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Teaching Black History Now

Across the country, educators, parents, and others keep Black history alive amid restrictions on how race is taught in schools.

BLOGS

GOOD COMICS FOR KIDS

Visitations | Review

TEEN LIBRARIAN TOOLBOX

Take Five: January Middle Grade Graphic Novels

A FUSE #8 PRODUCTION

Publisher Preview Spring/Summer 2025: Part One Featuring Cuento de Luz, Post Wave, Lantana, Little Island, and Marble Press

100 SCOPE NOTES

Bid Now! Kidlit for Los Angeles

BOOKS & REVIEWS

Skills and Stories | Early Readers Fiction Series

17 Spanish-Language Titles, Including a 'Rainbow Fish' Translation, SEL Picture Books & More

16 Fiction and Nonfiction Titles for Young Readers in the Wake of the Los Angeles Wildfires

More Books & Reviews

BOOKS & REVIEWS

Skills and Stories | Early Readers Fiction Series

17 Spanish-Language Titles, Including a 'Rainbow Fish' Translation, SEL Picture Books & More

16 Fiction and Nonfiction Titles for Young Readers in the Wake of the Los Angeles Wildfires

SPONSORED

SPONSORED

Honoring Black History Through Books and Literature

SPONSORED

Crayola Sparks Student Innovation with 2025 Crayola Creativity Week, Jan. 27-Feb. 2

SPONSORED

Honoring Black History Through Books and Literature

SPONSORED

Crayola Sparks Student Innovation with 2025 Crayola Creativity Week, Jan. 27-Feb. 2

EXPLORE SLJ

INDUSTRY NEWS

National Immigration Law Center Updates Advice to Schools

SLJ Staff, Jan 23, 2025

With the loss of protected area status for sensitive locations, immigration enforcement officers can now take action in schools, churches, and other sites.

INDUSTRY NEWS

To Our Readers | From the Editor

Kathy Ishizuka, Nov 13, 2024

SLJ remains committed to the work. There is much to be done.

BOOKLISTS

Two Kinds of Readers, Two Kinds of Nonfiction

Melissa Stewart, Jan 23, 2025

Some kids love narrative nonfiction; others, expository literature. Learn more about these two styles of books and browse a list of recent outstanding examples.

BOOKS & MEDIA

Kid Lit Community Remembers Jules Feiffer

SLJ Staff, Jan 23, 2025

The legendary children's author and illustrator, political cartoonist, and screenwriter Jules Feiffer has died at age 95, leaving a legacy of work that includes his illustrations for The Phantom Tollbooth and much more.

More Editors' Picks

INDUSTRY NEWS

Spend It if You Can | SLJ 2024 Budget Survey

Marlaina Cockcroft, Apr 04, 2024

With budgets mostly flat, book challenges and rising costs pose hurdles for school librarians.

ELEMENTARY

New Trends in Transitional Books

Marlaina Cockcroft, Sep 27, 2024

Early chapter books? Easy readers? Whatever you call them, transitional books are key for young students, librarians say.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Sora Report: Digital Reading Increases with Double-Digit Growth in Comics and Graphic Novels

SLJ Staff, Apr 03, 2024

The State of K-12 Digital Reading breaks down the data for the 2022-23 school year, showing the popularity of comics and graphic novels in the digital format plus regional differences in reading habits.

INDUSTRY NEWS

From a Young Age, Children Tune in to Audiobooks | Survey

Marlaina Cockcroft, Jan 04, 2024

Children are eager listeners—of audiobooks, according to a new Library Journal / School Library Journal survey. Libraries are keeping up with the demand as formats evolve.

CENSORSHIP

Nearly a Quarter of School Librarians Have Experienced Harassment Over Books | SLJ Censorship Survey

Kathy Ishizuka, Sep 30, 2023

Twenty-four percent of school librarians have been harassed this past year over books or displays in their library. That’s according to a recent SLJ survey, which found the rate even higher among high school librarians, 30 percent of whom have experienced harassment.

BOOKS & MEDIA

Graphic Novels, Manga Explode in Popularity Among Students | SLJ Survey

Marlaina Cockcroft, Oct 03, 2023

If graphic novels are flying off the shelves at your library, that reflects a remarkable trend: The format’s popularity has shot up at over 90 percent of school libraries in the last few years, according to a new SLJ survey.

INDUSTRY NEWS

SLJ, NCTE Launch Survey to Remake Summer Reading Lists

SLJ staff, Jan 19, 2022

Those dreaded summer reading lists. For eons, teachers have been handing out assigned reading, mostly comprised of old “classics.” With this survey, SLJ and NCTE invite teachers and librarians to choose the titles you’d like culled from required reading and those books you would urge students to read instead.

BOOKS & MEDIA

Time to Refresh the Canon: Here Are Our Picks

Shelley Diaz, May 10, 2022

SLJ and NCTE collaborated to create 18 booklists of titles to replace, or use as a companion to, canon "classics."

INDUSTRY NEWS

Under Pressure: Survey Provides Insight into Librarians' Job Satisfaction

Marlaina Cockcroft, Feb 21, 2023

More librarians find their work challenging, but most still love what they do, the latest LJ/SLJ Survey shows.

CENSORSHIP

Censorship Attempts Will Have a Long-lasting Impact on School Library Collections, SLJ Survey Shows

Kara Yorio, Sep 08, 2022

In the past year, school librarians have faced coordinated, hate-filled censorship campaigns that impact available books and collection development decisions. Here, they share their stories.

More Research

BOOKLISTS

16 Fiction and Nonfiction Titles for Young Readers in the Wake of the Los Angeles Wildfires

SLJ Reviews, Jan 16, 2025

These books—which share stories of real and fictional people and animals who have endured wildfires—can provide information and comfort to children and teens.

BOOKLISTS

Best Middle Grade Books 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Monisha Blair, Kristin Brynsvold, Tracy Cronce, Mariah Smitala, Ashleigh Williams, Nov 20, 2024

Gripping fantastical journeys, family secrets, unbridled joy, and inconceivable loss: in these pages, tweens are facing it all. These 26 middle grade titles are exemplars across genre of the power of truth telling and embracing one's authentic self, even when it seems impossible.

BOOKLISTS

Best Manga 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Jasmine Amiri, Rachel Forbes, Joe Pascullo, Lisa Rowland, Sara Smith, Nov 19, 2024

As the medium continues its meteoric rise, 2024 marked the debut of SLJ's first-ever Best Books committee dedicated exclusively to manga. From shock-charged action and celestial fantasy to eco-horror and edutainment, these 22 standout titles offer something for readers of all ages and interests, redefining what belongs on K–12 shelves—and why.

BOOKLISTS

7 Books for Kids Who Love Puzzles

SLJ Staff, Jan 09, 2025

Seek-and-finds, stories about escape challenges, and other engaging titles.

BOOKLISTS

Building Blocks | Decodables Fiction Series

Melanie Okadigwe, Greene Hill School and Brooklyn Public Library, Dec 19, 2024

A careful examination of decodable sets designed to support burgeoning readers and their grown-ups on the path toward reading fluency.

BOOKLISTS

Best Picture Books 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Jonah Dragan, Kimberly Olson Fakih, Louis Lauer, Myiesha Speight, Rachel Zuffa, Nov 25, 2024

Whether portraying a humble farming community, a home in the south of Korea, a synagogue filled with love and hope, or a neighborhood where more than small things are mended, the best picture books of 2024 celebrate how those working together are the models for humanity we want our children to witness.

BOOKLISTS

Best Young Adult Books 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Ashley Leffel, Amanda Mastrull, Emmy Neal, Allie Stevens, Emily Walker, Nov 25, 2024

From moving tales in verse to romantic romps to stories of monsters both real and fantastical, these 25 YA novels represent the best of teens living, loving, surviving, and thriving in worlds and times that do not always accept them.

BOOKLISTS

16 Reference Books About Weird But True Facts, Conspiracy Theories, and Dinosaurs

SLJ Reviews, Jan 07, 2025

From ready reference to encyclopedias, these titles will spark curiosity in baseball, ancient times, and dragons, while also providing research resources on Black women's history and space travel.

AWARDS

2025 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck Award Winners Announced

SLJ Staff, Dec 09, 2024

NCTE has announced Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools by Dan SaSuWeh Jones and The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, illus. by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, as the 2025 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck award winners, respectively.

CENSORSHIP

18 More Reviews of Banned Classics | Defending the Canon

SLJ Reviewers and NCTE, Sep 23, 2024

In time for Banned Books Week, NCTE and SLJ have partnered again to provide professional reviews of banned curriculum staples. We highlight 18 acclaimed works by celebrated authors, including Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

BOOKLISTS

Best Nonfiction Elementary 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Kimberly Olson Fakih, Vi Ha, Mary Lanni, John Scott, Nov 22, 2024

The blossoming ranks of stellar biographies for young readers continue to crowd the shelves. Japanese athletes hit their summits in two vastly different ways, an author attempts to right the record on Rosalind Franklin, and a forgotten sports hero at last gets his due. And that's just the start of the Best Books in the category of nonfiction for the elementary grades. Come have a look.

BOOKS & MEDIA

15 Titles with Haitian American Representation to Share with Kids of All Ages

SLJ Reviews, Sep 23, 2024

With Haitian communities under attack in Ohio and across the country, share these titles that feature Haitian American representation or are by Haitian American authors, including picture books by Tami Charles and YA novels by Ben Phillipe and Ibi Zoboi.

BOOKLISTS

Native Voices: A Curated List of 2024 Titles Featuring Native American Stories | Great Books

SLJ Reviews, Oct 28, 2024

This roundup of 2024 books centering Native American stories offers something for every reader to enjoy this November and all year long.

BLOGS

And Now Some Books I’m REALLY Excited for in 2025!

Betsy Bird, Jan 02, 2025

For this one time only, please enjoy this list of some of the 2025 Children's Books I Am Most Excited To See.

BOOKS & MEDIA

Out of This World: Eight Sci-Fi Graphic Novels | Stellar Panels

Brigid Alverson, Dec 12, 2024

New planets, secret headquarters, extraterrestrial creatures, and other cosmic delights fill the pages of these works for elementary through high school readers.

BOOKS & MEDIA

8 Titles of Resilience and Hope for Holocaust Remembrance Day

SLJ Reviews, Jan 23, 2024

January 27 is designated as a day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Share these stories of resilience and hope about people of various ages, races, nationalities, and more with young readers today and throughout the year.

BOOKLISTS

19 Books Featuring Incarcerated Family Members for Young Readers of All Ages

Rachel Owens, Jun 05, 2024

Stories of children with parents behind bars are as diverse as the millions of real-life kids familiar with the experience. These 19 fiction and nonfiction titles may offer an empathetic, metaphoric hand for young readers to hold.

BOOKLISTS

81 Exemplary Picture Books | SLJ 2024 Stars So Far

SLJ Reviews, Jul 08, 2024

Get your purchase list out and make sure you include these picture books; we've found dozens of contenders for this year's Best Books collection.

More Classroom & Curricula

BOOKLISTS

Best Graphic Novels 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Jasmine Amiri, Angie Jameson, Rosemary Kiladitis, Andrea Lipinski, Allison Tran, Nov 21, 2024

Cozy fantasies, immigration stories, and reimagined classics—2024’s Best Graphic Novels list isn’t just a collection of 25 unforgettable reads, it’s a showcase of comics that push storytelling to new heights.

BOOKLISTS

Best Manga 2024 | SLJ Best Books

Jasmine Amiri, Rachel Forbes, Joe Pascullo, Lisa Rowland, Sara Smith, Nov 19, 2024

BLOGS

Flash Gordon Adventures | This Week’s Comics

Lori Henderson, Nov 26, 2024

Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Flash Gordon Adventures Volume 1 Flash of Greatness from Papercutz and Sesame Street #4 from Oni Press.

BOOKLISTS

Manga Monsters | Mondo Manga

Brigid Alverson, Oct 31, 2024

These seven series about supernatural creatures are more humorous than scary and often emphasize acceptance.

BOOKLISTS

Best Graphic Novels 2023 | SLJ Best Books

Jasmine Amiri, Jenny Arch, Shelley M. Diaz, Andrea Lipinski, Carla Riemer, Nov 21, 2023

From stunning memoirs to sustainability guides, this year’s Best Graphic Novels list features 25 unforgettable works that take comics to new heights.

BLOGS

Tegan and Sara: Crush | Review

J. Caleb Mozzocco, Nov 07, 2024

Tegan Quin, Sara Quin, and Tillie Walden return with the sequel to last year's Junior High, continuing the fictionalized story of Tegan and Sara's origin story.

BLOGS

Take Five: New Middle Grade Graphic Novels for October

Amanda MacGregor, Oct 11, 2024

If I had a dollar for every time I said something to the effect of "graphic novels are real books" or "reading graphic novels is reading" to someone disparaging them... well, I couldn't quit my job, but I would have a LOT of dollars.

BOOKLISTS

32 Superb Graphic Novels | SLJ 2024 Stars So Far

SLJ Reviews, Jul 15, 2024

From early reader to YA titles, these starred graphic novels showcase the very best of the comics medium so far in 2024. Use the downloadable spreadsheet to ensure your collection includes these superb graphic novels.

NEWS & FEATURES

Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara on Collaboration, Comics Books, and Coming of Age

Jasmine Amiri, Aug 26, 2024

Sara Quin of indie pop duo Tegan and Sara discusses the forthcoming final installment in the band’s graphic novel series, offering a glimpse into the life events and creative journey that resulted in Tegan and Sara: Crush.

ADVOCACY

15 Graphic Novels to Celebrate Pride This Month and Year-Round

SLJ Staff, Jun 17, 2024

As we find ourselves at the midway point of June, amidst the celebrations of Pride Month, it's an opportune time to reflect on the rich tapestry of narratives within the LGBTQIA+ community with 15 noteworthy graphic novels that can help us celebrate Pride this month, and year-round.

BOOKS

Hilda and Twig: Hide from the Rain

Nov 01, 2024

BLOGS

Goblin: The Wolf and the Well | Preview

Brigid Alverson, Jul 11, 2024

Today we have a preview of Goblin: The Wolf and the Well, by writer Eric Grissom and artist Will Perkins. This is the second volume of their middle-grade fantasy series about Rikt, an orphaned goblin, and his companion, a wolf named Fish-Breath. Here’s the publisher’s description: After losing his parents, Rikt struggles with a fear […]

BOOKLISTS

Mighty Manhwa! | Stellar Panels

Brigid Alverson, Mar 27, 2024

Korean and Chinese comics reach English-language readers.

OPINION

Turning a Page: SLJ will turn 70. How can we best serve readers? | From the Editor

Kathy Ishizuka, Oct 15, 2023

The editors are planning for 2024, SLJ's 70th anniversary year.

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