Ideas

Genre-blending books offer readers the opportunity to comfortably expand across boundaries and try something different while still in the safety of their preferred reading choice. Here are 14 middle grade graphic novels that blend genres to perfection.

Characters in these books, including a few classics, are comfortable being different from others and engage with their world in nontraditional ways.

It's just not summer if teenagers aren't pocketing S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, with its iconic gang members, dusty American landscape, and exquisitely crafted life lessons; this year, SLJ and NCTE reveal the 2023 round of “Refreshing the Canon” selections, where multimedia suggestions enrich The Outsiders and so much more.

Summer reading is a whole new jam as SLJ and NCTE reveal the 2023 round of “Refreshing the Canon” selections. Check out these multimedia suggestions to enrich any reading experience of George Orwell's 1984, and change teenagers' minds about how "it could never happen here" and "it could never happen now." 

Zines spotlight voices, opinions, and histories often missing from mainstream publishing. Here's what you need to know about curating, collecting, and creating these works at your library.

Self-publishing by marginalized people has always taken place outside the mainstream, even before the word zine existed.

Two school librarians fielded a study on unrestricted checkout and other aspects of circulation. This is what they learned.

In back-to-school season, educators can use these books to convey the message that perfection isn’t required, good enough is good enough, and every child—and every child’s creation—has inherent value.

Educators may naturally seek to help those who are struggling at school, but some high performers can need a different kind of support—to know that imperfect is OK.