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Narrative Nonfiction Book of the Year Archive

Surrey Schools
Narrative Nonfiction Book of the Year
Winners and Nominees
2018 - 2025

2025 - Winner to be announced June 2025
Nominees:
  • Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior by Carole Lindstrom
  • Black Beach by Shaunna and John Stith
  • A Dupatta Is... by Marzieh Abbas
  • How to Eat in Space by Helen Taylor
  • Jumper by Jessica Lanan
  • Kaboom! A Volcano Erupts by Jessica Kulekjian
  • Lion on the Inside by Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir
  • Nobody Likes Frogs by Barbara Davis-Pyles
  • What a Map Can Do by Gabrielle Balkan
  • Wombats Are Pretty Weird by Abi Cushman
2024 - Pizza! A Slice Of History By Greg Pizzoli
Nominees:
  • Blood! Not Just A Vampire Drink By Stacy Mcanulty
  • Fastest Woman On Earth: The Story Of Tatyana Mcfadden By Francesca Cavallo
  • Good Eating: The Short Life Of Krill By Matt Lilley
  • Luminous: Living Things That Light Up The Night By Julia Kuo
  • Journey Of The Midnight Sun By Shazia Afzal
  • Listen To The Language Of Trees By Tera Kelley
  • Pizza! A Slice Of History By Greg Pizzoli
  • The Secret Pocket By Peggy Janicki
  • When The Sky Glows By Nell Cross Beckerman
  • The Yawn Book By Diana Kim

2023 - The Elephant's New Shoe by Laurel Neme
Nominees:

  • Butterflies are Pretty Gross by Rosemary Mosco
  • Crossings: Extraordinary structures / Extraordinary Animals by Katy Duffield
  • Drop: An Adventure Through the Water Cycle by Emily Kate Moon
  • How to Build an Insect by Roberts Gibson
  • I am Not a Penguin by Liz Wong
  • I'm Trying to Love Rocks by Bethany Barton
  • Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 bites by Jamie Michalak
  • Secret Code Inside You: All about your DNA by Rajani LaRocca
  • Summertime Sleepers by Melissa Stewart

2022 - The Spirit of Springer: the real life rescue of an orphaned Orca by Amanda Abler 
Nominees:

  • Dinosaurs are not Extinct by Drew Sheneman
  • Facts vs Opinions vs Robots by Michael Rex
  • Fauja Singh Keeps Going by Simran Jeet Singh
  • Ocean: Waves for All by Stacy McAnulty
  • Our Subway Baby by Pete Mercurio
  • Run Salmon Run by Bobs & Lolo
  • Stand Like a Cedar by Nicola Campbell
  • This is How I Know / Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh by Brittany Luby
  • Yusra Swims by Julie Abery

2021 - Titan and the wild boars : the true cave rescue of the Thai soccer team by Susan Hood (Winner)
Nomineess:

  • Billie Jean! by Mara Rockliff
  • The Bug Girl by Sophia Spencer
  • How did I get here? : your story from the big bang to your birthday by Philip Bunting
  • I'm trying to love math by Bethany Barton
  • Magic ramen: the story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang
  • Moth : an evolution story by Isabel Thomas
  • Pluto gets the call by Adam Rex
  • Skulls! By Blair Thornburgh
  • When Sue found Sue : Sue Hendrickson discovers her T. rex by Toni Buzzeo

2020 - What Do They Do With All That Poo? by Jane Kurtz (Winner)
Nomineess:

  • Adventures to School by Miranda & Baptiste Paul
  • Bugs Don't Hug: Six-Legged Parents and Their Kids by Heather Montgomery
  • Feathers and Hair: What Animals Wear by Jennifer Ward
  • Festival of Colours by Surishtha & Kabir Sehgal
  • Hello, Horse by Vivian French
  • How to Build a Hug by A. Guglielmo
  • The Seal Garden by Ian McAllister
  • The Squirrels' Busy Year by Martin Jenkins
  • The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk

2019 - Beauty and the Beak by Deborah Lee Rose (Winner)
Nominees:

  • A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars Seth Fisherman
  • Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty
  • Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton
  • If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy Newbold
  • If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams
  • Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies
  • Our Very Own Dog by Amanda McCardie
  • Shark Lady by Jess Keating
  • The Marvelous Thing That Came from a Spring by Gilbert Ford

2018 - I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton (Winner)
Nominees:

  • Among a Thousand Fireflies by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder
  • Follow the Moon Home by Philippe Cousteau
  • Giant Squid by Candace Fleming
  • I Am Josephine (And I am a Living Thing) by Jan Thornhill
  • My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis by Paul Meisel
  • A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
  • Plants Can't Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch
  • The Secret Subway by Shana Corey
  • Stepping Stones by Margriet Ruurs

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