Toward Reading More Non-Fiction

“It’s time to put beautifully-written nonfiction books into our English classrooms.” Ta-Nehisi Coates says reading well-written factual accounts adds nuance to an education: “Many students grow up without ever encountering the pleasures of a beautifully-crafted work of history, or a sparklingly-clear explanation of science, or a thrilling exploration of a transformative idea. When such works are, from time to time, included in the syllabi of their respective subjects, they tend to be employed as a relatively palatable means of conveying facts to students, and not analyzed for their style or structure.”