Interviews

The Book of Jonas takes readers deep into the psychological and spiritual consequences that result when the horrors of war become normal and force us to make unfathomable choices.

SLJ chats with J. Anderson Coats about her novel, The Wicked and the Just, set in 13th-century Wales.
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Within 24 hours, the relatively unknown writer found out that his novel, 'Where Things Come Back', had scooped up ALA’s William C. Morris Award and the Printz Award.
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Photographs by Richard Freeda I’ve known Sarah Ludwig since she was a library school student at Simmons College. When we first met, her goal was to be a teen librarian. Then one day Sarah told More...

April is National Autism Awareness Month. Share Temple Grandin's inspirational story with your patrons via Sy Montomery's recent biography of the scientist. More...

From the minute Uncle Mort rides up on his purple and black motorcycle, I was hooked on 'Croak' (Graphia), by first-time author Gina Damico.

Your first novel, Legend, triggered a major bidding war, Hollywood can't wait to turn it into a movie, and you're only 27. More...

Your gorgeous new picture book is about Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer and leading spokesperson on the importance of the ocean to our planet’s survival. She’s designed undersea research vessels and has spent more than 7,000 More...

SLJ talks to Sen. Reed (D-RI) about how he pulled off his $28.6 million win for school libraries in December, what libraries mean to him, and the importance of advocacy.
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Hollywood’s eager to turn your New York Times best sellers into movies, your book tours take you all over the globe, you play a few instruments and paint, plus you have two small kids—and you’re More...

Thanhha Lai was eating chocolate cake at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, nearly 9,000 miles from her birthplace on November 16, and she was about to be astonished. More...

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum tells the true story of how a 145-million-year-old Diplodocus longus ended up at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Were you crazy about dinosaurs as a kid? I was More...

Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II is about an unlikely romance between a sexy, foul-mouthed druggie and an isolated kid with cerebral palsy who lives with his rich grandmother. More...
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When The Phantom Tollbooth was first published in 1961, critics universally praised it as a modern-day American Alice in Wonderland. It’s easy to see why. Like Lewis Carroll’s classic, The Phantom Tollbooth (Epstein & Carroll) is filled with zany wordplay, subversive games of logic, sophisticated line drawings, and humor that’s irresistible to readers of all ages. More...

While growing up in Japan, your father discouraged you from drawing. And in your new book we first see him from behind. It’s the only time I show him. When I saw that illustration, I More...

Sidekicks opens with Bright Boy, aka Scott Hutchinson, the teen sidekick of superhero Phantom Justice, getting aroused as he’s rescuing a hot young woman. The bulge in his bright yellow tights is caught on camera, More...

Fourteen-year-old David has a normal life that borders on the bizarre—his father is a psychologist to juvenile "hard cases" with a practice in a tiny French village, while his mother, now living with the long-suffering More...

Jasper Jones opens with a horrifying scene—the body of a young girl is found hanging from a tree. Can you set up the story for those who haven’t read it? It’s set in the summer More...

In Wild Wings, two kids protect a pair of endangered ospreys by keeping their existence a secret. Somehow, it seems fitting that you write in a tree house—at least, when the weather’s nice. Since we More...

Your name comes from being born in the front seat of a Mini Cooper in South Wales. Did you name your son, Herbie, after the Volkswagen bug in the Disney film? I don’t know whether More...

Few people know that Stalin deported more than 300,000 Lithuanians, including many women and children who were shipped to Siberia in cattle cars and left to die.  That was Stalin’s plan. There’s this quote which More...

Photograph by Tsar Fedorsky/Getty Images for SLJ In your new novel, Alexander and Robert are two teenage brothers being raised by their struggling mom. Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of them? Sure. Alexander More...

Photograph by Brownie Harris Black Hole Sun is a zany story about a disgraced teenage soldier who’s hired to save a group of down-on-their-luck miners from a band of cannibalistic marauders. How’d you first describe More...

When a severe storm separates a monk named Abba Jacob from his loyal terrier, Snook, the dog is stranded on a remote island. The writing is gorgeous and so are the illustrations. More...

  Photograph byGabe Palacio/ Getty Images for SLJ Revolution is about two troubled teens, separated by two centuries. Andi, a talented modern-day musician, is deeply depressed because she feels responsible for her younger brother's death. And More...

  Photograph by Matt Peyton/ Getty Images for SLJ. Ballet for Martha, by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, tells the story of how Martha Graham teamed up with composer Aaron Copland and sculptor Isamu Noguchi More...

Photograph by Gregory Campbell/Getty Images for SLJ It's 1962 and Russia is sending missiles to Cuba. Eleven-year-old Franny Chapman lives near Washington, DC-a prime target-and she's terrified that the crisis may lead to war. You More...

Photograph by Matthew Turley. Matched takes place in a dystopian society that controls who you marry, what you eat, and when you die. But 17-year-old Cassia challenges the established order when she falls for two More...

Photograph by Matt Carr/Getty Images for SLJ. Your first novel follows the wild, wacky, and often blood-splattered adventures of Hansel and Gretel. What triggered that idea? It all started when I was teaching a second-grade More...

SLJ talks to Rick Riordan about his latest bestseller 'The Red Pyramid,' book one of the Kane Chronicles. More...

Salem Press doesn't just like library blogs-they love 'em. In an effort 'to expose the little-known and excellent in an ongoing way,'; the publisher has created the Library Blog Awards. The first wave of awards More...

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) is all about inclusion: 'an attitude and approach that seeks to ensure that every person, regardless of ability or background, can meaningfully participate in all aspects of life.'; Now More...

Deborah Heiligman and Phillip Hoose are competing head-to-head again-this time for the first Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Heiligman's Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of More...

Amale nanny, a gay quarterback, and an 18-year-old girl who falls in love with an older woman are some of the characters found in the six finalists for the Lambda Literary Award in the area More...

Mabel R. McKissick, cofounder of the American Library Association's Coretta Scott King Book Awards, died March 20 at the Bridebrook Rehabilitation Center in Niantic, CT. She was 87.Mabel McKissick, cofounder of the Coretta Scott King More...

Neil Gaiman may have turned down his Hugo Award nomination for Anansi Boys (2005) in 2006, buthe's game this time with his recent recognition for The Graveyard Book (2008, both HarperCollins).The Hugos are awards for More...

The 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award has been awarded to the Tamer Institute for Community Education,a nonprofit organization that promotes reading in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Founded in 1989, the Ramallah-based Tamer More...

The National Book Critics Circle Awards (NBCC) has recognized the often overlooked area of children's literature, giving its 2009 award in the field of criticism to Seth Lerer's Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop More...

What do you wish everyone knew about librarians? Lisbeth Boutang, a children's librarian at Cloquet Public Library in Minnesota, says she wishes that people knew about their courage to imagine.Lisbeth Boutang won grand prize. 'Between More...

Nothing warms a librarian's heart more than another book award list, and on Valentine's Day kid lit bloggers announced the winners of the Cybils (Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards), which started three years ago More...

Shadra Strickland was recently named the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator of 2009, just weeks after receiving the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award on January 26, 2008 for her illustrations in the picture More...

For the last 87 years, the Newbery Medal has always created a stir among librarians, adults, and children. And it wasn't any different at this year's American Library Association (ALA) midwinter meeting in Denver. SLJ More...

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The economy is tanking. Detroit's Big Three are quaking. And in the world of children's book awards, the sparks are flying. According to children's book expert Anita Silvey, the Newbery Medal, the top prize for More...

Caldecott-medal winner Kevin Henkes is this year's recipient of the Jeremiah Ludington Award, presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the paperback book business.Previous winners of the annual award, named More...

If you haven't heard of Judy Blundell until recently, join the club. For nearly 20 years, Blundell has toiled in anonymity, turning out more than 100 mysteries, romances, and media tie-ins under various pen names, More...

Judy Blundell, author of What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic), is the 2008 National Book Award winner in the category of children's literature.Judy Blundell is this year's National Book Award winner in the More...

John Ibbitson's The Landing, a coming-of-age story that takes place in Canada's Muskoka region in the 1930s, is this year's winner of the Governor General's Literacy Awards for children's literature in English, which honors the More...

Some 200 student reporters from the New York City area yesterday grilled five of this year's National Book Award finalists at the 11th annual Teen Press Conference .NBA finalists, from left, Lockhart, Anderson, Blundell, Appelt, More...

Every autumn since 1952, the New York Times Book Review has invited a panel of judges to survey the year's output of children's books and to select the top 10 best illustrated. This year's trio More...

Suzy Lee, whose simplistic illustrations in the wordless book Wave (Chronicle) tell the story of a little girl's day at the beach, is this year's Society of Illustrators' gold medal winner.Silver medals were awarded to More...

For the first time, school librarians are now eligible to apply for the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award, created seven years ago to recognize the work of public More...

Francesca Lia Block, author of Weetzie Bat (HarperCollins), about an offbeat heroine who shares a Hollywood cottage with three equally quirky companions, is winner of the 1989/2009 Phoenix Award, given to the author of an More...

Do you remember being bored in class? You tried to entertain yourself by hunting for interesting pictures in your textbooks, only to find that they were too tiny to see. If you recall this feeling, More...

Two librarians, a second grade teacher, and a Spanish instructor grabbed first place honors in the first annual SIG Media Specialist (SIGMS) Technology Innovation Awards. Sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), More...

If you're an elementary or middle school educator with a great idea for going green with lessons about the environment or renewable energy, there's a $1,000 grant out there with your name on it.LIVE GREEN, More...

Award-winning children's author Jacqueline Wilson is now a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the female equivalent of a knight.Wilson, 62, who enjoys rock-star status in the United Kingdom, has won many awards, including the More...

Greg Foley is winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Thank You, Bear (Viking, 2007), his debut picture book about the uncertainties of childhood.Thank You, Bear, intended for children ages three to seven, tells the More...

Anita Silvey, an expert on children's literature, has won the 29th annual Jeremiah Ludington Memorial Award, the Educational Paperback Association (EPA) announced this week.The Ludington Award, named after EPA's founder, is presented annually to an More...

Thinking of applying for a grant from the Big Read? You'd better hurry: February 12 is the rapidly approaching deadline. The Big Read, a program in which libraries collaborate with local community organizations, aims to More...

From left: Brian Selznick, Kathleen Duey, Sherman Alexie, Sara Zarr, and M. Sindy Felin It was the perfect pairing: 250 New York City students who love to read met five National Book Award finalists who More...

If you've got a great media center program, then apply for the Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. You could end up winning $4,000 for your library.Applications from any public or More...

As the winner of this year's 'What Book Got You Hooked? contest by the literacy group First Book, Oklahoma will receive 50,000 new, age-appropriate books for kids who most need them.Thanks to a campaign led More...

Judith Dahill, a media specialist at the High School of Fashion Industries in New York City, just won an extreme makeover-and not just for her school library, but for herself, too, courtesy of Jones New More...

If anyone knows about underserved communities, it's Kate DiCamillo. That's why her publisher, Candlewick Press, has chosen to honor the award-winning author with its new grant, titled 'Light the Way: Outreach to the Underserved.'; The More...

The story of a Muslim girl on a class trip to an apple orchard has won the inaugural Arab American National Museum Book Award for children's/YA literature. One Green Apple (Clarion, 2007) by Eve Bunting, More...

A picture book about prairie dogs abuzz over an intruding fuzzy object, a YA novel about a 13-year-old's family dilemma, and a Carl Hiaasen selection about a teen's mission to clean up his community are More...

School Library Journal has received three Distinguished Achievement Awards for best editorial, feature article, and e-Zine from the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). The awards, which recognize this year's best educational materials in books, periodicals, More...

Toni Bissessar, branch manager of the Columbia Pike and Glencarlyn branches of the Arlington County Public Library, is this year's winner of the Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year Award.Bissessar was given the honor More...

M. T. Anderson, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and Nicolas Debon are top winners of this year’s Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for excellence in children’s literature. The annual awards are given in three categories: fiction and poetry, More...

Right before the announcement of this year's Newbery winner, I had two surprising encounters. First, a librarian at my local public library confessed that she had no interest in learning 'what unreadable Newbery the committee More...

The kids in Sharen Pula's fifth-grade class are getting ready to go on a journey. One boy kicks off his shoes to get comfy. Another lies on his side, head on hand. A girl loosens More...

If you were surprised by this year's Caldecott Medal winner, you weren't alone. Even Brian Selznick was stunned that his novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic), took the prize for the most distinguished American More...

Susan Patron, winner of this year's Newbery Medal for The Higher Power of Lucky (S & S, 2006) is one of the few children's librarians who have received this honor. But after 35 years at More...

Move over, Susan Patron and David Wiesner. The competition for the Newbery and Caldecott medals could get a lot stiffer. A task force of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is reexamining the More...

Should members of the Newbery, Caldecott, and other children’s book award committees be allowed to blog? The answer is yes.The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has clarified its conflict of interest and confidentiality More...

Who knows if librarians would have reacted differently if Susan Patron had used the word “nuts,” “balls,” or even “cojones” in her Newbery Medal–winning novel. But the word “scrotum” on the opening page of The More...

One lousy starred review. That was all, initially, that Susan Patron had to show for the 10 years she spent writing The Higher Power of Lucky, her funny, tender story of a little girl struggling More...