News & Features

We Need Diverse Books offers a new website with resources for librarians and educators about books by Native creators and how to use them in the classroom; Newbery-winning author Susan Patron has died; YALSA releases Teen Top 10 list; federal education employees will create AI guidance and policy for K-12; and more in this edition of News Bites.

Disabled authors and attendees struggle to participate in events lacking accommodations.

Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown, has opened Loudmouth Books, a bookstore in Indianapolis dedicated to the titles often targeted by bans; former Central  York, PA, students get a book deal to tell their stories; a video on the mental health impact of book bans; Kentucky district returns more than 100 books to the shelves; and more.

This comprehensive digital resource offers an extensive set of curated clips pertaining to U.S. History and draws from a broad archive of PBS documentaries, including many well-known series such as “The American Experience” and “American Masters.” 

Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Wayward Creatures by Dayna Lorentz, the 2023 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck Award winners, will be honored at the NCTE annual conference.

Whether for witty wordplay, star-crossed love stories, or bloody history, the Bard's plays still inspire—in particular, they inspire YA adaptations.

Angeline Boulley, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Debbie Reese discussed Native work for young readers—and Boulley made a big announcement.

In Connecticut towns, book banning has become a key issue for school board candidates; a Michigan judge ruled 14 titles had literary merit and dismissed a lawsuit to remove them from a district's library; and as one South Carolina district retains five challenged titles, another removes an LGBTQIA+ history book and restricts other books.

Witches, orphans, gods, and some ordinary folks populate these compelling stories for grades 5 and up.