Editors' Picks

The Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023 has seven repeat titles from the 2022 list, including Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe at No. 1 and All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson at No. 2.

Got a reason to love libraries? Download your choice of “Reasons to Love ­Libraries” social assets to tell your own library story. 

Fifteen outstanding books of poetry and seven novels in verse have been recognized as 2024 Notable Books. Selections include a range of formats—lively nonfiction, fantasy, and moving verse novels—written by familiar poets and debut authors.

From poems about planets and trees to poems about LGBTQIA+ heroes, young readers from elementary through high school will find something to enjoy here. Share these titles for National Poetry Month and all year long.

Criticism and misunderstanding of Kao Kalia Yang's decision to leave the Hmong-only phrases in her book, The Rock in My Throat, spotlights the problem of the English-dominant literary landscape in a country where residents speak hundreds of languages, the author says.

The U.S. ranks second in the world for the most ­Spanish speakers, after Mexico. With shortages of bilingual teachers reported nationwide, librarians and publishers consider meeting an acute need.

Elizabeth Acevedo's adult debut receives an SLJ star this month, along with the latest Adam Gidwitz novel, two books for young readers about Eid al-Fitr, and more.

Censorship is delaying the delivery of books to school library shelves. Cue the civics lesson.

ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) puts out an annual list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books for the year. Here are SLJ 's reviews of titles on the 2022 list.  

Amanda Chacon ensures a relevant, engaging collection and a welcoming library for her predominantly bilingual students and their families.

"It doesn’t really matter what they did out there,” says the teacher librarian, who serves youth from age 10 to their early 20s at El Centro Junior/Sr. High School in the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility.

From testifying before the state legislature’s education committee to creating a library refuge that helps kids love books, Cox personifies leadership.

Thirty percent of challenges led to a book’s removal in 2023. And while 34 percent of librarians who experienced challenges have considered leaving the profession, 65 percent are motivated to fight censorship.