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As it turns out, becoming a writer for teens—and teen Jan—is about the most thrilling and rewarding answer to the question: who am I?
Writing Lucy was our way of coping with the years Teghan lost: both the years trapped in self-denial about her identity and the years she spent in prison. The book is a badge of honor for those tough years we survived, and it’s a love letter to each other.
I discovered that if told with some heart and soul, history can be as compelling as fine fiction. And before long I found myself on a mission to make history come alive for young people.
Anthologies are the literary equivalent to a buffet dinner. They offer a wide selection of different perspectives (both in story telling and in personal background) and writing styles on the same theme.
You know what rules? Dogs. I sure do like them. Here are a few middle grade books featuring dogs, all approved by my rescue chiweenies, Charlie and Spot.
Shakespeare’s greatness can live on, but we can also give space to new voices - and both can happen at the exact same time with the power of a retelling.
The Donut Prince of New York isn't just about donuts or theater or football. It's about the revolutionary act of accepting yourself in a world that often suggests you shouldn't.
Author Gayle Forman is over on The Yarn podcast, taking us behind the scenes of her new middle grade novel NOT NOTHING
Middle grade may not have been in my initial career plans as an author, but now I can’t imagine writing without it.
Here is a small selection of twenty books which score 8/10 or higher on my personal "Fear Factor" grading used in The YA Horror 400.
35 new and upcoming titles to check out.
To write this story I interviewed social workers and read work by social scientists and scholars of American child welfare. I learned three lessons that I believe are critical for writers, librarians, and other members of the book community.
Jess Hannigan visits The Yarn podcast!
Readers can let their imaginations run wild thinking about how different their days would be if they attended a school focused on honing magical skills.
We adults can offer prompts, reading suggestions, and support, but that what’s most important is that young writers own their work, discover their own processes, experience encouragement but not too much intrusion from adults.
Top 2025 Printz Award contenders include poetry, stories featuring characters at both the younger and older ends of the age spectrum, graphic works, and an author who could get her fourth Printz recognition.
Powerful, affecting, and ultimately hopeful. Just beautiful.
Given that October means endless talk about spooky stuff, Halloween ideas, and all things ghostly, I figured why not round up a few booooks featuring ghosts?
One afternoon when my fifth-grade class was at the library for our weekly visit, my friend Jessica handed me a purple paperback book. “I just finished this,” she said. “It’s SO good. You have to read it.”
Undeniably one of the weirdest and best books I've read in my lifetime of reading.
If I had a dollar for every time I said something to the effect of "graphic novels are real books" or "reading graphic novels is reading" to someone disparaging them... well, I couldn't quit my job, but I would have a LOT of dollars.
One of Heartstopper’s central themes is that it’s rude, even dangerous, to speculate on someone’s else’s sexuality. But some fans aren’t getting the message.
This version of pillow fighting is a semi-professional fight club where anything goes as long as the pillow is the first point of contact. It’s more roller derby or WWE-style wrestling than a pillow fight in pajamas at a girls’ night sleepover.
The power of books, reading, and a good library help create brave spaces.
When we write, research, and even read about things that truly excite us, the job is suddenly fun. In fact, it’s no longer a job. It is a joy.
What I really loved about this book is that it shows a really good, healthy, positive relationship steeped in friendship, respect, and support.
Ah, October. Hoodie weather. Pretty leaves. Apple and pumpkin everything. Impending long, cold, dark winter. Needing to get out my Happy Light. Okay... maybe I should stop listing things fall brings. But it does bring a nice batch of new books!
Charlotte was my student in a university fiction course during the pandemic. A couple years later, I was delighted to find out that my publisher had chosen Charlotte to illustrate my cover!
Ruth Chan talks about her graphic novel memoir, UPROOTED
With a mother who grew up in Istanbul and a father who grew up in Montana, I spent much of my childhood traveling between those settings, figuring out how to exist in both, and grappling with questions of identity and belonging.
Spooky month is here, and not only am I thrilled for the fall breezes and pumpkin decor, but I’m also excited for so many incredible YA releases that arrive this month. And there are so many. I cut this list down at least four times, and we’re still at 16 books! So here’s the 16books […]
A rundown of 17 new and forthcoming books. Plus wild chiweenies excited for book mail!
Can you imagine a better way to find inspiration, insight, or the compassion necessary to write stories for this age than having been in the classroom?
15 quick reviews of new and forthcoming books!
Keep chipping away at your current TBR, but be sure to add these titles to your lineup for next year!
When I think of a writer’s toolbox, I get a picture of Batman’s utility belt. No matter what situation Batman is facing at the time he has exactly what he needs in his utility belt.
I want to tell you about one of Hungry Bones' ancestors. A spirit that haunts her pages.
These books here today show the secrets libraries can hold, the worlds of adventure they can provide, and the controversy that can sometimes happen in and around libraries.
The wilderness, more than anything in my life, has taught me that my body, my fat body is miraculous. And your body, it is miraculous too.
Katie Cook shares her three favorite comics AND drew an original comic for us!
This video game roundup features an assortment of sequels and remakes, perfect for catching gamers up on beloved, long-running series they may have missed or revisiting revamped favorites.
Check out these seven forthcoming books!
These Take Five lists can help you with collection development, displays, reading lists, and more.
As we prepare for the launch of our new series, Westfallen, we get asked one question more than any other: “What was it like writing a novel with your sister/brother?”
The Unfinished is all about finding the bravery to face uncertainty in many ways – in one’s relationships, identity and creepy monsters that haunt the forest.
What does it mean when a book like THEY THOUGHT THEY BURIED US is praised for “strong queer Puerto Rican/Latine representation”?
Library Girl took me back to the forgotten memories of my childhood and the Kalamazoo Public Library. It took me back to that time in childhood when you are let loose from your parents’ leash and begin to explore the world on your own.
I know there are readers who are tired of love triangles, and I don’t blame them. But I’m also a firm believer that no trope is overdone until everyone has had an equal chance to play with it, especially authors from marginalized backgrounds.
Check out these titles by queer and BIPOC authors that will satisfy young readers as we approach spooky season
While driving home from a book event a couple weeks back, I turned on the recorder and talked about how THE SHIP IN THE WINDOW came to be.
As always, a list of five is only sharing a tiny bit of what’s new this month. Check your local library for other new releases!
How do we make the world safe for all of us to express our emotions? To begin with, we need to stick together as we cry and laugh our way through the world.
How GUAVA AND GRUDGES Pays Homage to the Golden Age of YA Romance, a guest post by author Alexis Castellanos
When I started working on my novel A Second Chance on Earth, I wanted to capture, in verse, the beauty and complexity of a Colombia that I love so intensely.
Lisa Fipps returns to talk about her latest book And Then, Boom!
I’m thrilled to share the Team Canteen kids with this next generation of readers and hope the members of The Baby-Sitters Club would choose to sit with them in the mess hall.
Minnesota is a wonderful place for many reasons, not the least of which is our amazing children's lit community.
An omnipresent icon, Swift has, with this latest album, offered up the term “poet” for mass consumption and contemplation.
Postapocalyptic stories have a strange optimism because the worst has happened. We are with the survivors and the Earth is in fragile recovery.
This quiet look at identity and loneliness will appeal to readers who appreciate the brevity of the verse format and who like a character-driven story.
Comfort media, at its core, tells its consumers that they’re not alone. All things end eventually, good and bad. But one thing that remains is the memories of those stories that stick with us early in life and provide comfort for years to come.
Colby talked with Newbery Honor winner Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts) on The Yarn podcast this week.
It's not spelling that makes you intelligent—it's your ideas.
For all of your collection development and TBR needs, please enjoy these new titles from Holiday House and Pixel+Ink.
What if ghosts weren't scary at all? What if we as the audience, instead of being frightened by a ghostly tale, were left with a different feeling altogether?
For over 20 years, it has been my great joy to immerse myself in novels in verse. Middle grade novels in verse have had a long, continually developing history.
What would Crockett Johnson think of the new movie adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon? His biographer weighs in.
Johnson is working towards becoming a modern day Agatha Christie for teen readers, and that's one of the highest compliments I can give.
Overall, an enlightening look at how understanding and celebrating gender diversity has been a long-held belief for many people and cultures throughout history.
I think it’s important to inspire young girls to stick together, to stand up for one another, and to love each other even through the parts of life that are ugly.
Our heroes will survive to live another day, and even if the road is rocky, and even if their world doesn’t end up all rainbows and unicorns and Skittles, at a minimum the downpour will end, the sun will come out, and they will be left with that powerful thing called HOPE.
How far would you go to convince yourself that everything is fine?
Lost your democracy? How long does it take to get it back?
For the people of Portugal, that number was 48 years.
Before I was a Deaf, queer, and Disabled author, I was a Deaf, queer, and Disabled reader.
I really am trying to crank through my TBR cart, but it just keeps filling up. Here are a few quick post-it note reviews of new books that you may want to add to your TBR tower.
I did not know then that there was more dividing my parents and I than language; we literally had different worldviews and value systems.
This fantastic trio of audiobooks offers a picture book biography, a middle grade historical novel, and a propulsive YA sci-fi.
Everyone, including teens and tweens, should get to enjoy these fluffy books without judging themselves or feeling that these books somehow have less value than Crime and Punishment.
From multiplayer matches to couch co-op adventures, sometimes two (or more) heads are better than one. Here are six multiplayer video games to add to your collection for building community in the library and at home.
For July's Disability Pride Month and beyond, these 25 audiobooks featuring disabled characters are edifying and enlightening selections for elementary, middle grade, and YA listeners.
Life takes its own twists and turns, whatever the magic of the library intends. But the love of fantasy and writing and books ran deep, deep, deep. The power of the library would not be denied in the end.
I wanted to show that we can still be happy and chronically ill. We contain multitudes. I wanted to show that there’s balance.
Choosing to end a series is choosing to give your characters to your audience.
Science has shown that stories are engines for empathy. My hope is that with non-fiction, novels and picture books, we remind ourselves that stories are our best antidote to the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
My hope is that the book might help both protagonists and antagonists in the world give each other the time and patience to jump some horizons. My second, smaller hope is that it might soothe the aches and pains that come with the hard landings that sometimes follow those jumps.
Over on The Yarn podcast, Colby talks with author Abby Cooper about her middle grade novel TRUE COLORS.
Here are 18 new and forthcoming titles to help you build your TBR for the rest of the year!
Pangu’s Shadow is about the power of science to reveal the truth and who should hold that power (hint: anyone and everyone). Science needs diverse perspectives to investigate the truth from every angle.
Hand this to readers ready to get high school over with or those who just need a reminder that there are people in your corner (even if your corner is wedged in a storage room behind a locked door at school).
Well-chosen videos contribute a hard-to-ignore spark to educational lessons and add novelty and visual stimulation that young learners crave. No matter the topic, these videos are sure to engage classrooms and stimulate discussion with elementary, middle grade, and high school students.
They don’t have all the answers. They make mistakes. There’s no sugar-coating their pain or flaws here. And there shouldn’t have to be. Give me all the unlikeable girls.
The authors talk wrestling, Orange Julius, kayfabe, identity, grief, and more.
Every Happily Ever After is going to look a little different. Stories, in any form, can be an escape. But within unfamiliar settings and struggles we see the truth of the world around us.
Just like art, coming up with the ideal discussion questions involved a lot of trial and error. As I get ready for my next career phase with the upcoming launch of my YA book, TAKE ALL OF US, I’ve decided to take a look back at what ended up being the five worst and five best library whiteboards overall.
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