News & Features

Grand Rapids, MI, school officials are hoping to better engage students through technology: 100 Nook e-readers provided by the Grand Rapids Public Library (GRPL). The new readers were procured specifically to engage the city’s teenage population, says Jessica Liddell, GRPL’s youth services librarian.

There is only a short time left to nominate a connected educator for the White House’s next “Champions of Change” event, which celebrates education leaders who creatively use technology to help kids learn. Those selected will be invited to the White House in October—in honor of Connected Educator Month—to showcase their efforts to support more connected schools and students. Online nominations are due by midnight on Friday, September 20.

Acclaimed author/illustrator Kevin Henkes spoke to a live audience at Bank Street College of Education in New York City on September 17. The event, which coincided with the publication date of his latest children's book The Year of Billy Miller, was also broadcasted to classrooms and libraries across the country.

High school students in Randolph County Schools in North Carolina may no longer access Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (Random House, 1952) in their school libraries following a vote on Monday by the board of education to remove it from shelves.

STEAM education engages young people in science and technology through collaboration and invention, much the same as a maker space does. In fact, many aspects of the best maker spaces already exist in school libraries. Two readers weigh in.

Loudon County Public Library recently concluded their 8th annual Teen Film Competition which drew in 29 film submissions. Gum Spring Library branch hosted the film festival, but the program was open to all teen residents of the United States. Teen services librarian April Layne Shroeder shares how her library expanded its program participation

In the editor’s note in the ARC of All the Truth That’s in Me, Kendra Levin describes Julie Berry’s debut YA book as a “pinhole” narrative—“you start looking through a tiny hole… and as the story goes on, the pinhole widens and widens until you can see a bigger picture.” SLJTeen caught up with Berry to learn more about the setting, characters, and the origins of this beautifully written story.

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. She’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. She stumbles upon a warehouse party where, among other things, Elise discovers she has what it takes to be an awesome DJ. Macmillan is giving five lucky winners the chance to get a copy of Leila Sales's latest title, This Song Will Save Your Life.

Amy Cheney is constantly on the look-out for books that will engage her incarcerated teens, but estimates that only about one in five that she encounters will pass muster. That's why she is so excited about a new self-published title, From Crack to College & Vice Versa.