Authors & Illustrators

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has partnered with author Meg Medina to provide a grant for Latinx writers and teamed up with the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation for a new prize for BIPOC illustrators.

Inspired by her young library patrons, Beverly Cleary wrote the stories of regular kids and created generations of readers.

A read-aloud of Kyle Lukoff's book about a transgender boy in elementary school led to parental complaints and the school calling in counselors for the students who listened to the story. 

Debut novelists and former We Need Diverse Books mentees Diana Ma and Angeline Boulley discuss their writing challenges, their families’ reactions to their novels, and using the YA genre to discuss identity and culture.

Friends and fans gathered on Twitter this week, after learning of the death of Norton Juster, at 91, author of the beloved 60-year-old fantasy, The Phantom Tollbooth. 

Three YA authors tell SLJ about their favorite childhood books and take a deep dive into the main characters in their debut novels.

The children's publishing world is coming together to raise money to fight anti-Asian racism, NCTE is accepting applications for the Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award, Amazon and Code.org team up to create equity-minded AP computer science course, and more in this edition of News Bites.

The author of The Project discusses false assumptions about cult members, the truths of surviving trauma, and how this “crossover” book really is YA.

In the summer of 2020, a time of tragedy and activism throughout the country, Black teens were still falling in love and discovering their relationships to the world...and Renée Watson was working on a book about radical self-love and a Black girl saving herself. Here she writes about finding joy amid pain and how love can be a personal revolution.