Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, written by Meg Medina and illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, is the winner of the 2021-2022 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. The award is given …
Claims That Reviews Reflect “Liberal” Bias
Q: How can I respond to accusations that the review journals and other professional sources libraries turn to for book evaluations and recommendations are biased toward “liberal” perspectives? First, it’s important to realize we all …
The Woman All Spies Fear
Elizebeth Smith’s introduction to codes and ciphers came while working for wealthy eccentric George Fabyan on a project involving a Shakespeare folio.
Offering Support as a Member of the Community
Q: I’m watching what’s happened in Texas and other places with books being banned from libraries and classrooms, or being attacked as being unsuitable for children or teenagers, and I’m horrified. I’m not a librarian …
Bright Star
A fawn opens its newborn eyes to its mother. “You are alive! You are a bright star inside our hearts.”
Freedom Swimmer
In Guangzhou province, China, 1968, teenage Ming lives with other older orphans and works in the fields like everyone else in his village. Six years before, Ming’s mother, like many in the village, died during the great famine that the government attributes to natural disasters when in fact it was the result of poor policy.
Mighty Inside
African American Melvin is about to start high school in Spokane, Washington, in the 1950s, following in the footsteps of his high-achieving older brother, Chuck, and older sister, Marian. It would be a daunting prospect even if he didn’t have a stutter.
The Great Stink
“No matter how you describe it—smelly, foul, fetid, rank, putrid, bad, or reeking—in the summer of 1858, London’s River Thames STANK.” So begins a hilariously straightforward account of a grim subject: the pollution of the River Thames—and thus, Londoners’ drinking water—with sewage, and the eventual creation of a hygienic sewer system.
Timely Intellectual Freedom Resources
We’ve curated a list of links to professional statements and resources developed in response to, or useful in responding to, recent challenges and/or public attacks of library and classroom materials.
Accusations of Providing Pornography
Q: Someone recently accused the library where I work of providing pornography to youth. While I don’t believe that’s what the books they’re saying this about are, I’m wondering if you can address the difference between …