Cover Reveal & Exclusive Excerpt for THE OGRESS & THE ORPHANS by Kelly Barnhill

December 03

I started this book by accident. Like many people in this country, and perhaps some of you as well, I found the last handful of years difficult, weighted by heartsickness and worry and chronic rage. I found myself feeling silenced by my own sadness over the state of my country, and I honestly didn’t think I […]

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The Story Behind Art of Protest by De Nichols

November 30

When I was a kid growing up in Mississippi and Tennessee, I learned pretty early about social injustices that exist in the world. I remember defending myself against bullies who did not like me because of my dark skin. I recall watching my favorite TV shows and learning about South African apartheid, police brutality, the […]

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Why History? by Kekla Magoon

November 23

When I was young, I would probably have told you I don’t like reading non-fiction. I also would have told you I thought history was boring…and then rushed home and devoured my copy Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry or Across Five Aprils. There was such a disconnect in my mind about what history was […]

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Ten Booty-ful books for laughing and learning by Jocelyn Rish

November 13

Kids like books about butts. And farts. And poop. Actually, most adults like them, too. There’s something about a solid scatological joke that sets off peals of laughter. Heck, even just saying the word toot can trigger the giggles. Because books about backsides produce so much laughter, they are a great way to slip in […]

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Own Your Poop by Mark Pett

November 11

Were you a weird kid? I certainly was. Hoo boy, I wanted so badly to fit in. I grew up in Salt Lake City, the child of a Lithuanian non-practicing Catholic and a zealous convert to Catholicism. In my grade-school class, it may not surprise you to learn that I was the only Catholic in […]

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Ten Books to Support Young Activists by Rochelle Melander

November 06

When I started a writing program for young people in Milwaukee, I had one goal: to create a space for children and teens to tell their stories. The students I’ve worked with over the years dream of changing the world. They’ve written about how they would do it, from buying back guns to mandating recycling […]

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DOWN SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH-NEW BOOKS by Lynn Plourde

October 27

Do you remember Corky on the TV show Life Goes On?  Corky Thatcher, a character with Down syndrome, who was played by Chris Burke, an actor with Down syndrome? I was so excited when that show came on. As a public-school speech-language therapist at the time, who worked with students with Down syndrome, I thought, […]

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Feeling small? Your voice is louder than you think by Pat Zietlow Miller

October 18

The last few years have been rough. There’s been: A global pandemic. Contentious elections. Economic uncertainty. Hurricanes, wildfires and floods. News story after news story about people behaving badly. Not to mention any personal sadness or trauma you’ve experienced. Any one of those things – or all of them together – could be enough to […]

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Lights in the Dark: balancing honesty and optimism in The Ice House by Monica Sherwood

October 15

I never set out to write a children’s book when I began drafting The Ice House. In fact, when I was a kid, I hated anything marketed specifically toward children.  The whole concept seemed to suggest that because I was young, I couldn’t handle serious things, and I took myself incredibly (far too) seriously. This […]

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On Monsters by Anne Ursu

October 14

I have a fair few monsters in the books I’ve written, and something I’ve noticed about them is that monsters tend to crawl out of places societies have tried to keep hidden. After the Brett Kavanaugh hearings I desperately needed to find something to say to young people about power and patriarchy but I could […]

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