News & Features

One of the reasons I wrote The Forgotten Girl was so that little girls who look like Avery and Iris and little boys who look like Daniel can see themselves on the page, and not have to spend their lives proving they are worthy of recognition from people who should realize their greatness anyway.

In this edition of News Bites, Caldecott winners find a way to properly pass the torch from one honoree to another, Nic Stone speaks out and a community rallies when Dear Martin is taken off a school reading list, and climate activist Greta Thunberg inspires a new picture book.

Now I know that I identify as aromantic bi-gray-asexual, and I never would have known if not for writing Tarnished Are the Stars. There’s inherent power in seeing yourself in the pages of a book, but there is power, too, in writing yourself onto those pages, in making sure your story is told.

On July 9th at Nerd Camp Michigan, Scholastic sat down with New York Times Bestselling, award-winning author Jason Reynolds to discuss the Power of Story.

Truly Madly Royally follows goal-getter Zora Emerson, who, at a la-dee-da university’s summer program, meets and falls for an actual prince. She has to learn to navigate a privileged world so different from her own, while sticking to her mission to build an aftercare program for the children in her town.

There is a phrase in Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl’s Brave Fight to Walk: amahirwe aza rimwe, which translates to “chance comes once.” When Rebeka had a chance to do something difficult and scary, we faced the challenges together. Now we’ve partnered again to share her story, so that others will be inspired to take chances that change lives.

Sports-themed titles to empower all young readers.

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.