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
Yang, now a bestselling and award-winning middle-grade and YA author, spent her childhood moving from city to city, making it difficult to find her footing. But everywhere she went, she could find familiar stories and characters at the library. “Books became my friends, but most importantly, the library became my home,” Yang says. “It was … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kelly Yang
Now Kendi, working with middle-grade and YA fiction author Nic Stone, is bringing his concepts and research to teens in an effort to help them understand their role in identifying and dismantling systemic racism. How to Be a (Young) Antiracist (Penguin Random House) was released in January. After the authors opened the American Library Association’s … Continue reading Newsmakers: Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone
He credits that to their courage. “For whatever reason, as we get older, we lose a little bit of courage,” Kendi said at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 LibLearnX Conference in New Orleans. “For young people, the question isn’t about the danger,” he continued. “The question is, ‘Is it right or is it wrong?’” … Continue reading Legitimize and Rehumanize
Tamaki discussed her new novel, Cold (Roaring Brook Press, February), at the American Library Association’s (ALA) LibLearnX virtual conference on January 24. She said that as she read and researched the genre, she discovered that the mystery format “plays really well into the things that I’m interested in writing about,” she said in conversation with … Continue reading Wrapped in a Mystery
“Stories shape how you look at the world,” de la Cruz said at the American Library Association’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual on June 24. “They shape how you look at yourself.” Whether communicating with friends or family or finding entertainment in books, TV, and film, we use stories for “empowerment and enrichment in … Continue reading The Power of Fairytales
This year’s symposium focused on partnerships, empowerment, and using YA literature to promote equity. At the Saturday, November 7 session “Our Teens Have a Voice: Methods in Planning and Executing a Youth Conference on Social Justice,” the two presenters—Erin Hoopes, branch manager of Philadelphia City Institute of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Gabrielle Miller, … Continue reading Teen Librarians Talk Empowerment
“Our Teen Squad programs are driven by youth interests while focusing on work readiness and 21st-century skills development,” says Kate Aubin, teen educator at PPL. “With our diverse community partners, we provide interactive and engaging competency-based programming that builds relationships and connects teens to workforce development opportunities.” One such offering under the umbrella of Teen … Continue reading Career Readiness for Teens
“We had tens of thousands of Facebook hits, of calls, of emails. It was crazy,” says Lucas, who is assistant director of library services at North Bend (Oreg.) Public Library (NBPL). “Other libraries were saying: ‘Oh, tell me more, tell me more!’ At one point, I could barely keep up.” The frenzy reached its zenith … Continue reading Adulting 101
But what about data literacy? Did librarians tackle charts and graphs as much as headlines? And what about teens, who are often overlooked in the context of civic and voter preparedness? Increasingly, librarians are addressing these questions by bringing statistical education and opportunities to young adults—and they’re using massive collections of open civic datasets to … Continue reading Engaging Civic-Minded Teens
Cullors’s parents had talked to her a little about the civil rights movement, but left out details. Mrs. Goldberg at Erwin Street Elementary School in Van Nuys, California, however, gave young Patrisse books to fill in the gaps, such as Mildred D. Taylor’s The Gold Cadillac. Goldberg also allowed Cullors to report on the books to the … Continue reading Breaking Barriers with Patrisse Cullors and Marley Dias
“My father was not so much a reader of books,” Acevedo said, but he read three newspapers—two in English and one in Spanish. “I watched him work through those every day.” Her father was also a teller of stories, not always the best or the most appropriate, but “from him I learned timing, pacing, and … Continue reading A Passion for Poetry
