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YA Author Todd Strasser poses with his surfboard in Montauk, New York. Strasser started surfing when he was in his mid-50s. His next book, Fallout(Candlewick), publishes in September 2013.

We all know about the summer reading slide. This summer, 180 students from two Buffalo (NY) suburban school districts spent four weeks with grad students working on their reading and writing skills, hoping to reverse that effect.

Filmmaker Hannah Weyer based her novel on a true story and uses an authentic “urban vernacular” to keep it real. Teen readers will be rooting for her young protagonist from start to finish. Adult Books 4 Teens blogger Angela Carstensen speaks with the author about On the Come Up and the real teen that inspired the book.

New York City’s librarians, teachers, and parents are prepping for a major battle with the city’s Department of Education on the heels of its official request to the New York State Education Department last week that it be exempted from state minimum staffing requirements for certified school library media specialists. The city’s move follows years of quiet noncompliance with the state mandate despite two petitions from the local teachers union to the State Commissioner of Education.

From paperboy routes to dealing with a dad fighting in Afghanistan, these new releases selected by Junior Library Guild editors feature boys who make difficult, life-altering decisions.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales books are a cheeky take on American history, but they are also sophisticated graphic storytelling that help bring the events to life in ways that simple prose could not. His latest book, The Donner Dinner Party, takes on a subject that has horrified and fascinated the public since it happened and [...]

The importance of advocacy is evident to us during a crisis. When our libraries are threatened or our staff faces cuts, then we leap into motion. But we should be mindful of advocacy every day. Mapping a yearlong effort keeps advocacy from getting lost in the daily shuffle.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: It is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. No one remembers. He has wrapped up four gifts, to give to his four best friends. And he is bringing his grandfather’s handgun to school. Today is the day he will shoot Asher [...]

You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Joyce Valenza shares some creative ways to do a library orientation. (Zombies included.)