5KN: Narrative Nonfiction

Ariana Grande always wanted to be a star. After honing her voice in community theater, Grande landed her first big role in a Broadway musical. On the Nickelodeon show Victorious, her dream of Read More →

A mighty river. A long history. For thousands of years, the Elwha river flowed north to the sea. The river churned with salmon, which helped feed bears, otters, and eagles. The Lower Elwha… Read More →

Told for the first time in picture book form is the true story of James Lafayette—an enslaved person who spied for George Washington's army during the American Revolution. After his… Read More →

Have you ever dreamed of going to outer space? When Sally Ride was a little girl, she watched on TV as astronaut John Glenn launched into space. Twenty years later, she became the first… Read More →

¿Alguna vez soñaste con ir al espacio exterior? Cuando Sally Ride era una niña, vio en la televisión cuando el astronauta John Glenn se lanzó al espacio. Veinte años más tarde, se convirtió… Read More →

When Ellen Ochoa was young, male American astronauts walked on the moon. But girls were not allowed to be astronauts. Girls didn't often study science either—but Ochoa didn't let that stop… Read More →

While watching Star Trek on television as a child, Mae Jemison was certain she would one day visit space. As an adult, she made this dream a reality when she became the first black female… Read More →

Have you ever stared into the night sky, full of stars and planets? As a kid, Neil deGrasse Tyson was star-struck when he first visited a planetarium. The universe was calling him. Tyson… Read More →

As a successful former slave, Clara Brown used her money to help other freed slaves get a new start in life. In 1859 Clara bought her own freedom and headed west to Colorado to find her… Read More →

Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina, was a physician and philosopher in an era known as the Islamic Golden Age. When he was not working as a healer in the courts of different rulers, he… Read More →

Babe Didrikson was running and jumping hedges at the age of eight. Her dedication to training and practicing resulted in her becoming one of the greatest woman athletes of the century.… Read More →

Babe Didrikson Zaharias not only broke records—she took athletics by storm, winning two Olympic gold medals for track and field before turning to professional golf. Witness more exciting… Read More →

From the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth's epic rise to the Baseball Hall of Fame is one many people have heard about. Dive deeper into his career-defining moments in this… Read More →

Coretta Scott King Author Award Read about the fascinating life of Bass Reeves, who escaped slavery to become the first African American Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi. Sitting… Read More →

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is a Heisman Trophy winner and the 2018 first overall draft pick. As a rookie, he proved himself with an amazing comeback in his first National… Read More →

Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. As a young woman… Read More →

Anne Frank’s diary is a gift to the world because of Miep Gies. One of the protectors of the Frank family, Miep recovered the diary after the family was discovered by Nazis, and then… Read More →

He was popular with his troops. And he was such a good soldier that Benedict Arnold became a major general in the Colonial Army. So how did a Revolutionary hero become known as one of the… Read More →

Gazing up at the stars, Benjamin Banneker longed to understand how and why things worked as they did. In a time when most black Americans were slaves, Banneker lived a life of freedom and… Read More →

High in the sky, Bessie Coleman could soar like a bird. She was free—at least until she landed. As a black woman in the 1920s, she wasn't allowed to learn how to fly. Forced to travel to… Read More →

Meet the Tres Hermanas: Evelina Antonetty, Lillian López, and Elba Cabrera. They moved from Puerto Rico to New York City as children and grew up to become leaders in their Bronx community.… Read More →