To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Scholastic is sponsoring a contest to give public libraries the opportunity to win a Harry Potter party pack. To enter, librarians are asked to describe in up to 500 words how they would host a Harry Potter celebration that would also acquaint a new generation of children with the beloved series. All entries must be submitted by July 17. On July 31st, Harry Potter’s birthday, 15 winners will be announced. Parties will be held on August 27—the date when new paperback editions of the full series will be released with cover art by author/artist Kazu Kibuishi.

The winning libraries will receive 100 copies of the new edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a paperback boxed set of all seven Harry Potter books signed by Kibuishi, a $100 gift card to fund the library’s Harry Potter celebration, and a Harry Potter kit with stickers, name tags, bookmarks, and more.

“Throughout the past 15 years, librarians have introduced millions of children to Harry Potter, and helped young readers discover the joy of reading,” said Ellie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade Publishing. “Today we celebrate librarians, the magic of Harry Potter, and all the future readers who are getting ready to start their journey to Hogwarts.”

Summer Reading Challenge for Latino Students

During the summer months, students can lose important literacy skills they learned during the school year. Libraries, summer camps, youth groups, and cultural centers planning programs this summer can register their group for the Latino Children’s Summer Reading Program, sponsored by Google and launched by Latinas for Latino Literature (L4LL). The program runs through August 12. Register for free online, and receive reading lists featuring Latino books for all ages, reading logs, bilingual student pledges in which readers agree to read at least eight titles, and certificates of achievement. Once registered, each group will be entered to win a Google Hangout with Latina poet Margarita Engle or author/illustrator Lulu Delacre. Hangouts will take place in July.

To incorporate the program into your class or camp, print the summer reading packets for students. Have them sign the pledge at the beginning of the program, and give them logs to take home to record the number of books they have read. At the end of the program, ask the students to write a book report on one of the books that they have read or one of the books that you’ve read together as a class, or ask them to give an oral presentation. Give all the students certificates of achievement at the conclusion of the program.

Latinas for Latino Literature was created in 2012 by four Latina bloggers in response to the New York Times article, “For Young Latino Readers, an Image Is Missing,” in which the author notes that Hispanic children now make up about a quarter of public school enrollment, but most books for young readers don’t have characters who are non-white Latino children.

Below are the winners of the International Latino Book Awards in the Children, Youth, and Young Adult categories. For a complete listing, visit the Latino Literacy Now website.

Best Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book–English

LightKeepers to the Rescue! Marisa de Jesús Paolicelli; illus. by Susan E. Daly.
A Caribbean Experience Con Amor

Best Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book–Spanish or Bilingual

Conoce a Simón Bolívar. Edna Iturralde; illus. by Ytziar Cori Alvarez.
Alfaguara Grupo Santillana

Best Children’s Fiction Picture Book–English

The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pat Mora; illus. by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher.

Random

Best Children’s Fiction Picture Book–Bilingual

Guacamole. Jorge Argueta; illus. by Margarita Sada.
Groundwood Bks

Best Children’s Fiction Picture Book–Spanish

Cocorina y El Puchero Mágico. Mar Pavón; illus. by Mónica Carretero.
Cuento de Luz

Best Children’s Nonfiction Picture Book

Diego Rivera: His World and Ours. Duncan Tonatiuh.
Abrams

Best Educational Children’s Picture Book—English

Spike, the Mixed-Up Monster. Susan Hood; illus. by Melissa Sweet.
S & S

Best Educational Children’s Picture Book—Spanish or Bilingual

¡Nos Divertimos con la Ciencia! Ángels Navarro; illus. by Anna Mongay.
Editorial Combel

Most Inspirational Children’s Picture Book

The Sky of Afghanistan. Ana Eulate; illus. by Sonja Wimmer.
Cuento de Luz

Best Youth Latino Focused Chapter Book

Crossing the Line. Bk. 1 (Border Town Series). Malin Alegria.

Scholastic

Best Youth Chapter Fiction Book—English

Love, Amalia. Alma Flor Ada; illus. by Gabriel M. Zubizarreta.
S & S

Best Youth Chapter Fiction Book–Spanish or Bilingual

Oro, Incienso y Mirra.  Ariel González Calzada.
Floricanto Pr.

Most Inspirational Youth Chapter Book

Calling Him Dad. Virginia Kamhi; illus. by Florence Ko.
WPR Bks.

Best Young Adult Fiction Book

When The Guns Fell Silent. Edna Iturralde.
WPR Bks.

SLJ Best Book and Pura Belpre Medal Winner Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (S & S) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz received an Honorable Mention. Pura Belpré Author Honor, Sonia Manzano’s The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic) received the same distinction.

Best Young Adult Nonfiction Book

The Pregnancy Project. Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer.
S & S

Best Educational Young Adult Book

Puberman: El Enfrentamiento. Maria Villegas & Jennie Kent; illus. by Ivan Chacon.
Villegas Editores;

Most Inspirational Young Adult Book

The Day of Yesterday. Edna Iturralde.
WPR Bks.

A new book committee has formed under the umbrella of Library Services for Youth in Custody (LSYC).  We will look for more “gritty” titles for Latino readers, books like It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way (Lee & Low, 2004) by Luis Rodriguez, Next Stop: Growing Up Wild in the Bronx (Touchstone, 2008) by Ivan Sanchez, Detoured (JSD Consultations, 2011) by Jesse De La Cruz, and Willie Stokes’s Testimony of a Black Sheep (Willie R. Stokes, 2009).

We will seek out and highlight  high-interest preschool through adult fiction and non-fiction books for boys or girls ages 9 to 18 who may fit into one or all of the following categories: multicultural (primarily African American and Latino), from a street culture,  in restrictive custody (books need to be suitable for children’s and YA sections), and/or reluctant readers.

The committee will select and review the best books of the year, specifically for the population listed above. Titles of interest may be unusual; possibly not reviewed; have multicultural characters; and deal with difficult situations including (but not limited to) street life, marginalized populations, crime, justice, war, violence, abuse, and addiction.

“YA Underground,” a SLJTeen column featuring highlighted titles, will run reviews bimonthly throughout the year. You can check out an example at tinyurl.com/cblsq7a. The final list will be decided upon by this committee and also run in SLJ. Books will be featured on the Library Services for Youth in Custody website (youthlibraries.org). For more information, contact Amy Cheney at ajcheney@mac.com.

Amy Cheney
Librarian
Alameda County Library, CA

Interesting article. It is so difficult to get most children’s books in front of any kind of audience. So little money and effort is spent publicizing them. As bad as it is for most children’s literature, it is much more difficult for Latino books.

Publishers like Lee & Low and Cinco Puntos Press can’t reach the broad audience of librarians, much less the general public, with their books. Awards like the Pura Belpré help, but unfortunately are often still considered to be “special interest” awards by bookstores and libraries. Mainstream media covers only blockbuster books, usually ignoring everything else.

Jaime Naidoo’s ah-ha moment holds true for almost every reader—they want to see themselves in books, as well as enjoying new experiences and meeting different people through stories. Several years ago a 43-year-old student in my children’s literature class at the University of Texas–Austin finally made a connection to reading when he read a book about a kid with ADHD…Joey Pigza was just like him! It was the first book he read all the way through just for the joy of reading.

Librarians try to connect kids with books they will relate to, but first we have to have access to the kids. And we have to have the books that will be meaningful to them. The struggle continues.

Jeanette Larson
Consultant/trainer/author
Pflugerville, TX

Each student is shaped by personal experiences and culture, and we can explore these different cultures through the integration of resources into the classroom curriculum and library program. It is critically important that students see themselves reflected in the library collection and programming and in the books that they read in their classroom and for pleasure. By doing so, we build students’ self-esteem and cultivate empathy, respect, and cultural and global awareness.

Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, VA, initiated the MOSAIC project—a school-wide reading program that uses globally diverse literature to teach targeted reading strategies. Each month the entire school (more than 680 students from 50 different countries) reads a single text portraying a different country or region and uses it to explore culture and delve into a reading strategy appropriate for the grade level. Through the MOSAIC project, we’ve been able to open the doors to new worlds to all our students. For more information on the project, visit apsva.us/Page/6203.

Julie M. Esanu
Librarian
Oakridge Elementary School
Arlington, VA