“How much pain are we willing to tolerate when we know we don’t have to?” asked opening speaker Wes Moore, CEO of anti-poverty organization Robin Hood, US Army combat veteran, and one of many speakers who addressed race and inequality. His forthcoming book (with Erica L. Green) Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City … Continue reading 2020 Midwinter Wrap-Up
As “Emily Doe,” she was at the center of a widely publicized sexual assault case at Stanford University, in which members of the media and public fixated on assailant Brock Turner’s swim times and how a guilty verdict—the judge sentenced him to six months in prison when the case wrapped in 2016—would negatively impact his … Continue reading Know Her Name
The “ShibSibs”—recently announced as honorary co-chairs of National Library Week—spoke about their collaboration, their inspirations, and their shared love of storytelling in a January 26 Auditorium Speaker Series session at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. Their novel Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist (forthcoming in May), the first in a series of mysteries for middle-grade … Continue reading Telling Stories On and Off the Ice
Brown relayed her “origin story” to attendees in the Auditorium Speaker Series at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Philadelphia on January 25. Born during the mid-1980s crack epidemic in one of Cleveland’s poorest neighborhoods to a mother and stepfather with no money and histories of addiction, her first memory is of … Continue reading Miracles and Memoir
NBC’s Today cohost Hoda Kotb, journalist Mariana Atencio, actor and activist George Takei, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA Sylvia Acevedo, journalist and activist Isha Sesay, writer and CBS Sunday Morning contributor Mo Rocca, and philanthropist Melinda Gates reveal the important role that libraries and books have played in their lives. If you have … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Year-End Conversations
One News You Can Use session, “Confronting White Nationalism in Libraries,” was inspired by a toolkit published by the Western States Center, an advocacy organization focused on strengthening inclusive democracy, to help schools address the rise in racist extremism. Panel organizer Jarrett Dapier, young adult librarian at Skokie (Ill.) Public Library, applied its recommendations to … Continue reading 2019 Annual Wrap-Up
Why did you choose to tell your story as a graphic novel? It’s been my mission in life to tell the story of my childhood imprisonment and to raise awareness of that chapter of American history. There’s a new generation of young people, and we want to target them in the best way. I thought … Continue reading Newsmaker: George Takei
Atencio’s memoir, Perfectly You, traces her journey from coastal Venezuela—where she devoured the work of authors like Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez—to her graduate work at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City; from Univision to the English-language market; from shy new arrival to prominent cultural ambassador. Her 2017 TEDx talk, “What makes you … Continue reading Perfectly Mariana Atencio
Which is why it’s no surprise that the CBS Sunday Morning correspondent’s forthcoming book, Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving (November, Simon & Schuster), and podcast of the same name, commemorates people and things—from the station wagon to Neanderthals to Thomas Paine’s legacy—where the common thread is that they’re overlooked and no longer with us. Oh, and there’s another overlap: … Continue reading The Onus of Obituary
Adeyemi’s novel, Children of Blood and Bone (CBB), is situated in a fantasy world that incorporates themes of racism, oppression, and the abuse of power. CBB was inspired by Adeyemi’s adoration of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as a visit to a gift shop in Brazil. It was while she was in that gift shop that the young author encountered … Continue reading The Importance of Representation
“I feel like I’m at a Star Trek convention,” he said in his trademark baritone, before laughing heartily. Takei’s tone changed, however, as he began to describe a childhood spent in internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II—an experience that he details in his new YA graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy. With a … Continue reading History Repeats Itself
Then came “The Breaking,” as she called it. Diagnosed with scoliosis at age 13, the disease progressed and when she was 19 she went in for spinal surgery and woke up paralyzed. “I went from being an athlete to being in a hospital bed unable to move,” she said. “I lost my faith in science … Continue reading Nnedi Okorafor on Writing, Rage, Bugs, and Aliens
