These outstanding informational books deserve a standing ovation. Nonfiction is for kids of all ages, so engage your brain. That means you, too, parents and teachers and fellow librarians!
1. Animal Encyclopedia by Dr. Lucy Spelman (National Geographic)
2. Barnum's Bones by Tracey Fern
3. A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
4. Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
5. The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math by Sean Connolly
6. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Reader's Edition by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
7. Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by Audrey Vernick
8. The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks by Barb Rosenstock
9. Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard by Loree Griffin Burns

Starting a new year is always a great time to look back and decide which books of the year were your favorites.  A book on everyone’s must read list is from an Alabama native, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.  A favorite of the teen’s department, it was also named Time Magazine's best book of the year.  While not every book can be an award winner, here are a few books from the last year that we believe are worth reading and