Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Thursday June 20th, 2024, to discuss the topic: STEM. We often view STEM and reading as separate disciplines, but how, where and why do they cross over?

We asked our members to share their favorite Fiction and Non-Fiction titles that relate to STEM topics. As always, you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us and we had a great deal of fun! We anticipated a bit of a struggle for people to find interesting STEM-related books, but fortunately we were completely mistaken and we ended up with a very long list! We also had quite a few recommendations that involved quite complex language or explored difficult concepts, so we have split the Young Adult section into two: VCE and above, and 12+, for more clarity around suiting titles to the appropriate students!

Many thanks to Deb at The Younger Sun  who is an invaluable resource, providing many recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable, and would be happy to help you with any book-buying needs!

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

New Titles shared by Deb from the Younger Sun 

 

VCE and above

• White Holes – Carlo Rovelli
• The Housekeeper and the Professor – Yoko Ogawa
• Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
• Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel
• Galileo’s Daughter; Longitude – Dava Sobel
• Radium Girls – Kate Moore
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi

12+

• The Wild Robot – Peter Brown
• Inside out and Outside In – Maria Snyder
• Lifel1k3 – Jay Kristoff
• Footprints on the Moon – Lorraine Marwood
• Lance Balchin – Botanica and Aquatica
• Catch a Falling Star – Meg McKinlay
• Two Can Play That Game – Leanne Yong
• The Lab – Jack Heath
• Moondust – Gemma Fowler
• Money run – Jack Heath

Middle Grade

• George’s Secret Key to the Universe – Lucy and Steven Hawking
• Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart
• Dragon Pearl – Yoon Ha Lee
• Wednesday Weeks – Cristy Burne
• Axel and Beast – Adrian Bott
• Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve
• The Achemist War – John Seven
• The Balloon girls – Darrell Pitt
• Counting by Sevens – Holly Goldberg Stone
• How to Bee – Bren MacDibble
• Hi From Outer Space – Fiona Katauskas
• The Raven’s Song – Bren McDibble and Zana Fraillon
• Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World – Rachel Ignotofsky

 

Junior 

• The Rosie Revere series
• The Wonder of Winsome – Kat Murdoch
• Life On Us – Emma & Tim Flannery
• Professor Branestawm – Norman Hunter

Picture Books

• How to Measure the Ocean – Inda Ahmad Zahri
• Tree – Claire Saxby
• The Beehive – Megan Daley
• Seed to Sky: Life in the Daintree – Pamela Freeman