People

A frank Q&A with First Second publisher Mark Siegel on the desire to look beneath the surface and ask difficult questions, as well as his quest to build a better world through comics.

I hope this story will expose Betita’s humanity, because her yearnings for happiness and love are universal, but further still, I hope it teaches children how one child was able to use her voice, her art and poetry, to not only endure but to rise above and change a horrific and harmful circumstance.

Submissions for School Librarian of the Year are now being accepted. Let us know what you, or an outstanding colleague, are doing.

The middle grade author reflects on loneliness and survival in her latest novel, My Life in the Fish Tank, and its unintentional ties to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Black kids deserve to see themselves as the stars of the story, and it’s just as important for other readers to see Black kids as the stars of the story as well.

When I decided to write my newest novel The Bridge, I was opening a door that I hadn’t opened yet. Instead of coming out as gay, which I had done in my first young adult books, this time I was coming out about my mental health issues. In some ways, this was actually harder for me.

Shelley Diaz returns to SLJ to become reviews editor.

Seven months of learning loss. That’s the impact wrought by the pandemic, and low-income, Black, and Latinx children stand to suffer the most. Some cities are adapting the pod concept, working with community partners to serve at-risk students.

A PBS documentary, a picture book about his boyhood aspirations to become a preacher, and his own graphic memoir trilogy invite young readers into the life and battles of the late, beloved John Lewis.