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Ranging from memoir to fantasy, these titles star young people living with a range of disabilities.
Among these 10 titles include Laurie Halse Anderson's memoir, historical fiction from Laura Ruby, and a collaboration between Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson.
The day after my thirteenth birthday in January 1963, Alabama governor George Wallace proclaimed, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” I sat stunned on the sofa watching the six o’clock news. It felt to me that he had just declared war. Child of the Dream is my memoir of the year that followed.
As Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off on September 15, here’s SLJ’s coverage of titles for kids, tweens, and teens with Latinx creators and characters. Our roundup of this year’s reviews and interviews features #OwnVoices creators and books that center Latinx experiences.
Yellow might still be a painful word to many Chinese, but it’s also the colour of gold, of Chinese royalty—just as I made sure to portray it in Caster. To begin remembering is to reclaim that power for good. And that is the power of story.
Jen Wang's childhood experiences and eye for detail informed Stargazing, her new graphic novel about an unlikely friendship.
James Brandon's debut YA novel Ziggy, Stardust and Me is set in 1973, when being gay was considered a mental illness. Sixteen-year-old Jonathan undergoes conversion therapy but finds comfort in music and in Web, an American Indian boy who isn't ashamed of his sexual identity. Brandon talks to SLJ about David Bowie's queer legacy, overcoming shame, and how the events of 1973 echo in our world today.
Grandparents loom large in young children's lives, and storytimes featuring these beloved family members are especially welcome as Grandparent's Day (September 8) nears.
It is the truth of my childhood, remembered in my new book, Girl Under a Red Moon, in a little town called Yellow Stone in southern China.
The fifth year of New York's LGBTQ comics convention saw its highest attendance yet and a wide variety of entertainment for geeks, gamers, cosplayers, and more.
Award-winning author Celia C. Pérez (The First Rule of Punk) spoke with SLJ about tactile story writing, activism, and living vicariously through one's characters in Strange Birds: A Field Guide To Ruffling Feathers.
In Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls, Monique W. Morris centers the experience of these marginalized girls and highlights the actions of some educators and community members around the country who are making a positive difference in the students' lives.
The American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement on the continued impact of racism on children's health and what pediatricians must do to combat it. Educators, too, can help, and organizations offer professional development and training on anti-racism, so they can support their students better.
Twelve wonderful middle grade and young adult #OwnVoices titles that reflect Indigenous life and culture. They include historical and contemporary fiction as well as anthologies, graphic novels, and speculative science fiction.
The Nobel Laureate was remembered for her words and inspiring countless writers to follow her lead.
The nonprofit, we are, works with children, families, and educators with a goal of dismantling systemic racism in schools and beyond.
Homelessness is on the rise among students. With help, these kids can find their potential.
Co-founder, executive director of We Need Diverse Books assess organization's impact and share plans for the future.
In the wake of President Trump’s remarks, telling four U.S. Congresswomen to "go back" to their countries, we wanted to hear from you. Have you experienced bigotry or witnessed it in your school or library? Share your story in the comments here, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contrary to what most historical novels depict, people from marginalized groups have existed throughout the ages, and their stories were not solely ones of hardship. These authors—Daniel José Older, Stacey Lee, Mackenzi Lee, Melanie Gillman—are correcting that representation in historical fiction.
IMLS-funded free, online professional development racial equity curriculum is now available; Dav Pilkey and Scholastic try to "Do Good"; youth writer awards announced and more in this edition of News Bites.
Dylan Meconis takes a playful approach to history in her graphic novel Queen of the Sea, which represents the diversity of female experiences in the 16th century.
The music and lives of four jazz greats in words and pictures.
Inspiring projects, discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and creating with—not just consuming—augmented and virtual reality were just some of the highlights of ISTE 2019.
Authors Kwame Alexander and Jacqueline Woodson were among those who helped celebrate the golden anniversary of the awards.
Using numbers from the Cooperative Children's Book Center, this infographic—updated from 2015—illustrates representation in children's literature. The quantity of diverse books may have gone up, but that doesn't necessarily indicate accuracy and quality of titles.
From mysteries to summer adventures to first loves, these 12 titles validate queer youth, and youth in queer families, who are navigating those ever-confusing years before young adulthood.
When the Ground Is Hard is the tale of an unlikely friendship that blossoms between the societal slabs of systemic racism, colorism, and classism in an Apartheid-era Christian boarding school in Swaziland. Award-winning crime fiction writer Malla Nunn talked with SLJ about the personal experiences that shaped this tightly woven, thoughtful, and timely YA adventure story.
“Every LGBTQ kids’ book that manages to make its way onto a bookstore or library shelf is a life raft,” says Melanie Gillman, creator of the graphic novel As the Crow Flies. Columnist Brigid Alverson considers LGBTQIA+ themes in the graphic format, with recommended titles for young readers.
Award-winning writer, hip-hop professor, and author of The Roots of Rap, Carole Boston Weatherford talks to Tiffany D. Jackson about Jackson’s new book Let Me Hear a Rhyme, a love letter to 1990s Brooklyn and the hip-hop generation.
Cicely Lewis chooses books for her nephew, her graduating seniors, and young friends facing the larger world.
Summer activities at the Dakota County Library will include a sensory-friendly petting zoo and music, American Sign Language initiatives, and programming in the new Calming Space.
Hafsah Faizal and Nafiza Azad are debut Muslim fantasy authors, and both of their #OwnVoices YA novels are out this week. Here, they talk to each other about world-building, intersectional feminism, subverting stereotypes, and more.
From romance to fantasy to memoir, these books represent a rich scope of experiences.
Education may be part of the solution to stopping the incidence of anti-semitic harassment, vandalism, and physical assaults at schools.
High school English teacher Jarred Amato has guided his Nashville students and helped create a national, student-led, grassroots literacy and community service movement around middle grade and YA titles by authors including Kwame Alexander, Nic Stone, and Jason Reynolds.
Don't miss these 12 stellar middle grade and YA audiobook selections.
More logged minutes mean more donated books in this year's Scholastic summer reading challenge; Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Awards announced; Library of Congress puts rare Chinese books online; and more in this edition of NewsBites.
A 90-minute version of SLJ's workshop will be available to attendees of Scholastic Reading Summits held in Chicago on June 20 and Austin, on July 16.
The Lit Bar is the first bookstore in years in the Bronx, and its owner has big plans for her business and the community.
Stories hold a lot of power. Stories tend to be a form of escape for so many people; but just as often, they serve as a way for people to see their own experiences reflected by authors and writers who have gone through the same thing. People who offer comfort to readers who are confused or hurting or scared. I struggled for a long time. Because rarely were there books I could turn to.
The National Student Poets are a group of five high school juniors and seniors who act as literary ambassadors for a year. In honor of National Poetry Month, they recommend five books for their fellow high schoolers.
Stories give us a place in which to locate our shared histories; stories are an affirmation of our selves. Stories of the past give birth to the narratives of today. Stories of the present allow dreams of the future. The stories I read gave me the courage to write my own tale.
A lack of diversity in children's literature and media, especially in fantasy, has created an "imagination gap," according to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.
Kweli's Fourth Annual Color of Children's Literature Conference had a powerful lineup of speakers and panelists including Jacqueline Woodson, Rudine Sims Bishop, Emily X.R. Pan, Samira Ahmed, and Ibi Zoboi.
Sixty-four poems explore living between cultures, the pleasure and pain that memories can bring, and the power of poetry to express joy, loss, and pride.
While no one book list can adequately explore all the variations in culture and traditions embodied within the broad category of the “Asian/Pacific American Experience,” readers who identify as Asian American and/or Pacific American—especially as first-generation Americans—will find reflections of their own stories in these novels.
Trauma-informed approaches can help librarians better understand and respond to young patrons' behavioral issues.
New research "joins a wealth of other findings suggesting that racial bias is contributing to disciplinary disparities."
The debut author of the middle grade novel Chula the Fox, which recently earned an SLJ starred review, talks process, #OwnVoices, and learning from loss.
Our job, as writers, publishers, editors, librarians, and teachers, is to share with young people stories that heal, uplift, celebrate, and empower. The power of story is the power of finding one’s own voice.
Librarians represented at SXSW EDU, as SLJ's School Librarian of the Year honorees, Ali Schilpp, Cassy Lee, and Michelle Carton, presented the session "Going Global with the School Librarian of the Year" in Austin.
Lety is a story about Lety Muñoz, an English Language Learner (ELL) and immigrant, who volunteers at an animal shelter and becomes a shelter hero.
Rabble rousers and rebels rub shoulders with artists and adventurers in these eminently browsable collective biographies.
New books about women in STEM feature inventors, architects, naturalists, and computer and space scientists.
The founding members of the group, all librarians, hosted "Reading my World: Diverse Books for Birth to 8."
For many young LGBTQ people, Max and Jordan from The Music of What Happens may be the best mirror of their own lives that they’ve ever read. It may be the first time they’ve seen themselves in a story, and that’s a lifeline.
Teens Mena and Zena Nasiri started Girls of the Crescent to donate books with female Muslim main characters to local school districts, libraries, and mosques.
In Anh Do's chapter book series, WEIRDO, the author created a character whose first name is Weir, and whose last name is Do. He’s a school kid who feels like he doesn’t always belong, but who learns to embrace his uniqueness.
People with disabilities remain underrepresented, or misrepresented, in children’s literature.
Paper published in Research on Diversity in Youth Literature questions representation in Dr. Seuss's children's books. Researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens cited racist and other problematic depictions in classic Seuss picture books, ranging from The Sneetches to Horton Hears a Who!.
