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A sixth-grader feels overwhelmed by... everything in today's exclusive preview from Damian Alexander's Absolutely Everything.
Emily and Steven share some thoughts about early Newbery favorites and invite readers to chime in with their own top picks so far.
When an author bears witness to the experience of adolescence through a real, living, breathing, complicated, messy protagonist caught in a web of complicated, messy relationships, readers notice.
Join me in the Not-So-Way-Back Machine to catch up on a few May titles!
Dissected tongues, fruit trends, space microbes, and more all appear in this remarkable preview of some of our very favorite small publishers.
In sisterhood, you see various versions of yourself, souls raised in the same forage yet emerging in various shapes and conditions.
Not only has the creator of Strange Planet written a bedtime book, but it's chock full of science, humor, and some seriously sweet backmatter for the younger set. We talk!
The longer I live, the more I understand how science and math perfect art and music as much as engineering and technology.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
Teen Librarian Cindy Shutts has long shared her programming outlines with us here at TLT. Today, she is sharing a more personal post.
In eighth grade, I was scared of the world finding out the truth about me. But I think, even scarier, was admitting that truth to myself.
It's time to officially start our 2026 Mock Newbery discussions on Heavy Medal. Here's a look ahead at what to expect over the next few months.
Wherein I am taken to task for referring to beloved stuffed animals as "inanimate objects" by the inimitable (and very correct) Katherine Applegate.
COLBY: Barbara O’Connor is always one of the most popular authors in my fifth grade classroom. Kids cannot get enough of her stories. I am so excited to share my conversation with Barbara about her new book Dream (a companion to Wish). Subscribe below to catch every episode of The Yarn: iTunes Spotify Stitcher
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Tuck Everlasting from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and Max, A Little Axolotl from Graphix.
Teen librarian reviews the debut novel LET'S SPLIT UP by Bill Wood
How I ended up writing Junius Leak and the Spiraling Vortex of Doom and The Vanishing of Lake Peigneur, two companion books sprung from a single seed.
Next time you’re worried you’re not quite as alone as you think, remember that not all spooky encounters are what they seem. And you’ll maybe even get a fun story out of it.
A dual interview with two women deeply connected to the great novel TUCK EVERLASTING. If you ever loved the book, you're not going to want to miss this...
A dual interview with two women deeply connected to the great novel TUCK EVERLASTING. If you ever loved the book, you're not going to want to miss this...
A dual interview with two women deeply connected to the great novel TUCK EVERLASTING. If you ever loved the book, you're not going to want to miss this...
The final suggestion season for Hevay Medal Mock Newbery closes with 96 total titles. We have a lot of narrowing down to do.
The 2025 Festival launches September 1st, two weeks before Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, and incorporates educators’ voices into pre-recorded sessions and age-appropriate lengths for easy classroom integration.
This list is really short because people aren’t writing much nonfiction for teens on this issue.
Creaky Acres follows Nora as she moves to a new home in the country and makes new friends at the riding barn.
Maybe you'll find your last reads of the summer here today!
Get a sneak peek at CHAMPION, which comes out on September 2.
Frank Cammuso's latest Toon Book is a delightful take on the story of "The Ugly Duckling"...although this little oddball is obviously no swan.
I can’t wait for readers to experience the characters’ journeys to debutante delirium in the fashion capital of the world. Everyone is cordially invited to attend!
Today we've a bit of science, a round of board books, and even some soccer related hijinks. Here's what's on the menu for the upcoming spring.
My writing life has been an imperfect storm, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Bonus content! Why interview just one author when you can interview a slew? Today we speak with a host of different nonfiction creators of children's books to figure out how they make their difficult topics child appropriate.
Today, it’s government and citizenship. Rather than exploring a variety of governments, this list is centered on the system that exists in the United States and actions of citizens
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
I promised myself when I began writing for teenagers in 2017, that I would tackle topics often silenced or totally ignored in households within my faith community specifically.
Ali Terese: writing mayhem full of hilarity and heart! She's my new fav and should be yours, too.
Grief and humor mixing and melding in middle grade is a delicate thing to establish. We talk with author Joanne Levy on how to make this very secret sauce.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Brinkley Yearbooks Volume 3 School Dance from Knopf Books for Young Readers and Mabel Makes (^Up) A Friend, The Elephant in the Room from Penguin Young Readers.
Summer’s ending, school’s starting and a new season of Heavy Medal is about to BEGIN! Fasten your seatbelts for a season of fun and spirited book discussion (who needs football when you have Mock Newbery??!). We launch into full gear after Labor Day which means we’re starting our final suggestion call NOW! Yes it’s early, […]
Overdrive/Sora discusses five tips to help get teens reading, including using the SORA app
Maybe I DO have something I’m hoping kids will learn from my books after all: That even when the world feels like it’s falling down around them, they can still find laughter.
"They don't just give a gatefold to anyone these days." We tackle our second author/illustrator Eric Carle title and discover there's a lot to love in this engineering marvel of a picture book.
Parents, guardians, librarians, and community leaders all have a role in preparing this next generation, and that means making sure they develop a complete perspective of the world around them.
Despite the sign on it, the free keyboard that Margot and her friends find on the side of the road is definitely haunted. But when her musician father takes off to chase fame, maybe a ghost can teach her how to play?
Author Tanya Wright discusses her upper elementary book Hairiette of Harlem
Author Jamie Sumner joins us to talk about her new middle grade novel, SCHOOLED.
A marvelous tale of space aliens and vast conspiracies. Put another way, just the thing to lure the science fiction curious back to the fold.
I hope you find something fun here to read in these final days of summer.
"I knew the book had to be accessible for children. I also wanted it to have a point of view, to be specifically Black (as much as I could manage in 100 poems), and to be honest." Traci N. Todd talks about her latest poetry collection.
In today’s classrooms, literacy isn’t just about decoding text. It’s also about navigating, interpreting and finding meaning in the stories students are reading, regardless of length or format.
Because I love imagery, developing an image system for a verse novel is one of my favorite challenges.
![Alternative [Self Liner Note] | Review](https://goodcomicsforkids.slj.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image.png)
A musician struggles with a creative block and self-doubt in this special one-shot manga.
Entering portals requires bravery and hope and the willingness to see what happens, which are generally good things to apply to living life in general.
In the mood for some menudo? I get to ask Erika Meza about one of her latest, and we touch on everything from gay grandparents to the chaos and buzz of a family weekend.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Max and Chaffy The Great Cupcake Mystery from DK Children and Space Case from Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.
How does what we put on our plate intersect with climate change? How can we think about our diet in a way that is kinder for the earth and ourselves?
The power of words can help save us---reading them, writing them, feeling them. They can help us find our way back to ourselves when it seems like everything was taken. A powerful look at trauma, bravery, and survival.
"How is this a birthday for Frances? This should be A Birthday for Gloria! The title is wrong!" Kate and I wildly disagree on the rating of today's book and whether or not it's worth your time.
COLBY: Back in the summer of 2016, I interviewed Sophie Blackall the day before she gave her Caldecott acceptence speech for Finding Winnie. It was a huge honor to get a little bit of her time right before this huge moment in her life. I selfishly never shared our conversation. It was mine, and sort […]
Julie and Stan Sakai's kid-friendly version of comics' most famous samurai rabbit returns in a new expanded edition, featuring 30 pages of new material.
Sometimes we are not okay. Sometimes we crave respite from the onward march. Sometimes we need the relief of being seen. And that, I believe, is okay.
The memory of a song helped inspire my latest nonfiction book, Many Voices, Building Erie, the Canal that Changed America.
"I understand the value of escapism for kids, but I also understand the value of representation." Craig Kofi Farmer goes deep with his latest book on what toxic mentorship can do to a kid.
Writer A.J. Locascio talks about his picture book Spoops, a sweet Halloween story about a girl who teams up with some tiny Halloween sprites to enjoy the creative side of the holiday.
As a writer, it’s been fascinating to watch the publishing team and artists add a visual layer to these books. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how and why they do it.
“Anything less is not good enough for a child.” Those would be the words of the irascible editor, Ursula Nordstrom. Now she's getting a middle grade nonfiction book on her life, and author Nancy Hudgins is here to tell us more.
When does protecting children do more harm than good? If I’d understood those times better, maybe I’d be better prepared for these, and so would my children.
Contributor Riley Jensen shares a list of 5 YA books coming out September 2025.
Today we have an exclusive preview of Goat Magic, by Kate Wheeler, which Oni Press will publish on August 19, 2025. Here’s the publisher’s description: Trill, a spirited goat herder with a unique ability to communicate with her flock, yearns for a life beyond mountain pastures. Her “goat magic” feels common compared to the sorcery […]
Were you aware that ghosts are the hot trend of 2025? Not sure what that says about the state of the world today, but it does give me an excuse to talk to the creator of the ghost with the most.
Learn how you and your teens can get Galleys for teen reviews from Penguin
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Wizkit Volume 2: A Tail of Disruption from Atheneum Books for Young Readers and Cryptid Kids Volume 2: Moby Duck from First Second Books.
The list of suggested titles for the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery has now reached 87! Check out the full list of possible contenders for the 2026 Medal.
Author Ellen Forney joins us to talk about her new book, The Adventures of You!: How to Write, Draw, and Star in Your Own Comics.
Arguably Tomi Ungerer's least weird picture book, we at last tackle the tale of a woman and her beloved reptile.
The fall books are arriving in droves these days, so while I'm trying to hang on to the last joys of summer vacation, I am thinking ahead to what I'll be reading in the upcoming months.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
A beauty, kid-friendly, fun, touching, and there’s just the barest hint of bittersweetness at its core. In short, the perfect summer picture book.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen walks you through a low-tech and a high-tech way to make personalized magnetic bookmarks, because librarian
For me, gardening is not only a way to neatly symbolize the writing journey—I feel that it’s also one of the best methods for gathering story ideas.
We continue our ode to science fiction this week with the delightful Rebecca Stead in discussion about her latest title, tails and all.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen reviews April Henry's newest teen mystery/thriller, WHEN WE GO MISSING
In Debasmita Dasgupta's new graphic novel, little Faiza wants to be a boxer, but she finds there are many challenges that need to be fought through in order to achieve one's goals...or even to just live one's life.
Is there life on Mars? Who cares! It's the Moon we're focusing on today, in this ribald conversation about one of my (already) favorite middle grades of 2026.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Adorable Empire from Graphix and The Fire-Breathing Duckling from Toon Books.
Has your summer reading list included any possible contenders for the 2026 Newbery Medal? If so, now's the time to submit your suggestions for our growing Mock Newbery list. August suggestions can be made through Saturday, August 9th.
I always needed the girl I tried to leave. Every word we write shapes a chance to see the world and ourselves in new ways.
A return to the world of Mini Grey and a book that should remind you of Toy Story and yet, miraculously, does not.
I’m in the middle of two books right now (1; 2) but there are still August releases I’m looking forward to read this month.
Contributor Riley Jensen shares some new YA coming out this August
A cover reveal of the new middle grade book StEvEn & Parker: Dinos Are Forever by Parker James.
Got a-hankering for more Penderwicks? Then get the next best thing! Jeanne Birdsall has an all new book out and it involves libraries, fairies, and terrible terrible parents.
Emezi is such a superb storyteller that regardless of the cultural center from which they write, their narrative will hit home with readers. They don’t waste time laying out the intricacies of world-building, you’re there, so keep up! And you do.
Captain Underpants will have a manga adaptation, coming in April 2026.
17 quick reviews of new and forthcoming books.
So Dan writes me the other day, and he tells me that he has this new book called The Picasso Curse out September 2nd and, "I think it’s the best thing I ever wrote." And if you're an intrepid reporter like me? That's a scoop.
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