Related
You know, what we’re really talking about is empowerment—feeling like even the smallest parts of us have power and worth. That could be super important to a middle school kid.
These books all share anxiety as a theme, but in conversation with each other they feel like they are capturing something essential about the power of middle grade books.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen outlines a poetry themed album release party for Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen outlines a poetry themed album release party for Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department
Librarian Angela Frederick discusses graphic novels perfect for foodies and those who like to cook, or eat, food
Just in time for National Poetry Month, check out these novels in verse!
It's been an embarrassment of podcast riches over on The Yarn recently. Here are five recent episodes for your listening pleasure.
Isabel in Bloom will be my fourth middle grade novel (my first one in verse). When I began writing it, a few intriguing images had come to me: a girl on a plane, a dried-up school garden, and a balikbayan box.
These Take Five lists can help you with collection development, displays, reading lists, and more
It's a quiet story, but one that makes it clear that Cecil is seen, that kids like Cecil are seen. I look forward to more from Jonathan Todd.
If AI becomes capable of writing unique novels, just for you, that are better than anything you've ever read before, what would become of the shared experience of a beloved book?
The concept of liminality plays a crucial role in Otherworldly, and as such, many of the important moments happen in liminal spaces.
A music festival, a Theseus retelling, sleuths, a speculative thriller, a LGBTQIA+ dictionary, and so much more!
New graphic novels, poetry collections, middle grade books, and YA.
Author Jane Yolen visits TLT to talk about her newest book, a collection of poetry titled IN AND OUT THE WINDOW
There's no shortage of middle grade characters who love to cook or bake!
In writing my contemporary YA novel, Just Another Epic Love Poem, I leaned into the granularity of my experience.
Not every character name goes through a rigorous process—some are a little more random!—but this is one of those parts of the writing process that is pure fun for me. It can be challenging to settle on the right name, but when you do, it makes all the difference.
The key to making that 2015-2024 walk to oblivion and partway back? Persistence. Holding nerve. Holding serve. Hoping to get another chance, and then another, and believing that if only you get that chance, you'll get it right this time.
Check out these forthcoming books from Peachtree and Peachtree Teen!
Librarian Angela Frederick shares highlights from the ALA-GNCRT's 2023 Best Graphic Novels for Children List
“Write what you know,” is an excellent starting place for writers. But to that advice, I would add, “Write what you wish you didn’t.”
Today's list is new books coming out in March. I swear there are one million middle grade books coming out on March 5 alone. It was a challenge to pick just a few new titles to include!
32 new and forthcoming middle grade and YA books that you need to check out!
In UNSTUCK Ms. Bowman suggests various strategies for overcoming writer’s block. My hope is that kids will try some of these strategies the next time they’re “stuck” in their writing
This month’s video game roundup features sequels, new installments in enduring series, and games set in familiar realms that can help players build skills they can apply to navigating the real world.
I sat down with comedian Jesús Trejo to talk all about his debut picture book, Papá's Magical Water Jug Clock.
Today’s list features new books out this month! Bet you couldn't guess that by the title!
Cultivating a story idea into a fully realized story is always an unexpected journey. It starts with the wish of a story idea, of what it can be. Then it blossoms into the best laid plans, the outline. After that? That’s the magic.
As always from Dee, a thoughtful, compassionate exploration the changing interior and exterior landscapes of middle school life.
I am so proud of The Someday Daughter. Not because it came to me easily, but because I confronted so many parts of myself in its creation.
The story is funny, the art is so expressive, and the solution to Molly's problems is totally novel and outside of the box. A satisfying read. I hope to see more from this duo!
There are SO MANY graphic novels these days, which is great!
A really insightful, authentic, and funny look at all the changes big and small that come with this milestone in growing up.
As we celebrate the power of storytelling, let these new books transport readers to exciting worlds, spark their curiosity, and inspire a lifelong love for literature.
We are here, and we are queer, and we can’t reduce our identities to the neat black-and-white that society would like us to. We can’t (and shouldn’t) reduce our stories, either.
What a breath of fresh air it is to see this basic human function not just simply mentioned in fiction for kids and teens, but explored.
Queer stories can be joyful. We can celebrate that joy both looking backward toward the past, standing bravely in the present, and facing the future with hope and good care for each other, always.
A few years ago, I set off on an adventure that would eventually leave me both alone and alone in the woods…for days on end.
For all of your collection development and TBR needs, please enjoy these new titles from Holiday House and Pixel + Ink.
Climate change, conservation, and environmentalism are all issues today's tweens and teens care deeply about.
Every writer gets the same question. Whether they write for adults or kids. Whether they are at a school or a cocktail party.
“Where did you get the idea for the book?”
Start Black History Month with these edifying, entertaining audiobooks by Black writers about Black experiences starring Black characters—and keep listening throughout the year.
I never thought of myself as a particularly religious teen. My family was Catholic because we’d always been Catholic. We ate fish on Fridays during Lent but didn’t say grace before meals. I went to Catholic elementary school, because my parents felt it was a good religious foundation and the school was strong academically, but […]
I talked with Abby Hanlon about the triumphant return of her chapter book series, Dory Fantasmagory.
Get out your TBR! It's time for some new books out this month!
New books from Jacqueline Woodson, Lakita Wilson, Gene Luen Yang, and more!
Given how many children live with a chronic illness or condition, it's nice to see more characters reflecting this reality.
I’d start off with an intro paragraph here, but you’d probably just skip it. Let me just say that these rules only apply to me.
Kids surviving adversity. Kids surviving in spite of their lives, in spite of the adults, in spite of the lack of resources.
A hilarious and engaging look at the life of a self-deprecating teenage feminist facing all the ups and downs of life. A great read.
Middle school is the toughest age to build a collection for readers as a school librarian. Yes, I said it.
Colby Sharp and I got together to look back at 2023.
Illustrated novels can be a stepping stone AND a perfectly fine and wonderful place to land.
Ring in 2024 with these skillful compositions and top-notch vocal and instrumental performances, perfect for story hours, classrooms, or family time, including an album of songs based on banned books.
The Southern American story, like all human tales, is a complex and interwoven narrative, full of opportunities for self-discovery… when we allow ourselves to look.
Transitioning is a lot more complicated than facile narratives about "queer joy" or how #ItGetsBetter.
Woohoo! New year, new books to look forward to! Here are a bunch of middle grade books I can't wait to read! I'm sure I only missed about a billion more great ones!
Nine quick book reviews including a Hanukkah romance and a Christmas romance!
Buckle up for another round of NEW BOOKS to put on your TBR list
I try to review almost everything I read that I like. A lot of those reviews come in the form of tiny post-it note reviews. Here are a bunch of those post-it reviewed books that stood out as favorites.
Get out those TBR lists and check out my top YA reads of the year!
Wow, did I read some amazing middle grade books this year! Be sure not to miss these stellar 2023 titles.
A highly anxious teen with a long list of fears is forced to tackle them all at once (and add new ones) when they witness the murder (Fear #3) of a neighbor.
Over on The Yarn podcast I talk with Pedro Martín, creator of Mexikid, one of the best books of 2023. Pedro shares how his graphic novel memoir came to be.
Thorough and easy to use, this guide should be something read by anyone working with (or raising!) children of any age. A superb crash course in the past few years of books featuring LGBTQIA+ stories. Don't miss this one.
Curious about the history of the Printz Award? Check out my new article to learn more!
Things heat up in Bangladeshi Irish Shireen Malik’s life when she’s cast in a televised teen baking show alongside her ex-girlfriend.
Check out these 9 new and forthcoming books!
It’ll always be important to me to write stories that tell the truth: there is no should, there is no supposed to, and there are no rules to happiness.
Who doesn't need more graphic novels in their lives?!
Looking back, it seems ridiculous that I, an avid book lover and organiser extraordinaire, did not realise that being a librarian was the perfect job for me.
Today we're celebrating our 200th episode with a special double interview: Jessixa and Aaron Bagley.
Two grieving girls, one full of secrets and a strange power, learn to appreciate both life and death in this sapphic gothic romance.
I found myself writing about characters, events, and experiences that I've never read in a novel or seen on a screen before.
For many teens and their parents—OK, for nearly all of us—navigating the fear and ignorance around drugs to talk about our experiences with them can be excruciating. That’s part of the reason why I wrote my book Weed: Cannabis Culture in the Americas.
I get excited whenever I see complicated intergenerational queer existence reflected in books for young people. I felt motivated to write my own.
They are characters with struggles. Characters with strong emotions. Characters who are different than us in some way. And none of those things should make a character—or person—unlikable.
By integrating what I’ve learned in The Search For Us, I hope I will give teen readers some tools to better cope with a family member who may be struggling with addiction.
Ghosts, climate change, a tween medium, a dog nanny, and so much more!
My granddaddy loved me in his way and wanted to leave me his legacy. He thought that legacy would be a car. I hope the story I’ve turned that legacy into is one he’d be proud of.
Just as they make our lives richer, I think these creatures will make our bookshelves richer, too—richer, wilder, and ever so much more interesting.
Readers who have struggled with their own health will be grateful to see another teen go through this and feel less alone. A really moving look at resilience in the face of so much exhaustion and uncertainty.
You need to give yourself a break. You need to pass on the mantle. You need to stop seizing the day, and start soaking it up.
I hope you and young readers you know will pick up The Plot to Kill a Queen, and experience, in just a small way, the magic of theater.
What parts are Silver Bay reality and what parts are Copper Cove myth? Perhaps it doesn’t matter.
All happy groceries are alike: each unhappy grocery is unhappy in its own way.
That moment will come, when you realize you wouldn’t want to be anyone else but you. That you were in the right place—that you were from the right place—all along.
In my middle grade fantasy, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF TATTERLY, it was important to me to highlight and celebrate the extended family.
My favorite foodie middle grades are warm, funny, and if you pay close attention, you can catch glimpses of the author and their heart in the pages.
articles
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
Thank you for visiting.
We’ve noticed you are using a private browser. To continue, please log in or create an account.
