New non-fiction

As librarians, we are always reviewing and looking for non-fiction selections which will be of interest to students and teachers so I was thrilled this past week when I was asked about two new books I have been reading. In one case, a teacher spied the pre-publication copy of Truth or Truthiness on my desk. She, like me, was drawn to the subtitle, “Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist,” for this book written by Howard Wainer. Packed with charts, graphs and data tables, this relatively skinny book examines the line between reason/evidence and belief/faith. It is probably too technical statistically for most students, but all could benefit from the basic idea of asking, “What evidence do you have to support it?” whenever a claim is made.     

Secondly, I have several students who are working on Junior Theme and are interested in learning more about Autism.  We talked this week about the newly released In a Different Key by John Donvan and Caren Zucker. At 688 pages, this is a complex and thorough history of autism, with numerous case studies since the 1930’s, a timeline, and extensive notes and bibliography. Several chapters deal with controversies (“refrigerator mothers,” MMR vaccination) often linked with autism as well as inspiring stories of patients, parents, and physicians.

For more on this book, there is a January 25th New Yorker article, “Seeing the Spectrum” and  pbs NewsHour interview with the authors:

In a Different Key received a starred review from Kirkus.