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Discussing her latest novel Tree. Table. Book. with SLJ, Lois Lowry explains how, from her first book to The Giver to now, she has always been intrigued with the concept of the gifts that age and youth can give to one another. 

In this Q&A series, SLJ poses five questions and a request for a book recommendation to a debut YA author. In the latest installment, Vanessa Le shares about The Last Bloodcarver.  

From elementary books to young adult titles—across various genres and formats—these 12 recent releases elevate voices and showcase the multifaceted experiences within the trans and nonbinary community.

In this new Q&A series, SLJ poses five questions and a request for a book recommendation to a debut YA author. For our inaugural Q&A of the series, Dinesh Thiru shares about Into the Sunken City. 

"It doesn’t really matter what they did out there,” says the teacher librarian, who serves youth from age 10 to their early 20s at El Centro Junior/Sr. High School in the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility.

Amanda Chacon ensures a relevant, engaging collection and a welcoming library for her predominantly bilingual students and their families.

From testifying before the state legislature’s education committee to creating a library refuge that helps kids love books, Cox personifies leadership.

In an interview with SLJ, Dan Bova, author of The HISTORY Channel This Day in History For Kids shares details about creating the book, along with his favorite fact in the volume and why he wears a football helmet while binge-watching Netflix.

Leading our most viewed posts of the week, a deeply personal appreciation by SLJ’s Kimberly Fakih of the Sydney Taylor classic.  Meanwhile, our 2023 profile of Mychal Threets made the rounds, as the much-loved ambassador of libraries departed the Fairfield (CA) Civic Center Library March 1.  

Co-authors Kekla Magoon & Cynthia Leitich Smith in conversation about the inspiration behind The Blue Stars Series: Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem: "When we set out to write a middle grade graphic novel series about cousins who became superheroes to save their school library, we couldn't have imagined how timely our story would become."

The seasoned duo chat about their collaborative process, real-life "Dogtown" counterparts, and drawing plot inspiration from the absurdity of the everyday. Plus, a cover reveal!

Just ahead of the release of their YA fantasy novel Infinity Alchemist, author Kacen Callender talked with SLJ about the idea of "chosen ones," reflecting their community and identity in their writing, and more.

The theme for Black History Month 2024 is "African Americans and the Arts." In these titles, young readers can learn about people who loved to express themselves through visual art, dance, song, and other forms of artistic creation.

Sally Dunn, and her picture book assignment, left an indelible mark on the author of 2024 Newbery winner, The Eyes and the Impossible.

The James Addams Peace Association and Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction announce their 2024 winners; the kid lit community and free speech advocates mourn the loss of author Robie Harris, Lerner launches space books partnership, Paw Prints Publishing expands to middle grade, and more in this edition of News Bites.

Research provides an opportunity to reclaim the narrative of enslavement and “share it in creative ways that deeply connect us to the past,” says the author of Freewater, which won the 2023 Newbery.

In this guest post, artist Sammy Savos details her creative process and discusses her collaboration with Holocaust survivor Estelle Nadel to create the graphic memoir The Girl Who Sang. "I’m very grateful that she was able to see the finished book, hold it in her hands, and tell me how happy she was with it."

Crews discusses the research that went into her new picture book about the children’s author and literary legend.

Vashti Harrison earns a place in history with her 2024 Caldecott win for 'Big,' the first book she both wrote and illustrated.

Dave Eggers thought that maybe The Eyes and the Impossible was too weird for the world. Now it is the 2024 Newbery Medal winner.

The A.S. King–edited collection of short-form fiction makes history: It's the first anthology to win the Printz, as King becomes the first person to win the award twice.

When Jason Chin won the 2022 Caldecott Medal for Watercress, he immediately called the book's author, Andrea Wang. But the next conversation with Wang made Chin smile the most.

The 2015 Caldecott winner explains why the award should go to the illustrator and the author, and reveals his memorable middle-of-the-night DM from that year's Newbery winner, Kwame Alexander.

Tae Keller, who won the 2021 Newbery Medal for When You Trap a Tiger, talks about wanting to give back after the "unfathomable stroke of luck" of winning the award.

The 2020 Newbery Medalist shares his favorite moments from winning, including a Kwame confusion, and tells the 2024 winner to enjoy the moment but not expect to get a lot of work done.

Once again, Messner is connecting kid lit creators and educators for World Read Aloud Day in February.

The new year brings new education laws to states across the country; a young publisher's posthumous fundraiser continues to help others; Jeff Kinney honored by the Educational Book and Media Association; BCALA seeks scholarship submissions; and more in this edition of News Bites.

The director of the Florida Freedom to Read Project discusses expectations for 2024, plus a look at new book-related laws for 2024, a Massachusetts police chief apologizes for an officer searching for a book at middle school, and the story of a Russian librarian who called out the fascism of removing LGBTQIA+ books.

Remembering those who died this year.

From intellectual freedom to AI, there was plenty to learn and discuss at the 2023 SLJ Summit in Atlanta. Here are just some of the ideas that came from those on panels and in breakout sessions.

We love our creators of children's and YA books and so do readers. Here are the five most popular stories centering writers whose stories inspired us over the past year. 

PEN America's report, Spineless Shelves: Two Years of Book Banning, shows the spread of copycat book bans, as well as how several titles from an author were targeted after one of their works was banned.

While librarians, of late, have drawn some attention by mainstream press, the profession has always been central in SLJ's coverage. Of stories driven by school and public librarians, their perspectives and work, four drew the most views in 2023.  

In his SLJ Summit keynote address, the best-selling "Wimpy Kid" author shared the memorable titles from his youth, as well as those that have opened his eyes to his privilege and the lives of those not like him.

The "Wimpy Kid" author headlines SLJ's flagship annual event, featuring sessions on the biggest issues facing school librarianship, from empowerment in the face of book bans, to making the case to stakeholders and engaging the AI revolution.

Angeline Boulley, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Debbie Reese discussed Native work for young readers—and Boulley made a big announcement.

Newbery-winning author Donna Barba Higuera based Petra on someone who also kept her vision loss a secret: her mother. 

 In colorful shirts and with a contagious excitement about the library, the supervising librarian of the Fairfield Civic Center branch of the Solano County (CA) Library system posts about the little library moments that can have a big impact. 

Two principals in a Maine district remove and restrict six books after challenges; a Florida district proactively pulls 31 titles based on complaints in other counties; teens speak out for the right to read in North Carolina and California; and more in the latest Censorship News.

Young won the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1990 for Lon Po Po, which he also wrote.

Ariana Grande, Guillermo del Toro, Padma Lakshmi, Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Sandra Cisneros, Amanda Gorman, Margaret Cho, and Ron Perlman are among the upwards of 175 public figures who signed an open letter calling on creative communities to leverage their voices to stop book bans. 

In a first for the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Meg Medina establishes office hours at the Library of Congress; AASL opens submissions for Innovative Reading Grant; there are big changes at Teachers College; the Mathical Book Prize submissions are open; and more in this edition of News Bites.

Newbery Honor and Stonewall Award–winning children's author Kyle Lukoff focused only on the creative work at a weeklong youth literature workshop at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA.