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Black History Month is in February, but celebrating the accomplishments and talents of Black people in America and across the diaspora shouldn’t be restricted to the shortest month of the year. These poetry books are written and/or illustrated by Black creatives. This small sampling is by no means an exhaustive list but could be used as a jumping-off point to spark further exploration. 

Four first-time YA authors tell SLJ about the inspirations behind their novels, their paths to publication, and their hopes for young people in 2021.

From a choose-your-own-path Romeo and Juliet to a Macbeth retelling that channels #MeToo, there's something here for all teen readers and fans of the Bard. 

Some educators abandon teaching the Bard's work, while others update and enhance Shakespeare curricula.

The CDC recommends teachers and support staff get the coronavirus vaccine in the next round of distribution; the Black Caucus of ALA has put out its Best of the Best 2020 booklist; applications are being accepted for the Library of Congress Librarian in Residence program; and more in this edition of News Bites.

This month, four YA authors serve up restaurant-set reads. Teens will crave these love stories, and some tasty food too. 

This year’s top YA titles—from Bethany C. Morrow, Daniel Nayeri, and others—explore the magical and the mundane.

Five debut YA authors are in the running for the 2021 Morris Award.

Dreidel-spinning llamas, locating the right flour for a holiday treat, and getting just the right haircut for an event remind readers that are so many festivals and so many reasons to celebrate, all year around.

The stories I heard growing up shaped my sense of family and community, as well as my place in the world. As a result, I knew early on that America did not love us. Yet, at the same time I knew how much my family respected and revered this country, loved being Black and believed that nothing, even Jim Crow and his offspring, could ever stop our assent. My family made sure I understood that.

I hope through my new book young readers will learn that there is a special book out there for everyone. Sometimes it can be hard to find, and sometimes the best stories are found within ourselves.

Nidhi Chanani, illustrator of Binny's Diwali, reflects on the Hindu festival of lights that is celebrated in different ways globally.

Dad celebrated Diwali with gusto, in his usual lavish, over-the-top way. He would buy more fireworks than anybody else in the neighborhood. All the kids in the neighborhood would gather on the sidewalk in front of our apartment and watch the dazzling displays shoot up into the dark Bombay sky.

It's been a long year. And a great one for books.

For the most part, Americans had embraced the rich culture and traditions of their neighbors, especially their food. However, old fears and prejudices lingered and festered, as was revealed during the 2016 election.

Books with a dose of magic for kids who like Sarah Mlynowski’s middle grade series and the new streaming movie.  

Messner and Sorell contextualize the "first Thanksgiving" myth; Hachette announces new BIPOC imprint; Linda Sue Park creates Korean and Korean diaspora author and illustrator resource; results of the K-12 Scholastic Student Vote.

Tackling a variety of topics important to school librarians and all educators, these presentations, discussions, and panels are available for viewing. 

The authors offer different takes on the literary canon in their keynote addresses. Read about that and other Summit highlights. 

Is a lyrical, heart-lifting love letter to Black and brown children everywhere, reminding them of how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always will.

Three educational strategies to affirm authentic American Indian/First Nations representation, plus resources.

The author of Other Words for Home wants her books to be springboards for childen to have important discussions.

Three of the founders of #DisruptTexts spoke about the need and reasons to reimagine the canon and how educators can do it effectively.

A citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, the author of Hearts Unbroken was awarded the prize in recognition of her "outstanding achievement" in YA literature.

This year’s top YA titles help us escape, look inward, and navigate our times.

My greatest hope is that kids who read my book develop empathy for people who may not look, sound, or worship the way they do. I hope it causes kids to question the world around them, to research issues they may not understand, and to grow into informed citizens, the kind our country desperately needs.

Holden Caulfield would probably think getting nearly 70 years in the spotlight makes him a phony and a sellout. We can recognize Catcher as a touchstone while handing teenagers additional titles that speak to them today.

The co-founders of Twitter's #THEBOOKCHAT talk about Dante, James Baldwin, and what students should know when they leave high school.

As more Native writers make inroads into childrens' publishing, educators and readers must set aside internalized misconceptions about Native life, people, and nations.

With increasing Muslim representation in picture books, all readers can explore the diversity of Muslim communities, identities, and cultural backgrounds.

The honored titles include a graphic novel documenting a refugee's journey, a story of grief and sexual identity, and historical fiction about Japanese American teenagers incarcerated during World War II.

Looking for books for teens that feature Latinx protagonists? Check out these titles, running the gamut from contemporary immigration stories to science fiction. 

The finalists for the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature have been announced. Here are the SLJ reviews. 

The author of Brown Girl Dreaming is one of 21 members of the MacArthur Foundation's Class of 2020.

Authors Nicola and David Yoon will start the new imprint at Random House Children's Books to let young people of color know "they are deserving of happily-ever-afters," according to Nicola Yoon.

I know I can't go back and tell my 17-year-old self to be nicer to us. I can’t tell him to only try to change the way he looks if it comes from a place of love. I can't change the way I treated myself for years. But I've written a little story that has helped me forgive myself. And, hopefully, it will help other young readers as well.

This roundup of books for young readers highlights the diversity of story and culture within the Latinx community. Add these to your Latinx Heritage Month displays and promote yearlong.

The worlds of Huxley, Lowry, Atwood, and Orwell have parallels to today, but largely leave out the racism, xenophobia, and intergenerational wounds that persist.

When the school year began I was often the only Black child in my classes and that's where I began to hear the other kind of stories. Sad, bad stories about people who looked like me. I was struck by how feverishly my new teachers and classmates believed in these narratives. It was then that I understood how words and stories could be used to wound.

I hope this story will expose Betita’s humanity, because her yearnings for happiness and love are universal, but further still, I hope it teaches children how one child was able to use her voice, her art and poetry, to not only endure but to rise above and change a horrific and harmful circumstance.

Picture books are a powerful medium for helping children make sense of the world around them. Yet, when it comes to making sense of early math concepts, many picture books prioritize math over story, and few feature main characters of color.

Titles to inspire young and future voters at all grade levels.

As they look forward to publishing their first YA titles, these authors discuss writing about pain and joy, the long process of publishing, and advice for activists and college-bound teens.

Black kids deserve to see themselves as the stars of the story, and it’s just as important for other readers to see Black kids as the stars of the story as well.

How Karen Jensen and Kathryn King designed a DEI course for staff at the Fort Worth (TX) Public Library.

When I decided to write my newest novel The Bridge, I was opening a door that I hadn’t opened yet. Instead of coming out as gay, which I had done in my first young adult books, this time I was coming out about my mental health issues. In some ways, this was actually harder for me.

These titles for middle and high school readers celebrate joy in the lives of Black teens and tweens. The characters in these stories laugh honestly, love fiercely, and exist wholly.

The new series will feature Black authors, musicians, and athletes reading children's books by Black authors.

Help students approach critical reading and character inferences in a way that doesn't center the reader's experiences and interpretations.

The year 2020 marks a century since women gained voting rights in the United States. While all of the books in this list tackle voting rights, they do so in myriad ways, from biographies of radical individuals like Frederick Douglass to novels about young activists to works of nonfiction that shed light on lesser-known narratives, such as the racism of the suffragists.

"But though I’ve been deeply indoctrinated by the white imagination, I don’t invest in it." Junauda Petrus, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book The Stars and the Blackness Between Them (Dutton; Gr 8 Up), discusses the power of speculative fiction, removing racist statues, and navigating whiteness.

The play about the Salem witch trials presents a moral dilemma, but it's another canonical work centering the white, Christian, male perspective. Here are suggestions for discussion and alternate works.

Debut novelists Kiku Hughes, Jordan Ifueko, Syed M. Masood, and Christina Hammonds Reed talk about constructing their books with food, folklore, and family stories.

Use these instructional suggestions while reading these titles by Native authors about tribal nations.

Sophia Thakur, a performance poet and author of Somebody Give This Heart a Pen (Candlewick; Gr 9 Up), discusses the power of poetry, her artistic journey, and the five #OwnVoices works that have inspired her. 

The United States Census reported that the Hispanic population accounted for almost 20 percent of the U.S. population in 2020. However, only five percent of children’s books feature Latinx characters or subjects. Thankfully, more picture book biographies are being published about groundbreaking Latinx luminaries every year. These are some must-add choices for your collections.
 

A new Miles Morales title, written by Justin A. Reynolds, will be the first in the line of original superheroes graphic novels, launching in Spring 2021. 

By popular demand, the full recording of the picture book creators session, featuring author Derrick Barnes and illustrator Gordon C. James discussing their latest collaboration, I Am Every Good Thing.

Award-winning Jerry Pinkney retraces the siren call of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale and how he finally met the challenge of retelling it in his inimitable way.

Challenging old classics is the literary equivalent of replacing statues of racist figures.

The viral hashtag #PublishingPaidMe has revealed the glaring disparities in author advances. It's not enough to publish books created by authors of color; change needs to happen on all levels. 

The bestselling author counters those accusing her of being transphobic, while actor Daniel Radcliffe urges "Harry Potter" lovers to hold on to their individual, "sacred" connections to the story.

Book about racism and antiracism and those by black creators are in high demand, for adults and children.

Kwame Alexander, Jason Reynolds, and Jacqueline Woodson have organized a Kid Lit Rally for Black Lives on Facebook Live on Thursday. It will include other children and teen literature authors and a conversation for young people and as well as a second one for parents, librarians, and educators.

We need more titles to counter the single narrative in picture books: Police help everyone. Police catch bad guys. Police keep everyone safe.

Some curriculum staples misrepresent cultures, reinforce racist or sexist ideas, and contain pejorative descriptions. Try these books instead of “The Little House” series, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Students have been reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the “Little House” series for generations, and having these “classics” available in school libraries is a given. Should that change?

These narratives of home and family push back against stereotypes.

Readers need diverse rom-coms where the love story comes first, where tenderness can blossom, and where happy endings are possible. These recent and upcoming books showcase the joy in the lives of teens of color, not just the pain.

Taking pride in a job well done is a professional triumph—and when the hard work is honored with an award nominated by one’s esteemed peers, the gratification is that much sweeter. Here’s what three past winners have to say about the award and their dedication to their work.

Reading and watching on equity, voting activism, and other issues that will that will feed your spirit and enrich your online learning program.

Authors, including Kelly Yang and Dhonielle Clayton, have become victims of racist comments on Zoom, Instagram, and other digital platforms used to connect educators, students, and creators during this unprecedented time.

The graphic format can effectively tell complex stories and engage young readers. Encompassing first-person accounts of historical events and guides that address gender and identity, these titles meet the highest standards for nonfiction and are "inclusive, respectful, accurate, and informative."

Lewis's Read Woke challenge prompts young readers to embrace social consciousness. Her students say she changed their lives.

Myers’s 145th Street: Short Stories, celebrating its 20th anniversary, highlights the beauty of Harlem and the people and stories that make the neighborhood unique.

Three recent YA nonfiction works—Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You; An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People; and A Queer History of the United States for Young People—are "remixing" history to put marginalized people front and center. 

A collection of titles across all genres to build up resources for budding young activists. 

Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of the 1619 Project, spoke to Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi about their collaboration on Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.

Award-winning author, scholar, and activist Zetta Elliott (Say Her Name) explains the importance of representation, not just diversity, in literature, as well as the incredible contributions of Black women writers.

More U.S. librarians are using this interactive programming model, in which human "books" speak with patrons about their life experiences.

The debut author spoke with SLJ about the risks and rewards of creativity, taking a chance on yourself, and the significance of father figures in her middle grade novel.

Dr. Duchess Harris, an academic, author, legal scholar, and a professor of American studies at Macalester College delivered the keynote speech at last year's Day of Dialog in Saint Paul, MN. Her enlightening speech discussed the far-reaching influence of African Americans and her path to becoming a global citizen.

It's more than just a day. Educators planned activities throughout the week, as teachers and school librarians changed schedules to prioritize and celebrate reading aloud.

Barnes & Noble and Penguin Random House planned to get young readers interested in the classics by making them more inclusive with new covers featuring people of color. The idea backfired badly.

Authors discussed their experience with soft censorship at “Not-Quite-Banned: Combating the Invisible Censorship of LGBTQIA+ Stories,” an ALA Midwinter panel. 

The first graphic novel to take home the award, New Kid is the book that Craft wrote for his 10-year-old self, who rarely saw books with which he could identify.

These fiction and nonfiction titles nourish the body, soul, and imagination.

Many young people don't know what the Holocaust is. To help, here is a sampling of titles recommended by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee.

Mariko Tamaki's Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me and Padma Venkatraman's The Bridge Home earned The Walter for teens and younger readers, respectively.

In advance of the Printz Award announcement on January 27, take a look at the expert analysis and predictions for YA's top prize in SLJ's Pondering Printz columns.

Author Kate Messner argues that "shining a light on science, on history, on injustice, and representation is work we all should have been doing all along. And it’s work that will need to continue long after someone else is leading the nation."

These fiction, poetry, and nonfiction titles will engage casual readers and hip-hop aficionados alike.

Authors of SLJ’s Best Young Adult Books of 2019 weigh in on their favorite teen titles of the decade.

These recent titles, including picture books, middle grade, and young adult, showcase the complex beauty inherent in being black in America.

These eight recent and forthcoming novels, most of them #OwnVoices, highlight the experiences of biracial and multiethnic children and teens.

Middle grade author David Bowles makes the case that all writing—especially that which upholds and does not challenge the status quo—is inherently political. 

From the best in books for children and teens to stirring stories of inspiring individuals,  these were the most viewed stories on SLJ.

Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn and co-author Kathy Lowinger seek to reclaim Indigenous history in their book, What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal. 

Lewis, a Georgia high school librarian who challenges students to “Read Woke,” has been awarded the inaugural National Teacher Award for Lifelong Readers.

Author Andrew Clements is being remembered by educators, fans, and peers; the Library of Congress presents Rosa Parks through her own writings, photos, and memorabilia; Science teachers can earn a prize valued at $5,500 in an engineering contest; and more in this edition of News Bites.