Demo Defense uses a web tutorial to walk librarians through reporting challenges and finding support, as well as to help the public donate to the organizations fighting against censorship.

EveryLibrary Institute polled voters about book banning and dug into the numbers. For 75 percent of those surveyed, book banning will be an issue they take to the polls in November.

Mispronouncing a student’s name can have a significant negative impact. Getting it right sends a better, affirming message. 

From "Let's Move" to "Moonwalking," seven out of these 11 family music albums have received starred reviews.

Rich in features, with unlimited creative potential, Book Creator almost guarantees artistic success.

Rich in features, with unlimited creative potential, Book Creator almost guarantees artistic success.

The National Center for Education Statistics study of COVID's effect revealed a significant drop in reading and math scores for 9-year-olds. Lower-performing students saw the steepest decline.

K.C. Boyd, Amanda Jones, Cicely Lewis, and other School Librarians of the Year share new plans and perspectives for 2022-23.

On the Diverse Books Survey page, users can access related content, newly updated, as well as our Diverse Books Survey report.

While in the minority, the SLJ Diverse Books Survey reveals some librarians are declining to purchase books with diverse characters to avoid a challenge.

Children can handle the hard truths about slavery, say educators.  Literature can help the conversation.

 

A district chief technology officer makes the case for giving students their Chromebooks permanently, saying it is not only a move toward more equitable education and but also better for a school's edtech department and budget, too.

Rewrites and adaptations that subvert the familiar have long been popular—who can argue with universal appeal? These 22 titles have all been inspired by fairy tales and mythology.

Romance, humor, and unrequited love are all at play in these recent works.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's 1935 novel Little House on the Prairie features a young girl coming of age amid the homesteading movement. These suggested titles feature accurate portrayals of the period and of Indigenous communities, as well as works with themes of family bonds and migration.

We live in a world where everything from a microscopic virus to a gun the size of a baseball bat has tried to kill our children. Books—and acknowledging a child's fear—can help.

IdaMae Craddock and Ouida Powe began a bibliotherapy initiative to help combat the growing mental health crisis among children and teens.

Latinx Heritage Month starts on September 15 and ends on October 15. These novels for teens celebrate the broad range of the Latinx experience.

This month, we feature John Lewis's follow-up to the "March" trilogy, Samira Ahmed's middle grade debut shines, Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another winning suspense novel, and two nonfiction titles discuss Charles Dickens.

Manga creators have drawn on Japan's rich and varied history to create some of the greatest works in the medium. This short guide to the historical periods teens are most likely to encounter in manga is accompanied by a list of 9 titles that draw on ages past.

SLJ announces a new member of the reviews team: Andrew Eliopulos, who steps into a new position at the publication, graphic novels editor. 

New types of manga have proliferated—and students can’t get enough. This overview of genres, publishers, formats, and more, will help get you up to date.

A booklist, resources, and an interview with Sasha Bouché, editor at HighWater Press.

Librarians call for more funny, fast-paced YA for teens who've outgrown the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" stage.

With her graphic memoir Messy Roots, Laura Gao followed an unconventional publishing path from viral tweet to indie bestseller. She illustrates her path to publication in this SLJ-original comic.

A packed journey through changing attitudes towards settings of natural beauty and historical importance.

“If not me, who else?” Given the abuse Amanda Jones suffered—she was publicly accused of promoting pornographic materials in the library’s children’s section—“Why me?” might have been more like it. Instead, the school librarian took measure.

Spurred by COVID, 18.3 million have turned to gardening—cultivating the benefits of physical activity, greater connection to nature, homegrown food, and restorative, sustainable practices, aiding the environment.

Much like how my main character, Harris, doesn’t want his wheelchair to be the first thing people notice about him, as the author, I don’t want disability to be the only takeaway from my book.

Snacking shrews and curious mammoths—not your typical guides for learning math concepts. But that’s the magic of David Macaulay. The award-winning author and illustrator keynoted SLJ's Picture Book Palooza.

A district chief technology officer makes the case for giving students their Chromebooks permanently, saying it is not only a move toward more equitable education and but also better for a school's edtech department and budget, too.

Comments matter to us. Be it frank criticism or sharing insight about the topic at hand or those exclamations, positive and negative, about our reviews, reader feedback is ­welcome, taken in, and considered here at SLJ.

Verse novels have this unique ability within non-illustrated literary forms to convey a message both through words, like standard prose novels, but also through visuals.

A Thousand Steps into Night started with a seemingly straightforward idea: A girl is cursed to turn into a monster. But what makes a monster? Maybe there's power in being a monster. Maybe it's worth it.

The post What Makes a Monster? A guest post by Traci Chee appeared first on Teen Librarian Toolbox.