You call this nonfiction?

This is how I feel
Also, an awesome book BUT
NOT NONFICTION

I've been getting increasingly frustrated with the nonfiction reviews in School Library Journal. Is there really such a lack of nonfiction to review that the section is so brief? How are they defining nonfiction is another question - the bulk of the titles reviewed are informational at best.

In the July 2023 edition, there are ~68 reviews of fiction, from board books to transitional chapter books. There are ~30 reviews of elementary "nonfiction," and this number is higher than usual because of the nonfiction included in a board book round-up. These reviews include:

• Concepts, including alphabet books and word books. (8)
• Fictional stories with a religious, diverse, or cultural aspect and social-emotional concepts. (7)
• Informational books about science and nature (including fictional aspects). (4)
• Informational (i.e. with fictional aspects) board book and picture book biographies. (3)

Of the handful of "nonfiction" reviews remaining, there is an easy reader about astronomy, two contemporary real-life stories, a book about wildfires, and one picture book about oceans which is illustrated with cartoons (Drew Sheneman's The Deep End, which is awesome).

The numbers for older readers are even more skewed. There are ~36 reviews of fiction, middle grade through YA, including graphic novels. There are 9 reviews of nonfiction. Of those reviews, 8 are biographies, historical narratives or browsing collections, and memoirs. The 9th title is a social-emotional guide to community conversations and dialogue.

There is also a special poetry section, with three titles having an informational - historical or scientific, aspect.

There are nonfiction books out there - why aren't they being reviewed? Why are so many fictional titles being labeled nonfiction? My second graders are able to understand the difference between Dewey as a classification system and "all the books with numbers are nonfiction" but apparently this is a difficult concept for some. At a time when many kids are struggling both in reading and in deciphering a flood of misinformation, it would be nice to see more strictly defined lines of nonfiction and a wider field of reviews.