A gently reassuring narrative explores the hardships and triumphs of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown without directly naming the virus.
CCBC Choices 2021 Available
CCBC Choices 2021, the most recent edition of the CCBC’s annual best-of-the-year list, is now available. For decades the annual list has been published as a fully annotated printed booklet. This year’s list, recommending 257 …
Observations on Publishing in 2020
As books came into the library, and as we read throughout the year, we made note of several big-picture observations that struck us.
Ever Cursed
Jane, 18, is the oldest of the five Spellbound princesses of Ever, each cursed to go without something particular from the moment she turns 13. Jane can’t eat, Nora can’t love, Alice can’t sleep, Grace can’t remember. Eden, about to turn 13, will go without hope.
The Range Eternal
“On cold winter days in the Turtle Mountains, I helped Mama cook soup on our woodstove, The Range Eternal.” On the blue enamel stove in the Anishinaabe narrator’s childhood home, her mother deftly feeds wood into the fire even as she stirs.
Say Her Name: Poems to Empower
“Black girl / you are more than magic / you are a miracle …” (from “Black Girl Miracle”). A collection of poems centered around Black female experience explores themes of racism, violence, body image, misogyny, but also, so importantly, self-love, sisterhood, strength, and the miracle of survival.
CCBC in the News
The January/February 2021 issue of The Horn Book Magazine featured two pieces by by CCBC librarians: “CCBC Diversity Statistics: New Categories, New Data” by Madeline Tyner looks at our diversity statistics for 2019 “Sometimes You …
CCBC Diversity Statistics: New Categories, New Data
Each spring, the CCBC releases the numbers of children’s and YA books by and about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) received in the previous year.
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything
Sia (Artemesia) Martinez’s mother was deported to Mexico three years ago and disappeared while trying to make the desert crossing back to the United States; she’s now presumed dead.
Bye, Penguin!
A small penguin is separated from its community when the ice on which it’s standing breaks away.