No textbook? No problem.

As teachers work to supplement their curriculum with non-textbook sources, the library can work as a rich source of information for them. Here are five book that teachers can use as supplementary resources or possibly even replacements for textbooks. 

Bennett, Michael I. and Sarah Bennett. Life Sucks: How to Deal with the Way Life Is, Was, and Always Will Be Unfair. New York: Penguin Workshop, 2019.

These authors, a father and daughter team, offer solutions for managing difficult topics that often don’t have an easy solution.

Found at the Winchester Public Library in the YA nonfiction section.

Each chapter of this not-self-help book deals with a different topic: friendship, school, cultural differences, etc. They all start with a quiz to get readers thinking about how they deal with these topics. The authors give “methods for managing problems when happiness is not an option” and give readers ways to figure out how much they work to do the right thing when “good results and happiness just weren’t possible.” This book could be used in health classes to for lessons on decision making, one of the standards in the comprehensive health strand.

Fleischer, Jeff. Votes of Confidence: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections. 2nd ed. Minneapolis: Zest Books, 2020.

A guide to the complicated US election cycle, including information on recent elections, written specifically for teens.

Found at the Winchester Public Library in the YA nonfiction section.

Topics in this guide include basic government information, the role of political parties, “polls, debates, money, and ballot measures,” and how to get involved with elections and governmental decisions. The books is broken down into digestible sections. There are some photographs and explanations on weird words like “gerrymander.” This book could be used as a supplement in the government elective.

Zimmer, Marc. Solutions for a Cleaner, Greener Planet: Environmental Chemistry. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2019.

Zimmer’s book gives an introduction to environmental chemistry, the study of Earth’s pollutants, from where they come from to the problems they cause to ways to rid our planet of them.

Found at the Winchester Public Library in the YA nonfiction section.

This book is broken into four sections: heavy metals, pesticides, fuel and energy, and nuclear energy. It includes source notes, glossary, bibliography, further information, and an index. There are lots of photos and graphics to enhance learning and subheadings to help navigate the book. This book could definitely be used in an environmental science class and maybe biology.

Ann Bausam. Viral: The Fight against AIDS in America. New York: Viking, 2019.

This book provides information on the history of the AIDS pandemic with a focus on the years 1981-1996 in the US and the politics surrounding HIV, but it also takes on the legacy of the illness both in the US and around the world.

Found at the Winchester Public Library in the YA nonfiction section.

This book contains many pictures, giving an almost pictorial account of the AIDS pandemic. It is in depth without being overwhelming and includes both the emotional toll on the gay community and the political factors affecting how the pandemic progressed. Bausam has an engaging writing style, making the book very readable. This book can be used in both health and history classes.

Currie, Stephen. Sharing Posts: The Spread of Fake News. San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2018.

This book looks at how fake news proliferated and its impact both in the US and the rest of the world.

Found at the Winchester Public Library in the YA nonfiction section.

One nice feature is that this book includes lots of quotes and real-life examples. It goes back to the history of misinformation in the 19th century and yellow journalism but includes examples that students should remember from recent election cycles. The book emphasizes the importance of sources and how even legitimate news sources sometimes make mistakes. There is a whole chapter on how to fight fake news, such as fact checking and the importance of education and critical thinking. This book has many uses including the government elective, history classes, and to help satisfy the news/media literacy standard.