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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.
Like hidden treasures (fictional and real), the story gems could be anywhere, and they might not be what you’d expect.
This well-written, moving story is one that will stick with me for a long time.
In Be That Way, I wanted to explore the deeply personal and solitary way of making art that’s more typical of how I work. At the heart of my creative process for Be That Way was the concept of play.
A really lovely look at the many beautiful and ugly parts of growing up.
If you’re a fellow lover of mad scientists, or if you would like to trick a friend (or enemy?) into liking them too, you might also enjoy The Glass Scientists!
A fantastic read with an unforgettable main character.
There might not be one answer, and that’s okay! I think fairy tales are about the questions and the exploration.
Peter Brown takes us behind the scenes of the newest book in the WILD ROBOT series.
It is hard to understand how hope could endure in conditions like those the enslaved lived under, yet the author shows the love, connection, resilience, and reclamation of a people whose voices are essential to the narrative of slavery and of our country.
A dog nanny, a psychic tween, mermaids, a wish-granting dog, and more!
Stories let us see ourselves doing things and having adventures. They let us imagine ourselves in those places and know that we are valid.
How to Find a Missing Girl can be fun, silly, and fast-paced and defined by grief and hope. The feelings are still there. They can co-exist. I know they do.
Change will always be hard, but now I have a new mantra. If Kavi can do it, so can I.
And so can you.
The verse novel format adeptly captures Chloe's racing mind, her outbursts, and her new need for introspection. A solid read with a main character who undergoes genuine growth.
I hope the proliferation of fantasy books grounded in African societies will create familiarity for readers and a new shorthand. I hope it will inspire readers to learn more about the real places and people that underpin the stories.
Only when people feel understood and seen, not when they are shamed, can conversation and change can truly begin.
How lucky we are. So many stories out there, hiding in plain sight. Just waiting to be found.
Audio adaptation of visually reliant, multilayered storytelling is not quite like transforming any other genre for the ears. These 19 audio titles adapted from graphic novels rise to the challenge.
Over on The Yarn podcast, I interviewed Lane Smith about his latest book, Stickler Loves the World.
My roots, traditions, language and stories all come from that place, so in writing All That Shines, I was calling home. Trying to recreate those nights full of shimmering stars, meadows full of blue green grass you could get lost in and friendships that last forever.
A really great story of the lengths one teen will go to to help keep her family together. Somehow Zimmermann makes this story of neglect as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. A stellar read.
Your shelved stories won’t be lost to the dust. Rework bits of it into your new manuscript. Borrow entire chunks and passages freely (after all, it’s your own writing).
The imaginative and fantastical landscapes that horror germinates in are great fun. And when done right they are: scary, exciting, revealing, unnerving, unexpected, funny, dramatic…you know, like life.
This powerful, well-written debut is an outstanding read not to be missed. I have read 164 books this year so far and this book is definitely in my top ten reads of 2023.
Fear plays a role in life. It keeps us safe. It keeps us on our toes. And sometimes...it's just fun
Gil and his friends are looking to be heard, not just written off, not just used for good publicity whenever their school needs to show how "diverse" it is. And if no one is willing to listen? Well, Gil and company will make them.
Get out your TBR lists! Here are 32 new and forthcoming middle grade and YA books you don't want to miss!
This month’s titles allow patrons to enjoy a staycation to a variety of fantasy locales from the comfort of their own home. And, they're a great way to get kids' brains strategizing for the new school year.
Hereditary love curses, prophetic dreams, dire warnings from spirits—this is the magic I infused into my debut novel, A Tall Dark Trouble. A magic that’s steeped in Caribbean beliefs and practices, and a magic I grew up with.
Author Chris Baron takes us behind the scenes of his new book THE GRAY.
A powerful, unflinching look at the hard truths of the legacy of slavery, mental health issues, and the connection between medical neglect and racism
Graphic novels, mysteries, a grumpy/sunshine, a mental health story with a cryptozoological surprise, and more!
The heart of Forget-Me-Not Blue springs from something that happened to me in fourth grade music class when we were learning a folk dance that required girls and boys to partner.
Jarrett Lerner is on The Yarn podcast taking listeners behind the scenes of A WORK IN PROGRESS.
These 11 family music albums full of STEM and SEL topics will have kids moving to the beat and learning some important lessons while doing so.
Jett’s story grew from my wonderings of how my life would’ve been different if I’d had access to age-appropriate books featuring characters who had survived trauma. I might not have felt so alone or ashamed. I might not have waited decades to tell my secret.
In the heart of S.O.S., John embarks on an enlightening journey, discovering the true value of genuine friendships and grappling with the challenges that accompany fame
Rana Joon and the One and Only Now, my debut YA novel, was never meant to be about grief, but sometimes life has different plans in store for us than what we can imagine.
I wondered what might happen if a girl who is hell-bent on maintaining her loner status is forced to socialize with an elderly woman. That “what if” lead to the very first draft of what would eventually become All Alone With You.
Part two of our LIVE interview with Kate DiCamillo at ALA is up, and I think you're going to like it.
For those who can take the heaps and heaps of pain and trauma laid out here, they will find a devastating book beautifully written, an empowering book about speaking your truth, about solidarity, friendship, and about hope in even the very worst of times.
The Barbie movie comes out TOMORROW! If you’re on pins and needles for more Barbie content, or if your local theater has sold out, try these tween and teen graphic novels that might scratch your Barbie itch. The Sweet Valley Twins are BACK: in graphic novel format! Join Jessica and Elizabeth as they take on […]
26 new and forthcoming books for middle grade and YA readers.
Love, fear, growing up, coming out, the pandemic, and the Orlando nightclub shooting all captured in ten full-color panels.
My brand-new emotionally complex and deeply researched historical middle-grade novel, Light Comes to Shadow Mountain, started life on the page—and in my mind—as a picture book.
I like books that show me something new, and this book presents an underrepresented storyline (young marriage/engagements) and gives the reader a lot to think about. A really good, interesting read.
In 2023, in our current era of censorship and aggressive attempts at book banning, perhaps it’s the most revolutionary thing we can do: speak. Or listen.
Check out how the two authors, from different generations, approached the classic brand and developed the different characters.
It's happening! It's really happening! I am actually making my way through some of the books I set aside in the last months of the school year! Here are quick reviews of a handful of those titles.
It's happening! It's really happening! I am actually making my way through some of the books I set aside in the last months of the school year! Here are quick reviews of a handful of those titles.
Reading the classics is hard for some people. For a lot of people. And a lot of people simply won’t pick them up. That’s okay.
Enjoy some rapid fire Q&A with Laurel Snyder, Lauren Castillo, Brad and Kristi Montague, and M.T. Anderson.
Many teenagers in this day and age not only understand that politics will impact their world, but that they can in turn, impact politics.
At times, life presents us with opportunities disguised as challenges. If we leap, we just might find solid ground and oh so much happiness.
YA author Gigi Griffis talks about her new novel THE WICKED UNSEEN and the importance of tackling tough topics for teens
To some people beginning with an image before writing the story might seem strange. But I have always been a visual person and drawing my way towards the story and solutions in my stories, works best for me.
It! is! summer! break! I have high hopes for cranking through tons of books from Mount TBR. Here are some recent additions.
Over on The Yarn podcast, Aubrey Hartman talks about her middle grade debut, The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor.
Thank you to SLJ’s TLT, and Amanda MacGregor in particular, for allowing me to discuss several topics related to my debut, YA novel, FATIMA TATE TAKES THE CAKE. It was released June 13th, 2023, by Holiday House. The main character, Fatima, is a seventeen-year-old high school senior who aspires to become a pastry chef, contrary […]
Who are you when so much of your life is about image? When do you get to be you?
When I began to write All the Dead Lie Down, I was imagining what it would be like to have anxiety and be dropped into the middle of an actual Gothic novel.
Check out the hot titles this past year at my elementary school!
I write books about grief not to make the reader sad, I write them to give readers a safe space to heal.
I wrote a book that would please a middle school kid who wants to hear his pen cluck just one… more… time.
With offerings from Weston Woods and productions about conservation and immigration, these works both entertain and break down complex topics for educators and students.
The idea bubbled up practically overnight: the story of a young, gay, Hispanic teen (that’s me), who falls in love with a cowboy (that’s Texas), who may or may not be a killer (and that’s Jane Austen).
This companion novel allows me to tell another one of those untold stories—uncovered through videos and memoirs and articles—of a young boy yearning to, one day, reunite with his father.
Our latest video game reviews feature a vengeful god, a speedy bipedal hedgehog, a laser-wielding space bounty hunter, and a squishy pink puffball.
I’m a sucker for a good happily ever after. I believe that most people deserve one, and deserve to see people like themselves have one. Which is one of the reasons I wrote Rhythm & Muse, to fill a void that I wasn’t finding at the time. A black, teenage boy finding his.
This is my love letter to all the equestrians who haven’t seen themselves on the page. I’m going to need your help and support to get my books into the hands of kids who want and need them, so I hope you go on this ride with me.
A Podcast Experiment: SPEED ROUND w/ Marla Frazee, Dan Santat, Doug Salati, and Amina Luqman-Dawson.
Listen to our first-ever SPEED ROUND episode of The Yarn podcast!
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