Call Me Crazy by Kelly Jensen
-Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy by Kelly Jensen (my fave of the three edited by Jensen)
-Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
-I Came As a Stranger: The Underground Railroad by Bryan Prince
-Alive in the Killing Fields: Surviving the Khmer Rouge Genocide by Nawuth Keat and Martha Kendall
-Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
-#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy
Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic

I plan on reading Notes from a Young Black Chef

I found this book I plan to read A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars that I also found on lists for books that went under the radar in 2023 so I'm going to do this as a double-dipper with challenge #21 Read a book that went under the radar in 2023. Looks really interesting!!

I read Socrates: A Life Worth Living I thought it was pretty interesting.

George Johnson – All Boys Aren’t Blue, a controversial collection of essays about being black and gay. A book banned dozens of times across the country.

Aquaria wrote: "George Johnson – All Boys Aren’t Blue, a controversial collection of essays about being black and gay. A book banned dozens of times across the country."

Oh cool, I just got a copy of this so was probably going to read it this year anyway, but hadn't thought of it for this task!

I read “The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia” for this task. Very good, doesn’t go too deep into the lurid details of the executions (fortunately!). Up to date on final disposition of the remains of the family. Really such a horrible tragedy.

I read Very Very Very Dreadful, about the 1918 flu pandemic.

I found 5 that sounded really good, and I'll probably read them all:
Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein (Read, 3 stars, it's written in verse with watercolor illustrations, it handles the more "scandalous" parts of Shelley's life with sensitivity and compassion to all parties.)
Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA (Read, 4 stars, Heos' voice is very engaging and she interweaves the science with discussions of the cases where that science proved pivotal.)
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe (DNF, I got a third of the way through and was just really bored.)
How I Discovered Poetry and
Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World

I’m reading White Fragility (Adapted for Young Adults) and would highly recommend it!

I read Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith for this one and to fill some graphic novels into my challenge.

I read HEY, KIDDO - by Jarrett Krosoczka. It’s a graphic novel about the son of a heroin addict who is raised by his grandparents. Liked it a lot.

I read "The Donner Dinner Party" by Nathan Hale. It was actually incredible to see how well adapted the story was for the age group while being impeccably researched and accurate. I was entertained and moved.

I completed A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars by Hakeem Oluseyi and it was a great read! I also considered it a double-dipper as I read that it was a book that went under the radar for 2023 (Task #21). Would definitely recommend this one of a story of perseverance! I would not likely have picked it up without this challenge, but I have already recommended it to many people outside of the challenge!

I took the suggestion some of you made. I read The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia. I enjoyed it.

I read Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith by gymnast Gabrielle Douglas. Didn't care for it but maybe it would have been appealing to a teen