2024 NATIONAL MEDAL
for Museum and Library Service Finalist

Non-Fiction

A Light in the Darkness

The story of Janusz Korczak, the heroic Polish Jewish doctor who devoted his life to children, perishing with them in the Holocaust.

Janusz Korczak was more than a good doctor. He was a hero. The Dr. Spock of his day, he established orphanages run on his principle of honoring children and shared his ideas with the public in books and on the radio. He famously said that "children are not the people of tomorrow, but people today." Korczak was a man ahead of his time, whose work ultimately became the basis for the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Free Lunch

Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex’s mom has signed him up for free meals. As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he’s on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex has to shout.

Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey From WWII to Peac

Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
Recipient of a Bologna Ragazzi Non-Fiction Special Mention Honor Award
Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of 2019

From celebrated author and illustrator Ashley Bryan comes a deeply moving picture book memoir about serving in the segregated army during World War II, and how love and the pursuit of art sustained him.

Monstrous: The Lore, Gore, and Science Behind Your Favorite Monsters

Could Dr. Frankenstein's machine ever animate a body? Why should vampires drink from veins and not arteries? What body parts are best for zombies to eat? (It's not brains.) This fascinating encyclopedia of monsters delves into the history and science behind eight legendary creatures, from Bigfoot and the kraken to zombies and more. Find out each monster's origin story and the real-world history that informed it, and then explore the science of each creature in fun and surprising ways.

The Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in Our Food and Drugs

★ "Revolting and riveting in turns, Jarrow's masterfully crafted narrative will fundamentally alter how readers view their food.Though laced with toxins, this is anything but toxic." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Here is the fascinating true story of how food was made safer to eat thanks to the stubborn dedication of government chemist Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, whose hard work and determination led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).