May 7Any Way You Look by Maleeha Siddiqui. ScholasticAnzu and the Realm of Darkness by Mai K. Nguyen. VikingBetter Must Come by Desmond Hall. Atheneum BooksBeyond the Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz. Disney HyperionBite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho. Disney HyperionBlood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams. Labyrinth RoadThe Boy… Read More New Releases: May 2024 ..read more

I wanted to make a book list for Earth Day. I went to a predominantly white elementary school in Toledo. I remember observing Earth Day as an 8th grader when we focused on ecology. I think we considered the beauty of nature and how it was affected by pollution. I don’t have a memory of… Read More Earth Day is Coming for Us All ..read more

2The Beginners Guide to Manga and Anime by Shuichiro Takeda. ScholasticThe Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories ed. by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell. Flatiron BooksThe Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram. Dial BooksCruzita and the Mariacheros by Ashley Granillo. Carolrhoda BooksDarker By Four by June Tan. Harper TeenThe Ghost Forest (Secrets… Read More April Releases ..read more

Happy Monday! I hate that I didn’t get to finish the Black and Banned series. I went out of town for an event that was really overwhelming and never got back to the blog. I am still following the these activities in our libraries, and how our basic freedoms are being eroded. There are activities… Read More Monday ..read more

For some time, I’ve noticed a continued lack of Black/African American reviewers for middle grade and young adult literature. There are a few of us working with some of the traditional review sources, and there are a few blogs that come and go, but I don’t see a lot of continuity. Having Black/African American reviewers… Read More Looking for Reviewers ..read more

March549 Days by Agnes Lee. Levine QueridoBlue Stars: Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem by Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich Smith, illus. by Molly Murakami. CandlewickCharlie Hernández & the Phantom of Time by Ryan Calejo. AladdinDefy the Storm (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland. Disney LucasfilmThe Encanto’s Daughter by Melissa de la Cruz.  The First State of Being by Erin… Read More March Releases ..read more

WOW!!! Take a look at all the amazing books releasing tomorrow. 49 Days by Agnes Lee. Levine QueridoBlue Stars: Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem by Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich Smith, illus. by Molly Murakami. CandlewickCharlie Hernández & the Phantom of Time by Ryan Calejo. AladdinDefy the Storm (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Tessa Gratton and… Read More A 5th of March ..read more

In April 2023, 56 boos were pulled from shelves in Mat-Su Borough School District in Alaska. The school board selected a group of community members to work through four books each month to see if the books provide pornographic material to children under 16. Tiffany Jackson’s Monday’s Not Coming is among those on the list.… Read More 21 Feb: Black and Banned ..read more

In January, 2024, 689 books were removed from classrooms in Orange County Florida because they might violate HB 1069 that bans materials with sexual conduct from schools. What I find interesting about this, and similar legislation across the country, is that it prescribes a practice but contains no fines or other punishment. Coe Booth’s Bronxwood… Read More 20 Feb: Black and Banned ..read more

A Place Inside Me, A Poem to Heal the Heart, written by Zetta Elliott and illustrated by Noa Denmon, was challenged in a school libraries in Virginia in May and in Tennessee in October. The poem works through the feelings a boy has after a girl in his neighborhood is killed by the police. It’s… Read More 19 Feb: Black and Banned ..read more