News & Features

Former literary agent Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun is told not only in alternating narratives but also in alternating time lines. SLJ caught up with the author to talk about her unique writing process, love of magical realism, and casting wishlist for the optioned film version.

It’s not too late to register for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate this year’s Boston Globe-Horn Book award recipients at the Mind the Gap event at Simmons College on October 10. In the meantime, brush up on the winning titles by reading the following booktalks and checking out the resources for teaching them.

Maybe it’s Common Core.  Maybe not.  I’m not always quite certain how far to place the blame in these cases.  However you look at it, children’s nonfiction bios are getting weird these days.  In some ways it’s quite remarkable.  I’m the first one to say that nonfiction for kids is better now than it has [...]

When it rains, it pours! The last few weeks of all ages comics have been a little sparse, but this week is filled to the brim! IDW has another one-off story for their crossover event Super Secret Crisis War, featuring The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Papercutz brings wrestling to the world of comics [...]

Sixth and seventh grade students are always asking me for another book by Raina Telgemeier. They want the “next one,” not realizing that with the exception of her Babysitter Club adaptations, her books are stand-alones. They also don’t realize that it takes an awfully long time to write and draw a full length-graphic novel! But [...]

Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down about a black teen who is shot by a white man, is especially timely with recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and just the right title for young adults grappling with streaming headlines. And, a new book from the queen of verse novels, Ellen Hopkins, will entice fans of the format. The following fiction and nonfiction titles for teens will be perfect for late-summer reading and back-to-school shelf-browsing.

August is bursting with industry news: YALSA is looking for submissions for its 2014 Maker Contest; the NAACP and American Urban Radio Networks have joined forces in a reading literacy campaign “NAACP Reads"; Minnesota's Saint Paul Public Library expands its laptop training and giveaway program.

Doing intensive research in preparation for a work of nonfiction is par for the course these days for children’s book authors, but for Katherine Roy, it’s entailed getting to know animals in intimate details, from dissecting sharks to getting up close with a tranquilized elephant in Kenya.

Books and resources on the history of the Civil Rights movement, nonviolent resistance, the Rodney King legacy, the history of racial tensions between citizens and police, and more.