SLJ Blogs

As an author, how do I approach the potential for pain in the lines I write? How, as a reader, do we make these mostly well-intended but sometimes trivial-feeling statements actually hold meaning for us?

52 (!!!) new and forthcoming books to build your TBR ever taller!

Rounding up 2024 books from past Printz Medal and Honor winners!

"If you love worms, this is the book for you." Inspired by LeVar Burton we take a look at an old Reading Rainbow book to see how it holds up.

Look at the jaw-dropping art and stellar storytelling inside, and this book may serve to upend everything you thought you knew about moving day picture books.

A wrap up of the North Texas Teen Book Festival 2024 with an emphasis on some of the cool thrillers and horror being written for tweens and teens today

Big news for Svetlana Chmakova fans: JY will publish the second volume of The Weirn Books in October 2024.

These kinds of books are a great way to "taste" stories from a bunch of authors and discover new favorites!

I hope my work will encourage others to think about disability in a broader context, whether that’s rethinking how disabled characters are portrayed or creating more opportunities for disabled writers to tell their own stories.

It's an all 2024 Award Winners edition of Name That LEGO Book Cover!

The First Amendment is a crucial defense against book bans, particularly those targeting LGBTQ+ stories, critical race theory, and BIPOC authors. However, schools often navigate around these protections through "educational discretion." Beyond the First Amendment, the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act's Title VI and IX provide avenues to challenge bans based on race and sex discrimination. A notable case in Georgia's Forsyth County School District demonstrates how these civil rights statutes can combat bans, offering a more direct path to restoring banned books. This approach highlights the importance of considering discriminatory impacts over intent in the fight against book bans, providing a potentially more effective strategy for upholding students' rights to information.

Young adult readers will be able to relate to this story of a boy who constantly gets in trouble through no fault of his own, even if they don't catch the allusions to Kafka.

Book lovers can't help but feel enchanted upon walking into The Curious Reader. After my first visit several years ago, I got the same magical feeling as seeing The Shop Around the Corner in You’ve Got Mail.

You know what is a terrible term? Sandwich Generation. Because I like sandwiches, but I for sure do NOT like being part of the Sandwich Generation. Yes, this is related to this post. Bear with me. This post has LOTS of post-it reviews because I have spent LOTS of time at my mom’s helping care […]

You know what is a terrible term? Sandwich Generation. Because I like sandwiches, but I for sure do NOT like being part of the Sandwich Generation. Yes, this is related to this post. Bear with me. This post has LOTS of post-it reviews because I have spent LOTS of time at my mom’s helping care […]

Is it weird that we torture Grover during the course of this book?

Iran's first superstar, Googoosh, at last gets her first picture book biography and I'm on hand to interview author/artist Azadeh Westergaard about what writing such a book entails.

In the book, Claire, Billie, Raelynn, and Tasha are the leftovers. The kids no one else wants to associate with. They are, for me, a celebration of the kids who got me through middle school. And high school. And honestly, who still help me today.

It’s crucial to empower teens to find their voice and their community while advocating for their rights. It’s just as crucial to highlight queer joy and friendship, especially when readers are coming of age during turbulent times.

"A country needs ideas from everywhere, just like mushroom rhizomes help the forest to grow. Below the surface." Today we celebrate the life of a great artist, now gone.