2021 Science Book Award Finalists
Looking for new books to read during the upcoming season? Look no further than the 16 books below.
AAAS and Subaru are proud to announce the finalists for the 2021 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in four categories. These books exemplify outstanding and engaging science writing and illustration for young readers. They encourage readers of all ages to better understand and appreciate science. Longlists for all four categories were announced in October and the winners will be announced in January.
Science Picture Book
The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity: A Tale of the Genius Ramanujan, by Amy Alznauer. Illustrated by Daniel Miyares. Candlewick Press, 2020.
Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery, by Meeg Pincus. Illustrated by Yas Imamura. Sleeping Bear Press, 2020.
Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet, by Elizabeth Rusch. Illustrated by Teresa Martínez. Charlesbridge, 2019.
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming. Illustrated by Eric Rohmann. Neal Porter Books, 2020.
Middle Grades Science Book
Growing Up Gorilla: How a Zoo Baby Brought Her Family Together, by Clare Hodgson Meeker. Lerner Publishing Group, 2020.
Eclipse Chaser: Science in the Moon's Shadow, by Ilima Loomis. Photographs by Amanda Cowan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019.
Can You Hear the Trees Talking?: Discovering the Hidden Life of the Forest, by Peter Wohlleben. Translated by Shelley Tanaka. Greystone Books, 2019.
Condor Comeback, by Sy Montgomery. Photographs by Tianne Strombeck. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.
Hands-On Science Book
This is a Book to Read with a Worm, by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen. Illustrated by Margaret McCartney. Charlesbridge, 2020.
Creek Critters, by Jennifer Keats Curtis with Stroud Water Research Center. Illustrated by Phyllis Saroff. Arbordale Publishing, 2020.
The Kitchen Pantry Scientist: Chemistry for Kids: Homemade Science Experiments and Activities Inspired by Awesome Chemists, Past and Present, by Liz Lee Heinecke. Quarry Books, 2020.
You're Invited to a Moth Ball: A Nighttime Insect Celebration, by Loree Griffin Burns. Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. Charlesbridge, 2020.
Young Adult Science Book
The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, by Ainissa Ramirez. MIT Press, 2020.
Wading Right In: Discovering the Nature of Wetlands, by Catherine Owen Koning and Sharon M. Ashworth. The University of Chicago Press, 2019.
Borrowing Life: How Scientists, Surgeons, and a War Hero Made the First Successful Organ Transplant a Reality, by Shelley Fraser Mickle. Imagine, 2020.
The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers, by Emily Levesque. Sourcebooks, 2020.