News & Features

Canadian novelist Susin Nielsen talks about her novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which explores the aftermath of a high school shooting.

Author Gary D. Schmidt interviews 2012 National Book Award–winner William Alexander.

For educators looking to make the upcoming U.S. presidential inauguration accessible to students, an online conference series launched by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies offers the perfect solution.

Jean Craighead George, Maurice Sendak, and Jan Berenstain were among the many wonderful authors and illustrators who passed way last year.

From the Hunger Games, the Common Core, and maker spaces, to Gangnam Style and the ongoing ebook wars, a look at the highlights and key themes of 2012, according to Twitter.

I guess we’re going make this an annual thing. Last January, SLJTeen ran my top choices for 2011, and here I am again with my 2012 picks. As you may remember, Coe Booth’s Bronxwood and Simone Elkeles’s Chain Reaction were on last year’s list. In a blog post, Booth wrote that she purposefully deleted the new novel she was working on. That takes courage and commitment. Her novels show her dedication to excellence, and teens respond. Elkeles is working on a new four-book series about football entitled Wild Cards. When I asked if there were also girls and guns in it, she replied, “There are always girls and romance and guys with lots of testosterone! No guns in the first book, but it gets gritty in the second when one of the boys gets caught up in gang activity.”