Nonfiction – Marked for Plot

The Gales of November: Great Lakes History

I’ve done more nonfiction reading than I can remember in a long time. I probably wouldn’t have picked up The Gales of November if it weren’t for my in-person book club. Naval history isn’t really my thing, and the sinking of a single ship on Lake Superior isn’t a terribly interesting subject.

However, my partner informed me that it is impossible to truly be a Minnesotan without knowing the story (and song) of the Edmund Fitzgerald. After 14 years, I can finally call myself a true lake country boy, I suppose. While I have very little nonfiction experience to compare this to, my gut is that it’ll be an enjoyable read for the layperson interested in boats or the Great Lakes.

Insectopolis – Bad for Entomophobes, Good for Fun Facts

As I’m continuing to explore the ways that I can use graphic novels in my classroom, I’ve begun taking a look at more and more graphic nonfiction. Insectopolis is kind of odd, as it’s half nonfiction and half post-apocalyptic xenofiction (humans die and it turns out bugs can talk like you or me), with plenty of fun tidbits inside. Lesson learned though, graphic novels are NOT to be read on my cell phone. I’ve got to figure out a better way to e-read comics.

The Premise
Set in an insect exhibit at the New York public library both before and after humans have died off the face of the earth, this book pops from topic to topic in the insect world. It touches on biology, ecology, and biographies of human naturalists as it takes you on a tour of the bug world.

Read If Looking For: a survey of the insect world, notes on how bugs have affected the course of human history, ants that complain a lot

Avoid If Looking For: a rigorous examination of any particular insect or event, anatomical diagrams of bugs, nonfiction without frills or fluff

Comparable Media: Magic School Bus, the educational movie you watched when your science teacher was sick

Sea of Grass – A Foray into Nonfiction

The prairies of the American Midwest and West have always been special to me. I grew up in a rural farming community in Kansas, a place where thunderstorms and tornadoes were both pedestrian and awe-inspiring. Much of the land I grew up on gets a bad reputation for being flat, but nothing makes you feel smaller than sitting in a vast ocean of corn staring up at the night sky. Living further north (and in a major city), I miss the stars, the silence, and the swaths of empty space from the prairie.

Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie is a deep exploration. It begins by tracing the history of the prairie at a large scale: from its importance to indigenous communities to the current cash crop craze of corn and soybeans. Following that, it devotes time to specific topics: insects, soil, nitrogen, bison, etc. It shifts between testimonials, scientific research, and case studies as it makes its case for the ecological and societal importance of the great American prairies.