March trilogy for upper MG readers

I just finished the final book in John Lewis’ powerful March trilogy, graphic representation of the civil rights era and the role Lewis and others played. It was inspiring, heartbreaking,

The embarrassment of food allergies

Recently, Anthony Maruca, a 23-year-old, died from an allergic reaction to his severe food allergies. It’s a tragic story of a wonderful young person dying much, much, much too soon. Anthony’s

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Need craft and dessert ideas to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s my roundup for RetailMeNot on 15 easy DIY ideas for March 17 (or anytime you’re feeling lucky).

Get out the vote!

You don’t have to be 18 to vote in the 10th annual Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards. Starting Friday, March 3 through Sunday, May 7,  you can vote online

Sensitivity Readers

This is a fantastic trend, and one that’s helpful to any author trying to get it right when portraying a range of voices and backgrounds in their work. Publishers and

A Valentine to Middle Grade Books

  This week, I’m over at From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors to share what books the MUF team loves the most. Check ’em out! 

New York Times to eliminate graphic novel and manga bestsellers lists

Interesting news (link here to EW.com) — the Times, due to limited resources, will reduce how many best-seller lists they publish each week. I had no idea so much work

Winning a Newbery or Caldecott

I loved this NPR piece on how winners of the Newbery and Caldecott awards feel. Cannot imagine what a thrill that must be!

This headline says it all

Appreciate Annie Reneau over at Scary Mommy asking people not to be jerks about food allergies. Seriously, people, c’mon!

Best of middle grade list

Who doesn’t love a best of list? Here’s Publisher’s Weekly best of 2016 middle grade books. I am slowly working my way through this list now, and just finished Matt