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We've waited long enough. Bring on the Caldecott. Bring on the Newbery.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
I wrote this relationship because I believe that love is limitless and that traditional expectations can be severely limiting. This theme can be applied to so much more than someone’s sexuality. What better takeaway can a teen have than the notion that their future is full of infinite possibilities?
Carolina Ixta's sophomore novel, Few Blue Skies, publishes in February 2026. Here, the author reflects on the idea for this ambitious novel, blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction, and comparing the work to her award-winning debut.
Glitter Everywhere! by Chris Barton mentions LGBTQIA+ people on one page, which the district said violated the state’s anti-DEI law; Iowa book ban bill back in federal courts; and more.
Today I pull two entirely different Pooh-related posts from my archives. One the one hand, a statue you can visit. On the other, a book you may have forgotten.
All Heavy Medal readers are welcome to vote in our 2026 Mock Newbery Reader's Poll. It is open until Friday afternoon JANUARY 23rd.
In the middle of all the chaos, 2016 is calling. Despite it all, this can be a nice way to have some fun.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Fact-Finders Rainforest from DK Children and Cats with Jobs Volume 2 from Seven Seas Entertainment.
Books about Crohn's disease, jinns, a Nigerian village, puberty, and more!
After reading today's book I realized that it's showing kids that just because someone's name is on a book, they're just one of a large group of people, all working in tandem to make it the best possible literary experience. Naturally, questions abound.
As ICE raids continue in the Twin Cities, school librarians are stepping up for students, staff, and their communities.
Digging into the data . . .
It's our annual consideration of three potential Caldecott winners. I guarantee you'll be shocked by some of these reactions.
COLBY: When I heard that Kelly Yang and Kate DiCamillo were coming out with a new podcast, I got very excited. Then I reached out to Kelly to learn more about the new show. She agreed to hop on a call to chat about her new adventure with Kate. I hope you enjoy our conversation. […]
Announcing the Final 5: the titles that will be discussed and voted on during our Live Webcast on SLJ this Friday!
Breaking down the Honor data . . .
In celebration of Winnie-the-Pooh's 100 anniversary, we're taking the week to consider his legacy. Today's tales concern the complicated feelings Pooh's creators felt towards him when his success became extraordinary, as well as the later fights over where he'd make his permanent home.
The arguments for removing books from libraries and curricula haven’t changed all that much but the context has. There’s much more emphasis on dismantling the institution because they contain materials that people find upsetting.
I’ve built a King Day reading list to recommend books that are accessible to young readers that were written by Dr. King, and by those who worked alongside him.
The powerful protectors of the multiverse are hot on the heels of the last Sidney Poblocki in existence, and only a mischievous inter-dimensional girl gang can save him in this wild adventure.
Today we discuss our final title on the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery list- ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY by Renee Watson.
Nothing to See Here is about four very different eighth graders who team up to take action after cruel online gossip forces another student to leave school.
Misfits #3, a whodunnit, a magical beasts meets body-swap story, new Chanel Miller, and a story set during the 1885 expulsion of Chinese Americans from California.
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
A growing number of young people are using artificial intelligence chatbots as companions or therapists.
Share these selections from Hena Khan, Saadia Faruqi, Huda Fahmy, and more in January and all year long.
What are young readers living through right now, and which books are brave enough to meet them there?
Teenagers Rosie and Mira babysit their little sister, Peanut, who starts shapeshifting uncontrollably.
Let's see what Penguin has out new this month!
Our Mock Newbery discussion continues with Lauren Wolk's CANDLE ISLAND.
The annual single-elimination book tournament is back!
A creepy YA focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's descendant, a nonfiction title honoring Black basketball players, and board book and audiobook offerings appear on the first starred list of 2026.
Contrary to popular belief, SLJ reviews editors read non-children’s books. Every now and then, we’ll dip into some (gasp) adult books, though some of us can’t step out of the kid lit world for long. Here are our favorite books we read this year—and why.
"I wanted my readers to accept themselves, and speak their truths. And so I had to speak mine first." Shifa Safadi joins us today to talk about what it truly takes to write an honest book for kids and also to reveal the cover of this new middle grade work!
Civil Rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, who died yesterday at the age of 86, was inspired by the actions of anti-slavery crusaders. Two graphic novels tell the story of her bold refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman, and why she was passed over in favor of Rosa Parks for a historic test case.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen reviews the audiobook of the recently released BETH IS DEAD by Katie Bernet, a contemporary retelling of Little Women
Today's Heavy Medal Mock Newbery finalist is HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN CUBAN by Daniel Miyares, a graphic novel.
"They aren’t the cookie-cutter tweens and tweens, or cookie-cutter Black characters, or cookie-cutter parts of cookie-cutter families. They are complicated and outsiders and more admirable and loveable for it."
The 2025 Best Books list celebrates the many illustrations and design that make up the superb works published for children this year. Taking another look at this year’s selections, here are the SLJ book reviews editors' favorite book covers from the 2025 Best Books list.
YA author Erik J. Brown speaks with SLJ about writing across genres, the value of found family, and the safety in thrillers.
"CELEBRATE PERSON!" That's what I've always felt that this Doreen Cronin series (and their Big Face Book Jackets) says. But this book is, to my mind, the Martin Luther King book to beat all other Martin Luther King books. Agree?
This is an important collection to have in school and public libraries to examine craft, the realities of our climate and what might be next for all of us.
The spirit of a teen girl is always formidable. There’s so much to explore. It’s a gift to spend time inside the mind of one who has a lot to say, who wants many things, who gets plenty wrong—and who does not have to shrink to be loved.
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Quade Kelley Derrick Barnes’s THE INCREDIBLY HUMAN HENSON BLAYZE is a middle-gradecoming-of-age novel that combines sports, tall-tale folklore, and allegorical history into acompelling narrative about identity choices and their influence on community. 13-year-old Henson is a football prodigy in the small, mostly white town of Great Mountain,Mississippi. When his […]
Breaking down the Caldecott data . . .
These informational works for kids of all ages shine a light on the many contributions Black icons, such as Zora Neale Hurston, Serena Williams, and Malcolm X, and more, have made on American culture.
Backed by $400,000 in funding from Google.org, Genesee Valley BOCES, a New York state organization supporting 22 school districts through shared services and instructional leadership, today called for “a fundamental reset in how schools respond to artificial intelligence (AI)."
Am I right? Does it matter? Let's have some fun blindly throwing darts at a wall.
This month's PENGUIN TBR reviews include a look at THE MOON WITHOUT STARS by Chanel Miller, SIBYLLINE by Melissa de la Cruz and POSTSCRIPT by Cory McCarthy
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels featuring Extraordinary Voyages Volume 1 from Papercutz and Wallflower from Viking Books for Young Readers.
Today's featured title in our Heavy Medal Mock Newbery: THE NINE MOONS OF HAN YU AND LULI by Karina Yan Glaser
As moving as it is educational, this breathtaking story is one that will stay with readers.
Breaking down the Newbery data . . .
School librarian Tom Bober created a unit of picture book read-alouds and primary sources for the country’s 250th birthday.
The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller leads holds this week. The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price, illustrated by Cynthia Yuan Cheng, enters the NYT Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover Best Seller list at No. 1. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine announces Beth Is Dead as the inaugural pick for its new Sunnie Reads Book Club, which is run “by and for Gen-Z readers.”
What if you could assign any illustrator to any out-of-print children's book?
The announcement of the Newbery Medal is just a couple weeks away. Find out what's coming up on Heavy Medal before then, including book discussions, a webcast, and three Mock Newbery votes.
A rare sequel made the Heavy Medal Book List this year with MAX IN THE LAND OF LIES by Adam Gidwitz.
Today we've got a baby announcement—Baby Garfield, that is! He'll be starring in a new miniseries from BOOM! Studios launching in March.
Today's Heavy Medal Mock Newbery discussion book is POCKET BEAR by Katherine Applegate, the 2013 Newbery Medalist
New Dan Santat, a girl gang, a friendship break-up, a story inspired by Armenian and Persian mythology, and a memoir.
Can you name these 3 books by their LEGO-fied covers?
This book works its way into the fissures and cracks of children's gray matter, affecting their reading preferences for, potentially, their entire life. For that to happen, you need something a little weird, and special. You need a book like this.
May we have empathy and respect for Latinx families living through political turmoil and exile, no matter which side of the political spectrum they reside without dehumanizing those we see as opposing our ideologies- understanding that the Latinx story is not a monolith.
Periwinkle, a “space cat,” explores the world with a creative, curious spirit.
RETURN TO SENDER by Vera Brosgol is now up for discussion in our 2026 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery.
Imagine taking something as devastating as bullying and turning it into joy and hope. That is my goal with The Right Back at You Project. I want to bring the conversation about bullying out of the shadows and into the open in as many classrooms as possible.
The latest and greatest READ posters.
In a time of deep distrust and widespread propaganda, news and media literacy skills are more vital than ever.
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