“Well, they’re my favorites, I can’t help if I like what I like.” Back in July, Grace Lin shared a picture from her local public library on Twitter. When I saw it, my heart sank. I felt a shock of embarrassed sadness. And then I just felt fucking mad. First, imagine Grace Lin is your library patron!…
Where’s the fat kids in picture books? Well, you might guess the answer. They don’t really exist. Or they’re lumpy, somewhat grotesque bullies. Or maybe you can find a few rotund hedgehogs or something but hey they’re really more adorable than anything else. You know what fat people look like in picture books? Like this:…
I’m finally back from vacation and back on track now that school has started. PHEW is there any rush like the end of summer programs meeting the beginning of the school year? After all the delays and holidays I am finally returning to Lock & Mori which was released YESTERDAY – wheeeeee! You might remember my…
I was brainstorming for summer reading when I came up with this program. A lot of the inspiration came from What Color is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Raymond Obstefeld. This book traces the history of several African American inventors who are not widely known. As I was thinking…
It all started with Little Melba! Little Melba and Her Big Trombone was one of my favorite books of 2014! This swinging picture book biography (winner of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for Frank Morrison, yay!) tells the story of Melba Liston, a girl in the 1930s who was told little girls couldn’t play…
Have you supported #WeNeedDiverseBooks yet? What started off as a virtual movement has now become a full-fledged force. Their fundraising drive met their goal in less than a month. (but you should still donate if you can!) The best part of the fundraising is that it backs up concrete, measurable results which will ensure that diverse books…
“What kids need and deserve is to feel respected – not just by their classmates, but also by teachers and school leaders who ought to have faith in young people’s ability to read, think, and decide.” – Meg Medina Yesterday, I wrote a short review of Meg Medina’s Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass…
It all starts with a buzz that high school student Piddy shrugs off – “Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass!” She doesn’t even know Yaqui so why would she want to fight with Piddy? It’s probably a case of mistaken identity or no big deal. And, anyway, what’s the worst this total stranger could do? This is the…
Quick: how many books have you read where the main character has autism or autism spectrum disorder? Now: how many of those books were written by an author who openly speaks about their own autism spectrum disorder? For me, I realized that while I could come up with a few titles answering the former question,…
When I think about Malinda Lo, shivers of delight run up my spine. And why’s that? It’s because whenever I read something by her I know that piece is going to be quintessential YA – a story about a teenager figuring out their place in their world and finding their own voice. And, even more…
