#diverse books

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Book Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Book Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Ready for some epic battle scenes, well-paced character growth, and overthrowing the patriarchy? Debut author Namina Forna hits the ground running with The Gilded Ones, the story of a teen girl living in a repressive fantasy world who must train to slay demons for the emperor after being rejected by society for her cursed golden blood.Continue reading


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Book Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

A queer, gender-inclusive, Latinx ghost-boy love story—the perfect read to start off your spooky season right. Yadriel is a brujo, although not all of his family members accept his trans identity. Julian is dead. Together, with the help of Yadriel’s best friend Martiza, they must work to solve the mystery of several deaths and disappearances including Julian’s before the first day of Dia de…

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Next month, I hope to attend the second annual National Antiracist Book Festival, which is taking place April 25, 2020, at American University in Washington, DC. Below is an ambitious reading list based on the panelists I am most excited to see. If you cannot attend (or if it gets cancelled due to coronavirus), exploring the works of these authors and the numerous others at the festival is a…

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 “Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn&rs

“Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn’t be this big awkward thing whether you’re straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I’m just saying.” 

Becky Albertalli,Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

I love this book! Oreos. Who mention Oreaos?!


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Artemisby Andy WeirWhat’s better than being stranded on Mars and abandoned by your crew with only po

Artemis

by Andy Weir

What’s better than being stranded on Mars and abandoned by your crew with only potatoes to live on?

Anything really.

Anything would be better than that.

But if we are talking in terms of Andy Weir’s brilliant first novel The Martian, what would be better that Andy Weir writing the witty and scientifically credible story of one character? That would be Andy Weir creating a witty and scientifically credible story about a whole city on the moon with an awesome no nonsense female protagonist smuggler. Which he did when he wrote Artemis.

Having loved Weir’s writing voice in The Martian, I scooped up Artemis immediately and summarily devoured it. The protagonist, Jazz, a citizen of Artemis, the moon colony, slaves away as a smuggler to save up enough slugs for a better life. Because moon real estate sounds pricier than New York and San Francisco combined. An integral player in the city’s sordid underbelly, Jazz is roped into a scheme by a wealthy benefactor while desperately dodging the ever-watchful moon cop and a new slew of moon mafia. Which, let’s face it, is kinda challenging in a city that’s literally under a bubble. (Note to self: this could be included in the genre: books that effectively employ domes as a device.) Let’s just say that oxygen is at a premium in zero G.

With a seriously diverse cast of characters, an entirely new take on moon landing and a unique pen pal scenario, Artemis is bound to launch to the bestsellers’ list immediately. Pun intended.

Kudos to Weir for introducing a minority female protagonist who is dynamic, intelligent, flawed, and beautiful -  and incidentally, like a lot of the awesome dynamic, intelligent, flawed and beautiful female characters in my own life.  

Plus, reading Weir is like taking a cool science class as an adult, just in a totally different atmosphere.


*B3 received a galley from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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Banned Books Week is ending, but challenges to books—especially those by/featuring people from marginalized groups—will continue. We’ve compiled resources to help everyone keep advocating for diverse books:

GENERAL BANNED BOOK RESOURCES

  • Banned Books Week Official Resources – “The members of the Banned Books Week coalition have a number of resources available to support Banned Books Week programming, promotion of the annual celebration of the right to read, and banned books themselves. Many of these resources can be used throughout the year, so you can celebrate the right to read every day!”

  • American Library Association (ALA) Frequently Challenged Books – “We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools. Peruse the following pages to explore banned and challenged books by topic, genre, time, and audience.”

  • ALA Banned Books Week Q&A – “This resource offers issues, strategies, and resources for preparing your professional community (teacher librarians and public librarians) to celebrate Banned Books Week.”

  • National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) Resources – “Learn about your First Amendment rights, what censorship can look like, techniques for preventing it, how to handle incidents of silencing and specific ways to defend free expression in your communities and nationally.” 

FURTHER READING

  • How to Talk With Students About Banned Books – “[An] important aspect to consider is who is bringing forth the complaint to remove the books. Is there a concerned parent that found graphic violence in a children’s book? Or is there a publishing group that recognizes the harm of continuing to promote outdated tropes? Or is there a group with a political agenda to censor?”

  • Why Your Kid Should Read Banned Books – “Five good reasons for kids to read banned books.”

  • 5 Things You Can Do to Support the Right to Read – “Whether you’re a librarian, teacher, bookseller, student, or writer, there are a number of things you can do to defend and support the right to read.”

  • Are Antiracism Books for Kids Actually Working? – “Books cannot fully inform children on how to combat racism unless they also read books that relay stories and messages from people of color.”

  • Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors – Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s seminal essay on how reading seeds empathy, especially in children. “Children from dominant social groups have always found their mirrors in books, but they, too, have suffered from the lack of availability of books about others.”

FOR DIRECT CHALLENGES

  • ALA Challenge Support – Resources for librarians seeking support (whether in the form of guidance or encouragement) during censorship challenges, including information on when and how to directly contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom, which “is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association’s basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials.”

  • National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Intellectual Freedom Center – Includes a handbook for educators on responding to book challenges and contact information for NCTE members seeking support/assistance with censorship issues.

  • NCAC Book Censorship Action Kit – The NCAC’s “collection of materials on how to effectively fight challenges to books in schools for the use of students, educators, parents, and authors.” Includes advocacy tips, concrete actions, form letters, and more.

  • Comic Book Legal Defense Fund – “Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.”

  • NCAC/CBLDF’S Be Heard! Protecting Your Protest Rights – For students specifically, including guidelines on how to work with school limitations on free speech.

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[Video description: Over a series of still images of books and stock footage of reading and learning, the following text displays across the screen:

“Banned Books Week is September 26 – October 2. This annual event celebrates the freedom to read and ‘highlights the value of free and open access to information.’ The first Banned Books Week was in 1982, following a sharp increase in challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. While most challenges are unsuccessful, if a book is banned, it is removed. According to the American Library Association, parents challenge materials more often than any other group.

The top 10 most challenged books for 2020 include themes of racial justice, stories centered around BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ content. Of the top 10 most challenged books, 70% were by authors from marginalized groups.

Banned Books Week ‘brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.’ 2021’s theme is ‘Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.’

‘Ever since the existence of books, there have been those that have wanted to control them. Books are messengers. They can educate and liberate, as well as entertain and invite readers into worlds they never knew existed. Books give people hope.’ — Nicole Klett, ‘How to Talk With Students about Banned Books'”

The video ends with credits acknowledging sources of information: www.ala.organdwww.bannedbooksweek.org.]

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More than half of this teacher’s class are students of color, yet her library almost exclusively featured white characters.

Here’s what she did to diversify her classroom books.

“The Hate U Give” book and film have made it crystal clear that not only do black kids read, white kids (and adults!) will read books with a black lead.

A black female lead, at that.

My book review of With The Fire On High by @AcevedoWrites is finally up! || I am left salivating over food and crying over teenage struggles

  • Title:With The Fire On High
  • Author:Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Publisher: Harper Teen
  • Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
  • Pages: 392 pages (Hardcover)
  • Where to buy:Amazon,Book Depository
  • Trigger warnings: Teen pregnancy
Add the book to Goodreads

Quickie Plot: Seventeen-year-old Emoni tries hard to stay sane despite life’s unending lemon-throwing in the forms of school, family, and romance. She’s basically early adulting.

Summary:

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A collection of classic books with new culturally diverse covers will make their debut at New York City’s largest bookstore.

To kick off Black History Month, Penguin Random House and Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue is partnering up to give twelve classic young adult novels new covers, known as “Diverse Editions.” The books will hit the shelves on Feb. 5, and Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue will have the books on display in their massive storefront throughout the month of February.

The following books will be on display with their Diverse Edition covers:

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • Three Musketeers
  • Moby Dick
  • The Secret Garden
  • The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Emma
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • Peter Pan
  • Treasure Island
  • Frankenstein

Each title had five culturally diverse custom covers designed to ensure the recognition, representation, and inclusion of various multiethnic backgrounds reflected across the country. The new covers are a part of a new initiative to champion diversity in literature.

Customers who can’t make it in-store to purchase a book can download the new cover online for free.

To celebrate the release of the new covers, Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue is hosting a Diverse Editions Launch & Panel Discussion from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 5. The panel, which will be moderated by TBWA North America’s Chief Diversity Officer Doug Melville, will feature key opinion leaders within the industry including bestselling author MK Asante, literary agent Nena Madonia Oshman (Dupree Miller), Cal Hunter of Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue, and more.

Additionally, Diverse Editions of the books will be donated to libraries and schools throughout the Tri-state area at the end of the month

Attendance is free to the public, but all must RSVP beforehand. Every attendee will receive a copy of one of the books while supplies last.

I probably did a bad job looking for this but I couldn’t find it on Tumblr and like… This completely blows my mind. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!?! Tbh the article reads like satire but APPARENTLY IT’S NOT

jennabookish: “Everything else you can live around, but not death. Death you have to live through.”

jennabookish:

“Everything else you can live around, but not death. Death you have to live through.”


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lizziethereader:booksforthoughts BPC | June 2019 | 20. Tearin’ up my heart

lizziethereader:

booksforthoughts BPC | June 2019 | 20. Tearin’ up my heart


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Review: ‘The Last Firefox’ by Lee Newbery (illust. Laura Catalan)

Review: ‘The Last Firefox’ by Lee Newbery (illust. Laura Catalan)

[ID: ‘Book Reviews’ and ‘Sabrina @ Notes From a Paper Plane Nomad’ in lilac and yellow text on a space-themed background.]

…I turn slowly.The head of the Grendilock is peering back through the curtain of ivy. I can see myself reflected in the empty blackness of its insect eyes.I look afraid.

Rating:

4.8/5 paper planes

What’s This Book About?

Genre: Children’s/Middle-Grade Fantasy;…


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catapultstory:“So we’re leaning against the wall, not giving a fuck about shit, at that age you op

catapultstory:

“So we’re leaning against the wall, not giving a fuck about shit, at that age you operate on eternity mode. Shit ain’t gonna happen. That shit ain’t gonna happen moment is exactly when shit happens.” 

Over at our open sharing platform Community, Alexandros Orphanides shares new fiction: When two boys go looking for a cure for their boredom in the subway tunnels, only one makes it out.

(viaCatapult Community | Jonny’s Tunnel)

Check out my story via Catapult Community.


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Upcoming Webinar: Children’s Books about Joy

Upcoming Webinar: Children’s Books about Joy

How fun is your bookroom? Where does joy intersect with culturally responsive and diverse books?
 A disproportionate number of books about BIPOC protagonists focus on their marginalization. Though it is important for children to understand the history and complexity of oppression, racism, and discrimination, children—especially Indigenous children, Black children and children of color—also…


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Dive Into our STEM Diverse Reading List and Collection

Dive Into our STEM Diverse Reading List and Collection

At Lee & Low, we believe that showing diversity of people and communities in STEM is critical to inspiring and preparing our next generation of thinkers, leaders, and citizens. That’s why we created a beautiful collection of STEM titles features innovators and trailblazers from diverse backgrounds and historically underrepresented/excluded communities protecting Earth’s ecosystems.Continue reading


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Sneak Peek: Lee & Low’s Fall 2021 Titles

Sneak Peek: Lee & Low’s Fall 2021 Titles

 

2021 has gone by quite fast, and we’re now approaching the final leg of the year. The time for new books, however, is not over yet! Lee & Low still has some wonderful new books waiting to fall into your hands before 2022 makes an appearance. Read on for a sneak peek at our upcoming titles for fall 2021.
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