Nonfiction Novel: Things to consider
before selecting a text...
1. What am I interested in (sports, fashion,
travel, murder, etc.)?
2. Book reviews in newspapers and magazines
3. Ask others for recommendations
4. Use the library’s search engines
5. Research- utilize the Google machine!
Some Suggestions…
If you are interested in sports….
Billy Beane ,general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany:
Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane
must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces
with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand , Beane prepares to challenge oldschool traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have
labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential.
If you are interested in crime/murder cases/etc…
Celebrated writer and contrarian Bill James has voraciously read true crime
throughout his life and has been interested in writing a book on the topic for
decades. Now, with Popular Crime, James takes readers on an epic journey
from Lizzie Borden to the Lindbergh baby, from the Black Dahlia to O. J.
Simpson, explaining how crimes have been committed, investigated,
prosecuted and written about, and how that has profoundly influenced our
culture over the last few centuries— even if we haven’t always taken notice.
If you are interested in comedy…
Kohen’s lively oral history traces female comedians in America during the last six decades,
showing how women doggedly fought their way into what was considered a male arena and
thrived. The chronicle begins with the late, great Phyllis Diller, whom Kohen interviewed before
her death, in August. Diller turned her own life into comedy, offering up joke after joke about
being housewife to a loutish husband. While Diller mastered rapid-fire stand-up, Joan Rivers got
her start lamenting her single status, and Lily Tomlin created eccentric characters. When Saturday
Night Live came on the scene in 1975, Gilda Radner’s caricatures of public figures and original
creations made an impression. Men largely dominated the show until the mid–1990s, when
Molly Shannon’s hyperactive Catholic teen, Mary-Catherine Gallagher, became a sensation,
paving the way for funny ladies Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig to make it
big in the next decade. Filled with recollections from comedians, comedy-club owners, and
writers, this remarkable oral history is a must-read for entertainment buffs.
If you are interested in self-help…
The Secret is a self-help book about the power of positive thinking by Rhonda
Byrne. The book is based on a pseudo-scientific theory called the “law of
attraction” – the principle that “like attracts like.” Specifically, Byrne focuses
on the idea that your dreams do in fact come true – thinking about money
and wealth will attract these very things, causing them to manifest in your
life.
If you are interested in traveling/hiking/etc…
A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke
down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's
death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with
nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest
Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it
alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea,
vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life
that had come undone.
If you like intensity/action/blood and gore…
While exploring a remote canyon in Utah, mountaineer and adventurer Aron Ralston
(becomes trapped when a boulder falls on his arm. Over the next five days, Ralston
examines his life and considers his options, leading him to an agonizing choice: to
amputate his arm so that he can extricate himself and try to make his way back to
civilization or remain pinned to the canyon wall and likely die.
If you are interested in travel, romance, spirituality, and culture…
Liz Gilbert thought she had everything she wanted in life: a home, a husband
and a successful career. Now newly divorced and facing a turning point, she
finds that she is confused about what is important to her. Daring to step out
of her comfort zone, Liz embarks on a quest of self-discovery that takes her to
Italy, India and Bali.
Remember…
These books must be parent approved, even if
they are from my recommended list! Many of
them contain adult content/language. You, and
your parents, must decide if your choice is
appropriate for YOU. Before beginning your text,
I have to receive a note from your parent giving
permission for you to read the novel. Students
who fail to bring note will read an assigned novel
provided by Mrs. Travieso.
Do NOT begin reading the novel until we return
from Spring Break!