Children’s book author and poet Nikki Grimes at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition on June 24.

Completing the Walk

June 25, 2023

Children’s book author and poet Nikki Grimes strode to the podium and read passages from her forthcoming title, A Walk in the Woods (Neal Porter Books, September). The audience at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition on June 24 was rapt. The room was still, except for some rustling and verse, a … Continue reading Completing the Walk


Mark Oshiro (left) and Robin Gow speak at the “Beyond the Middle School Rainbow: Intersectionality in LGBTQIA+ Middle Grade Books” session on June 25 at ALA's Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

‘The Kids Get It’

June 25, 2023

Having access to stories about young, queer girls of color, she said, could have avoided years of shame. “It could’ve made me feel like even if my parents don’t know about this, there are people out there who are just like me, and I’m going to be okay one day,” Ortega said. “It would’ve not … Continue reading ‘The Kids Get It’


Author Rick Riordan (right) and Mark Oshiro discuss their co-written book, The Sun and the Star, a Nico di Angelo Adventure at a June 25 talk at ALA's 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

Partnering Perspectives

June 25, 2023

So Oshiro picked up the first book in Rick Riordan’s Greek mythology-inspired series for middle-grade readers. The books follow a modern-day demigod and his friends as they fight fantastical forces, and Riordan later built a franchise from that world with two more series and standalone books. Instead of reading it over the weeks-long tour as … Continue reading Partnering Perspectives


Idina Menzel (left) and Cara Mentzel) discuss their children's books at American Library Association's 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago.

Finding Your Own Voice

June 24, 2023

Menzel, a Tony Award-winning singer and actor known for roles in Frozen, Wicked, and Rent, remembers the first time she saw her younger sister Cara Mentzel at the helm of a classroom—and knew it was what she was meant to do. “I had never really heard her speak with such confidence and assertiveness,” recalled Menzel. … Continue reading Finding Your Own Voice


Headshots of Youth Matters columnists Mara Rosenberg, at left, and Erica Thompson, at right, both from St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C.

Books Model Behaviors

June 1, 2023

We envisioned a club where students, teachers, and caregivers could share a common experience around literature. But it was also important that book selections modeled positive behaviors that align with our school values and fostered conversations around social-emotional learning and equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice (EDISJ). To bring our community together, we turned to … Continue reading Books Model Behaviors


Angie Thomas

Newsmaker: Angie Thomas

May 1, 2023

Thomas continues to champion Black narratives through new and numerous projects, including a TV show currently in production with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground media company. The show will be based on Blackout (Quill Tree Books, 2021), an anthology she cowrote with Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Angie Thomas


Headshot of Ani DiFranco

Newsmaker: Ani DiFranco

March 10, 2023

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


Ani DiFranco discusses her new children's book, The Knowing, at the 2023 LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans.

Exploring Identity

January 31, 2023

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


2023 Youth Media Award Winners

January 30, 2023

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


Willie Mae Brown

Taking Care of Our Future

January 28, 2023

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


A Page-Turner

January 28, 2023

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