Incredible True Stories

Note: Titles marked with an * may include mature content and are recommended for older teens.

*A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bryson, Bill
Determined to walk the 2000 mile Appalachian Trail, two ill-prepared men set out on an adventure in the wilderness. This often hilarious account of their ineptitude will delight anybody with a passion for the Great Outdoors.

Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
by Capuzzo, Mike
Details the first documented cases in American history of sharks attacking swimmers, which occurred along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey in 1916.

Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
by Crowe, Chris
A true account of the murder of Emmett Till, the fourteen year old murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after whistling at a white woman, and the events that followed.

Laika
by Abadzis, Nick
The moving story of the first dog in space, told in comic book format. Laika chronicles the race between the US and the Soviet Union to beat the other into outer space.

Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color
by Alexander, Elizabeth
Poets Elizabeth Alexander and Marylin Nelson tell the story of Prudence Crandall's school for African American girls opened in 1833.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science
by Fleischman, John
Railroad worker Phineas Gage amazingly survived when an iron rod was driven through his skull. Gage lived for ten years after his accident, though his personality was drastically altered, his accident made an important impact on brain science.

September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City
by Hampton, Wilborn
Describes the September 11 attacks in the United States and presents several personal stories of the tragedy told by New Yorkers who lived through the collapse of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon.

*Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of The Mount Everest Disaster
by Krakauer, John
Krakauer was a journalist investigating the safety of amateur mountain climbing expeditions atop Mt. Everest when his climbing party was trapped in a deadly blizzard. This is his account of the events that took place during his fateful climb.

Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party
by Lavendar, David Sievert
This book reveals the tragic story of a group of pioneers and their journey from Illinois to California in 1846.

Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of a the Whaleship Essex
by Philbrick, Nathaniel
Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship "Essex" by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds.

*Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Ralston, Aron
Ralston spent six days in the wilderness with his arm pinned under a boulder after a hiking mishap. Faced with the possibility of death, he commits the most extreme act possible and it ultimately saves his life.

*The Burn Journals
by Runyon, Brent
Brent Runyon was fourteen years old when he set himself on fire. In this book he describes that suicide attempt and his recovery over the following year.

The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and his Backyard Nuclear Reactor
by Silverstein, Ken
Through extensive interviews and investigation, Silverstein tells the true story of a high school boy who built a nuclear reactor in his shed, recklessly endangering his community.

*Touching the Void
by Simpson, Joe
Simon Yates believed his friend Joe Simpson to be dead after he plummeted into a crevasse during a mountain climbing expedition. Despite the crippling fall, Simpson made it back to base camp and was reunited with the grief stricken Yates. This true story of the events of that fateful climb is a testament to the two men's courage and friendship.

The Secret of the Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story
by Taylor, Peter
The account of how three Ukranian Jewish families survived the Holocaust by hiding for 344 days in the 77 miles of caves near their village known as Priest's Grotto.

*Great Train Robberies of the Old West
by Wilson, R. Michael
A collection of true stories detailing how notorious gangs and cold-blooeded murderers pulled off some of the greatest heists of the American Old West.

Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement
by Bausum, Ann
Compares and contrasts the childhoods of John Lewis and James Zwerg, two young men who's journey as freedom riders through the Deep South changed not only their own lives but our nation's history.

*Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
by Bissinger, H.G.
Football is much more than a game in the town of Odessa, TX. The community's intense passion for their local football team is so intense that it can uplift, or shatter, the students who wear the uniforms.

Black and White Airmen: Their True History
by Fleischman, John
John Leahr and Herb Heilbrun become pilots during World War II, but they never met because the army was rigidly segregated--only in the air were black and white American fliers allowed to mix. Fifty years later, they met and discovered their lives had run almost side by side.

*The 9/11 Report : A Graphic Adaptation
by Jacobsen, Sid
The fascinating and terrifying adaptation of the Final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, presented in a comic strip.

The Perfect Storm: A True story of Men Against the Sea
by Junger, Sebastian
Through interviews with survivors, family members, and rescue workers, the author reconstructs the events of the Halloween Gale of 1991 and what it would have been like aboard the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing vessel, as it went down with its crew.

*Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by Kingsolver, Barbara
Author Barbara Kingsolver moves with her husband and two daughters across the country in order to grow their own food and eat only locally grown foods for an entire year.

*Young Men & Fire
by Maclean, Norman
The riveting account of of Norman Maclean's investigation into a 1948 fire that resulted in the deaths of 13 "smoke jumpers" who attempted to contain the flames.

Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis
by Nelson, Peter
Recalls the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis at the end of World War II, the navy cover-up and unfair court martial of the ship's captain, and how a young boy helped the survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later.

Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
by Schlosser, Eric
Take a disturbing and enlightening journey through the growth of the fast food industry and be astonished by what you didn't know!

*Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
by Sullivan, Robert
Author Robert Sullivan went to great lengths to get the real dirt on rats in their natural habitat. After much research and many nights spent and an alley with garbage, Sullivan has compiled his knowledge and observations into this book filled with facts and entertaining stories.

Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement
by Bausum, Ann
Compares and contrasts the childhoods of John Lewis and James Zwerg, two young men who's journey as freedom riders through the Deep South changed not only their own lives but our nation's history.

*They Cage the Animals at Night
by Burch, Jennings Michael
Left at an orphanage in Brooklyn as a child, the author recounts his life in foster care and as a runaway, and his struggle to triumph despite his problems.

Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-experiments in Science and Medicine
by Dendy, Leslie A.
Stories of ten men and women, from the 1770s to the present, who devoted their lives and sometimes risked them, to answer some of the big questions i nscience and medicine.

*Who Killed My Daughter?
by Duncan, Lois
You've read her bestselling novels for teens, now read about her real-life nightmare as Duncan describes her daughter's death and her own investigation into the crime.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Frank, Anne
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, this diary chronicles Anne's days in hiding from the Nazi's. Her undefeatable spirit has inspired countless other teens since the diary's publication.

*Hole in My Life
by Gantos, Jack
The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and a smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college while hoping to become a writer.

Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth
by Giblin, James
Most people know the name John Wilkes Booth, but few likely have heard of his elder brother Edwin. Find out about the brothers through first-hand accounts. Learn how alike and how different they were, and how each made a lasting impression on American history.

The Many Rides of Paul Revere
by Giblin, James
Describes the life of the silversmith who made the historic ride to announce the coming of the British troops to Massachusetts at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

*Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self
by Gottilieb, Lori
This memoir chronicles the author's descent into her weight-loss nightmare. Weighing in at 60 pounds, Lori Gottlieb was hospitalized for anorexia, and so began the long and painful battle to maintain a healthy weight and body image.

I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing up in the Holocaust
by Jackson, Livia Bitton
The author describes her experiences during World War II when she and her family were sent to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Red Scarf Girl: A Memior of the Cultural Revolution
by Jiang, Ji-li
1996, Ji-li Jiang turned 12. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Ji-li is left to face the most difficult choice of her life.

Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium
by McClafferty, Carla Killough
Meet Manya Sklodowska, better known today as Marie Curie, the co-discoverer of radium, and the first women awarded the Nobel Prize for her work on the discovery.

*Bat Boy: My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees
by McGough, Matthew
In the fall of 1991, 16-year-old Matthew McGough asked the general manager of the New York Yankees for a position as a bat boy. He got the job and walked into the madness of the Yankee clubhouse on Opening Day, thus beginning two years of adventures and misadventures.

Bad Boy: A Memoir
by Myers, Walter Dean
As a boy, Myers had a difficult time controlling his temper and was always ready to fight. This book recounts his experiences when he grew up in Harlem in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

This Land Was Made For You and Me: The Life & Songs of Woody Guthrie
by Partridge, Elizabeth
Folksinger, social advocate, and restless wanderer, Guthrie lived an incredible life. Interviews, sketches, song lyrics, and quotes help to paint a picture of the songwriter’s life in this biography that showcases Guthrie’s dark side as well as his open heart.

Weeds In Bloom: The Autobiography of an Ordinary Man
by Peck, Robert Newton
The world of Robert, a farm boy in Vermont during the Depression and future author, is populated by plain country people who "sparkle" despite their hardships.

*A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive
by Pelzer, David J.
In this memoir, Pelzer awakens readers to the horrors of child abuse as he tells his own story of suffering at the hands of an alcoholic mother.

*Persepolis
by Satrapi, Marjane
This graphic memoir chronicles the author’s childhood in Iran during the Islamic revolution. Strong willed, intelligent and opinionated, Satrapi’s ideas and actions often put her in danger.

Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder
by Shivack, Nadia
In this book, the author gives readers a harrowing look inside her battle with anorexia and bulimia through pictures and captions.

*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
by Ung, Loung
Under the leadership of the notorious Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge regime took control of Cambodia in 1975. Ung Loung shares the horrors she endured as she was beaten, starved, forced into labor, and separated from family by death.