SLJ Blogs

The latest volume of the InvestiGators spinoff is a hit with all ages in the Keller household!

I can't wait for young readers to get to discover this awesome new series!

The bar and bat mitzvah—or, to use the modern gender-neutral term, bnei mitzvah—occurs at such a perfect, middle gradey moment. And new stories grounded in bnei mitzvah are being told all the time.

Three of my favorite posts from the last month.

Have you missed hearing the voice of the ineffable Christopher Paul Curtis recently? Then read his incredible essay-response to my interview questions and bask in his words once more.

As more students take advantage of dual enrollment programs during a time when more states are adopting restrictive laws about access, academic freedom, and the right to read, we need new policy-focused partnerships between high school and academic libraries that will support student success and maintain institutional integrity.

COLBY: When I first heard about the new series The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class, I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the concept. Seventeen authors each writing a book about the kids in one third grade classroom seemed impossible. Then I started to read the list of writers that would be contributing […]

Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Unhappy Camper from Harper Alley and Dr. Seuss Cat Out Of Water from Random House Graphic.

As an author, how do I approach the potential for pain in the lines I write? How, as a reader, do we make these mostly well-intended but sometimes trivial-feeling statements actually hold meaning for us?

52 (!!!) new and forthcoming books to build your TBR ever taller!

Rounding up 2024 books from past Printz Medal and Honor winners!

"If you love worms, this is the book for you." Inspired by LeVar Burton we take a look at an old Reading Rainbow book to see how it holds up.

Look at the jaw-dropping art and stellar storytelling inside, and this book may serve to upend everything you thought you knew about moving day picture books.

A wrap up of the North Texas Teen Book Festival 2024 with an emphasis on some of the cool thrillers and horror being written for tweens and teens today

Big news for Svetlana Chmakova fans: JY will publish the second volume of The Weirn Books in October 2024.

These kinds of books are a great way to "taste" stories from a bunch of authors and discover new favorites!

I hope my work will encourage others to think about disability in a broader context, whether that’s rethinking how disabled characters are portrayed or creating more opportunities for disabled writers to tell their own stories.

It's an all 2024 Award Winners edition of Name That LEGO Book Cover!

The First Amendment is a crucial defense against book bans, particularly those targeting LGBTQ+ stories, critical race theory, and BIPOC authors. However, schools often navigate around these protections through "educational discretion." Beyond the First Amendment, the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act's Title VI and IX provide avenues to challenge bans based on race and sex discrimination. A notable case in Georgia's Forsyth County School District demonstrates how these civil rights statutes can combat bans, offering a more direct path to restoring banned books. This approach highlights the importance of considering discriminatory impacts over intent in the fight against book bans, providing a potentially more effective strategy for upholding students' rights to information.

Young adult readers will be able to relate to this story of a boy who constantly gets in trouble through no fault of his own, even if they don't catch the allusions to Kafka.