DiFranco, who released a bestselling memoir in 2019, published her debut children’s book, The Knowing (Penguin Random House), in March. She describes the book as a chance for readers to look inward and not get lost in external identities and the “cultural signifiers” around them. American Libraries spoke with DiFranco during the 2023 LibLearnX conference … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ani DiFranco
Or, as she described it, a “community instigator”—connecting people and their shared experiences through music. “I realized that I’m not alone, I’m not an aberration,” she said. “That thing just goes in a circle, and then that circle becomes bigger than me. It becomes this spiraling thing that starts to hold us all. And it’s … Continue reading Exploring Identity
A list of all the 2023 award winners follows: John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Freewater, written by Amina Luqman-Dawson, is the 2023 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by JIMMY Patterson/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Three Newbery Honor Books also were named: Iveliz Explains It All, written by … Continue reading 2023 Youth Media Award Winners
Brown spoke of her catalytic experience seeing Martin Luther King Jr. and the importance of telling one’s story at her keynote speaker session January 28 at the American Library Association’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans. Brown’s debut novel, My Selma (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January), recounts her experience growing up in Selma, Alabama, during … Continue reading Taking Care of Our Future
He began his talk discussing influential books and artists throughout his life. Among them was The Borrowers, by Mary Norton, which he checked out often from the school library. The story—about a family of tiny people who live secretly in floorboards of a kid’s house—was so magical and real for Selznick, that he made little … Continue reading A Page-Turner
Call Number with American Libraries Podcast · Episode 73: Newbery Medal Winners If you have feedback for the podcast team, email us or call us at 312-280-4216. Tell us what you liked, what you didn’t like, and what you’d like to see us cover; we may feature your comment on a future episode. You can also follow … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Newbery Medal Winners
American Library Association (ALA) President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong convened a panel of authors, publishers, and literacy advocates to discuss these questions at “Advancing the Asian American Story,” a June 26 program at ALA’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. To better understand the strides the publishing industry is making with representation and … Continue reading ‘This Is a Movement’
Torres and authors Susan Azim Boyer, Katryn Bury, and Maya Prasad shared their experiences growing up with a lack of positive depictions of themselves in books at “Engaging Historically Underrepresented Young Adult Readers,” a June 27 session at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Exhibition and Conference in Washington, D.C. The panel offered strategies for … Continue reading Uplifting Underrepresented Readers
“The scariest moment of my life is when my son, Matt, was 4 years old. I took him to [the New York International Auto Show] in New York City at the Javits Center,” Stine said. “There were thousands of people, hundreds of cars, and I lost him. He was just gone. And I looked around, … Continue reading Haunting and Hysterical
Cho used the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a backdrop for exploring Jordan’s family dynamic. “The boy [Jordan] sees the LA riots and it’s a personal problem,” he said. “It endangers his father … The father sees it as a livelihood issue—they’re threatening my store, perhaps, and the store is our college fund, it’s food, … Continue reading Breaking the Cycle
In “100 Years of the Newbery Medal,” we look at the legacy, challenges, and future of this distinguished award for children’s books. Taylor Hartz talks with former and current Newbery Award Selection Committee members about the honor and responsibility of picking a winner. In “Newbery Firsts,” we explore important milestones—and archival photographs—from the award’s first … Continue reading A Celebration of the Newbery Medal
Appropriately, the Newbery Medal, the world’s first children’s book award, is named for the man credited with publishing the first children’s book. In 1744, John Newbery, a British bookseller, published A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, a book of simple rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. The book often came with a gift—a ball or a … Continue reading 100 Years of the Newbery Medal
