With the 2024 Nation’s Report Card showing further declines in reading, more support for struggling readers and their educators has never been more important. Let’s take a closer look at these new series for struggling readers.

Kiese Laymon, award-winning author and MacArthur Fellow, is out with a new picture book. City Summer, Country Summer celebrates the deep bonds of friendship forged among three Black boys on a summer journey to visit their grandmothers in Mississippi.  

In this popular Q&A series, SLJ poses five questions and a request for a book recommendation to a debut YA author. Adina King shares about 'The House No One Sees' in this latest installment.

Readers responded to our coverage of a North Carolina bill, which could bring criminal charges against librarians over "material that is harmful to minors"—and much more. 

Cascarones are empty eggshells that are decorated, filled with confetti, and sealed. A Latinx Easter tradition involves breaking them over loved ones’ heads. Join in the fun with these two picture books.

From a picture book about whales to middle grade books on rescuing red wolves and honeybees, these informational texts will encourage burgeoning environmentalists to take on a cause.

From fish farts to how animal poop helps fight the climate crisis, these STEM books will inform and satisfy readers who enjoy supercool titles about the slimy and disgusting.

Books to help budding ornithologists explore the world of birds, along with aspects of SEL (social and emotional learning), from persistence to making friends.

In these three novels, the pace and proximity of small-town life play a vital role in characters’ disparate journeys that are ultimately bids for safety, recognition, and belonging.