It’s spring, and there’s war in Europe. (I’m thirty-five years old, and I remember war in Europe going back to the late ’80s, and it’s awful.) I know a lot of Ukrainians; I have a close Russian friend who is devastated. I’m a mess right now. In any case, I think a lot of little folks are going to be trying to find out what’s … Continue reading youth books about war & refuge(es)
This list is very late, and not as well laid out as I’ve done it in the past, but it’s finally here. I’ve linked out to the winners and honorees and, whenever possible, have also provided links to archived versions on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Happy reading! 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 American Indian Youth Literature Award, 2020 The American Indian Youth Literature … Continue reading Beyond the Caldecott & the Nobel: Diverse Literary Award Winners 2021
Representative & diverse literary awards, from youth to adult and from board books to erotica and literary fiction. The sky’s the limit! Continue reading Beyond the Caldecott & the Nobel: Diverse Literary Award Winners 2020
Americana isn’t the right word, probably, but I don’t know what else to call this, a booklist of a very few books that have brought me joy and reminded me of the beautiful, impossible, sometimes terrible wonder of the U.S. I’m not going to lie: I’m terrified. I think a few of my students thought I was about to die in front of them today, … Continue reading americana, again: some books I’ve loved
Halloween, the Day of My People, is basically my favorite of all time, and isn’t going to be quite itself in this year of plague. I’ve written a very little about Halloween before—about Tam Lyn, and Samhain, and the thin veil and the wandering dead—and so this year I thought I’d do a very short booklist instead, of a few books that I have read … Continue reading uncanny tales
I’ve written essentially the same post over and over and over again, and it feels pretty futile, to be honest, but here we are. (I should probably write something about the rise of fascism, too, but I have a migraine and so that won’t be happening this evening.) I’m going to link out to a few of the other versions of this post that I’ve … Continue reading even more books about structural racism, protest, & brutality
I thought, this Independence Day, that I’d do something a little different: a booklist that celebrates some of the vast diversity that makes up this American tapestry. After all, if your plan is to celebrate like it’s 1776, and rise up against tyranny, and write a new declaration of antiracism and anti-fascism (because that really seems like the only thing that matters right now), then … Continue reading Americana on the picture book page for this 2020 Fourth of July
By now, you’ve probably seen some of the amazing antiracism booklists out there. You’ve quite likely purchased a few of the books, or requested them from your library. (I’m going to highlight this resource, by the incredible Dr. Nicole Cooke, now Augusta Baker Chair at University of South Carolina—because she was my professor at UIUC’s iSchool, and it’s a remarkable resource.) I’ve seen a few … Continue reading Antiracism Books for Younger Folks
Content Note I think it goes without saying that the works listed here are all #OwnVoices, either written or illustrated (or both) by members of the Asian American community. I’m going wide, in this community: by “American,” I mean of the Americas, the continents, not the country. I’m going to throw in some movies here, as long as they fit under that #OwnVoices representation. Also … Continue reading Asian American Voices: Fiction & Poetry
Content Note I think it goes without saying that the works listed here are all #OwnVoices, either written or illustrated (or both) by members of the Asian American community. I’m going wide, in this community: by “American,” I mean of the Americas, the continents, not the country. I’m going to throw in some movies here, as long as they fit under that #OwnVoices representation. Also … Continue reading Asian American Voices: Young Adult Novels and Memoirs
Essentially a Nerd 