SLJ staff

The Young Adult Library Services Association announced the finalists for the Morris Award for a YA title by a previously unpublished author and the Excellence in Nonfiction Award for nonfiction YA books for ages 12 to 18.

NCTE has announced Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools by Dan SaSuWeh Jones and The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, illus. by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, as the 2025 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck award winners, respectively. 

A class-action lawsuit alleges Lucy Calkins, Heinemann Publishing, and Fountas & Pinnell, among others, engaged in "deceptive and fraudulent marketing" that resulted in harm to students exposed to the whole language reading method and curricular products; registration is open for LibLearnx in January; auction offers rare items and experiences to benefit We Need Diverse Books; and more in News Bites.

In the face of rising censorship in schools and libraries, Lerner Publishing Group is hosting a Thursday, December 5 concert in Minneapolis. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to organizations engaged in fighting book bans and challenges, including EveryLibrary’s Fight for the First campaign, We Are Stronger Than Censorship, and the American Librarian Association’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative.

Thirty-six schools will receive grants to purchase Mathical Book Prize titles.

What’s captured reader attention the last seven days? Top picks in middle grade and graphic format books, along with the political climate and the potential impact on schools and libraries.

Utah has added Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott to its list of books banned at all public schools; the Texas state board of education wants legislation giving it  control of school library collections; and Crank by Ellen Hopkins remains on South Carolina high school shelves, but students will need parental permission.

Parents and patrons want the LGBTQIA+ romance by Alice Oseman removed; a Tennessee district orders the immediate removal of 150 books; and a school board is set to review collections in a Virginia district in search of "sexually explicit" material that goes against policy.

March 2025  will be five years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. We will mark the anniversary by sharing your memories of spring 2020 and the months that followed or thoughts on the impact that you still see today.