I've had the pleasure of teaching a Young Adult Literature course in the MLIS program at Rutgers University for several years now and it's one of my favorite things. Although I don't get to teach it every semester, I use the time between semesters to update my reading list, assignments, and course resources, which I suppose is a gift, despite the fact that I really miss diving into YA lit with people who are eager to learn about new books and innovative methods for connecting

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: Booklist Horn Book Kirkus School Library Journal * * This also includes SLJ Express Reviews Publishers Weekly The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen

Someone asked me recently about the origins of School Library Month , and I had to admit that I didn’t really know. Beyond the basics like it’s celebrated each April as a way to recognize the vital role school librariansl, my cognitive tank was empty. So, like any good librarian, I decided to do some research. Here’s what I learned: First established by the American Association of School Librarians, this month-long celebration grew out of earlier efforts like School Library D

A couple of years ago, I was inspired by a social media post from middle grade author Erin Bow in which she shared that she was giving up billionaires for Lent. Now, being a non-religious type myself, I don't know much about Lent beyond the fact that it's observed by Christians and involves giving something up for a specific period of time. My understanding is that the sacrifice should be meaningful. For example, giving up chocolate for Lent is (essentially) meaningless if y

The year I was first hired as a school librarian, my district allotted a book budget of $14 per student to every school. When I share this with school librarians today, they are shocked and often comment on how lucky I was. These days, school library budgets are a little like unicorns, mythical concepts that a lot of people have heard of but no one has ever seen. At the time, though, what stood out most was just how quickly that money disappeared. It wasn’t enough to maintain

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: Booklist Horn Book Kirkus School Library Journal * * This also includes SLJ Express Reviews Publishers Weekly The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen

Recently, my inbox and DMs have been filled with messages containing the same images. Sometimes they arrive with a short note like, “Have you seen this?” or “What is happening!??!” Sometimes they come with a worried emoji or GIF (like this one from Schitt's Creek, which is a personal favorite). And a few include stories from teachers and librarians who are noticing something unsettling: boys at school parroting the same "alpha male” rhetoric they are encountering online. "Boy

My first classroom had been strip-mined of almost everything potentially useful before I arrived. Beyond rows of the traditional one-piece student desk-chair combos, there was only: a teacher desk and chair (both older than I was) a single empty cabinet, and... a small bell , like the kind you might see at a hotel front desk. That was it. No stapler. No paper. No pencils. Never mind books or teaching materials. Even the pencil sharpener had been ripped off the wall. The cind

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: Booklist Horn Book Kirkus School Library Journal Publishers Weekly The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen to focus on. Just Look At The Stars “When you

I once overheard two elderly women chatting (over their New Year’s Day collard greens and black-eyed peas at the K&W #IYKYK) when one of them said, “you can’t swing a dead cat around here without hitting a hot take,” which I thought was incredible as I associate the phrase “hot take” with influencer culture. In fact, I was so taken aback by this statement that I found myself checking my ageism, as I definitely did not expect either of these Southern ladies to be fluent in inf

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: Booklist Horn Book Kirkus School Library Journal Publishers Weekly The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen to focus on. Forgive Me, But... I need to ran

Although I rarely share it outside of the context of my classes, I have been recording a podcast for my Rutgers students for several years now. Titled Voices of Literacy, I use these recordings to chat with library leaders from various contexts. The goal of these interviews is to provide my students with the opportunity to listen to people who know a lot about library work grapple with big issues and ideas. I do not want, nor do I expect, the guests who appear on this podcas

Longtime readers and friends know that I typically avoid the big conferences. When people ask if I'm going to ALA or ISTE, my answer often includes something like "not if I can help it!" To be clear, this is a classic example of "it's not you, it's me!" I don't have any beef with those conferences specifically, it's all the peopling that I find challenging. And speaking of people, many of them are often surprised to learn that I am an introvert. But it is true. Our world is

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: Booklist Horn Book Kirkus School Library Journal Publishers Weekly The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen to focus on. You May Have Noticed... I can't

A few weeks ago, my friend William sent me photos of a rotating passive programming display he’s been running in his high school library. Each week, he posts a new Shakespearean-style sonnet on a bulletin board and challenges students and teachers to guess which popular song inspired it. Unsurprisingly, the display has become something of a sensation, with prizes ranging from bragging rights to handcrafted artworks made from discarded books. Here are a few examples: Has Thou

Back in May, I shared the reading tracker I created for my students in the Young Adult Literature class I teach for Rutgers. That post also included the full summer reading list. As an aside, I very rarely check engagement data for this site, but when I looked back at the original post to help me write this one, I spotted that it continues to get a lot of traffic. That tells me many of y’all are still thinking about ways to help readers notice patterns in what they read. As

It's that time again. For the moment, anyway, our curated starred review spreadsheet is up to date, y'all. As a reminder, Martha Hickson...

First, A Disclaimer: This is not a paid or sponsored post. I wasn’t asked to write this. I am not being compensated to tell this story....

Last year, I was asked to give the closing keynote at the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Library Camp , an event that...

Kate Messner has been writing books for kids for over 10 years, but I was late to the party. It wasn't until her 2018 novel, Breakout ,...