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The Case for Black Characters
Whenever I approach a publisher or distributor about my desire to stock my high school shelves with Young Adult books with characters of color the response is easy to predict:"There just aren't that...
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Fantasy Fail: Slavery is Boring
Dear Fantasy Writer,In a world that you've created completely from the clay of your own mind, where dragons fly and magic prevails, where dwarves dwell and giants rule, why oh why are there still...
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The Planning Period: Librarians as Educators, Charter Schools, and 'Hood Love
The Planning Period with Jovan Miles | Listen via Stitcher Radio On Demand via kwoutMake sure you check out my interview with Mr. Jovan Miles on The Planning Period as we discuss the pros and cons of...
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The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson : What Awesomesauce is made of
Feminist, sci-fi, queer friendly, post-apocalyptic, Portuguese, afro-Latino revolution music. That's what The Summer Prince is. It is what you've always wanted to be printed, what you've been waiting...
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Girls Like Us by Gail Giles (Review)
Gail Giles weaves a tale as rich and thick as triple-chocolate cake. We all know that some people think diversity is just double-speak for Black, but in Girls Like Us we get to know girls who are...
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Next : D'Bow's High School Hoops by Kevin Waltman (Review)
I will admit that sports books are outside of my comfort zone. I'm a vampire and alternate reality type of girl, but I will say that Waltman's Next: D'Bow's High School Hoops drew me in with great...
View ArticleThe Writer's Voice - Willow Born- Query and 250
I hope this letter finds you well. I'm reaching out to you in light of your passion for young adult novels with lyrical voices and fantastic settings. I'm also betting that a Southern Gothic with...
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Advocacy in Action - #weneeddiversebooks and the school library
We've all been galvanized by the twitter campaign #weneeddiversebooks and a lot of us have added tweets, but to make an impact we need to make an economic dent. The main challenge to diverse books is...
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The Tragic Mulatto and Great by Sara Benincasa (Review)
I'm steeped in books that are to be considered for the Georgia Peach Award and Great by Sara Benincasa was among them. I must admit that I wasn't enticed by the book flap, which described, yet another...
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The Boys of Summer : YA Summer Reviews/Drift and Fake ID
Summer is the time where we have no excuse for not cracking open a book and getting lost in someone else's life. The days are longer and responsibilities are few. Here are two books that I won't...
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When Publishers Go Bust (Review - The Almost Girl)
What happens when a publisher goes bust? As a writer, it seems like a nightmare come to life. Unfortunately, this is just what has happened with Strange Chemistry. This sucks on multiple levels, as...
View ArticleJanuary is the Best Month of the Year
So, last year was pretty awesome. I pitched a book (didn't sell it), had a baby (totally, unexpected) and joined the committee for the Georgia Peach Book Award. It was a pretty good year, but this year...
View ArticleGenrefying Your Library is Racist...Maybe
A lot has been said about the new direction of libraries. Whispers and shouts from all walks of the media have been decrying the death of our beloved repositories and many of us are scrambling to...
View ArticleDiversity During Award Season
It's award season! As a culture we'll ooh and aah over celebrities in gorgeous dresses and ghastly tuxedos as they climb the steps of polished stages to accept awards for Best Actress, Best Screenplay,...
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Say What You Will (Review) #diversebooks
Amy and Matthew have an unconventional relationship, and this goes beyond him being a little country and her being a little rock and roll. Amy has cerebral palsy and Matthew has a slight touch (well,...
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Georgia Peach Book Award Nominations 2015-2016
They're in! We threw it down at the Throwdown yesterday and the books battled it out. More than 80 were recommended by the committee, but after intense deliberation only 20 stand. These are the best of...
View ArticleConservative Like Me: Religious Teens and those who serve them
There is an article on the SLJ blog that speaks to the service needs of conservative teens, Serving Conservative Teens. When I saw the title it made me think about the zeitgeist that's pushing toward...
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Evangelizing to Black Boys: School Library Edition
There is much written about the decline of readership among young people, especially boys and most specifically, black boys. I won’t go into all the studies that pit this percentage against that...
View Article2016 Georgia Peach Consideration List
While I've been toiling away with my high school library responsibilities I've also started to compile a list of "to read" titles for next year's list of nominations for the Georgia Peach Book Award....
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First Peach Arrival
Wahoo! We've got our first Peach shipment for the 2016-2017 list. As you may or may not know we review titles for inclusion in the Georgia Peach Book Award Nomination list from Summer until October....
View ArticleI Quit Book Club
I'm abandoning the Book Club. I know that must seem like a horrible thing for a librarian to say, but I've had it. I'm not doing it next year. At least not how I've done it in the past, and God knows...
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A Complicated Love for E.R. Frank's Dime
#wndb Dime by E.R. Frank is about a fourteen year old girl who falls into prostitution after being recruited by a pimp. She's quiet and loves books. She's smart, but doesn't do very well in school....
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More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera : Review
#wndb #lgbt #ya litAaron Soto is not having the best year. His father killed himself and not long after he had a little run in with a suicide attempt himself, a little happy faced scar reminds him of...
View ArticleWrite Your Congressman: Beyond hashtag activism
We can call out the media on their racist and discriminatory reporting practices and lament the times, but there are still guns on the streets and racists in boardrooms, public offices and in line...
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