The Award for Excellence in Nonfiction is awarded each year to the best nonfiction book published for young adults ages 12-18 in 2013.
The winner this year is Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin.
In this suspenseful combination of science and history, Sheinkin masterfully exposes the international race to develop an atomic weapon and bring an end to World War II. This true-life spy thriller features an international cast of characters and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Period photographs of key players and an abundance of primary sources bring this well-researched story to life. Sheinkin gives readers insight into what happened with all of the major players after the end of the war. A thought-provoking epilogue on the long term implications of atomic weaponry reminds readers that the results of scientific inquiry have long term implications for everyone.
There were four finalists for the award:
1. Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal
2. Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose
3. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
4. We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson
Click here to read my original post and find out more information about the finalists.