Year: 2015
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Teen Press Conference with Host National Book Award Winner Jacqueline Woodson to Take Place November 17, 2015
LeVar Burton, former producer and host of the beloved PBS series “Reading Rainbow,” to make a Special Guest Appearance. Event will be streamed live. New York, NY (November 10, 2015) – The …
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Quvenzhané Wallis, 2013 Academy Award Nominee For Best Actress, to Publish Four Books With Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
NEW YORK, NY — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, announced today that it will publish a three-book chapter book series …
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Lillie Bellin Pope, Co-Founder of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, Dies at 97
NEW YORK—November 10, 2015—It is with great sadness that the Board of Directors of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation announced today the death of Lillie Bellin Pope, the Foundation’s Co-Founder, Educational …
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JK Rowling at Work on a New Children’s Book
Since completing the Harry Potter series, Rowling has ventured into adult territory, including crime fiction under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Rowling confirmed that she is at work on a new novel for young …
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Combining Laundry and Literature
The concept was developed to enable poor families in South Africa to read to their children while waiting for the wash. The Libromat team hopes to expand the program and offer eight-week literacy …
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Scholastic, LTD Acquires Troubadour LTD, The Travelling Book Company
London – Scholastic UK, part of Scholastic Corporation, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, today announced the acquisition of Troubadour Ltd who trade under The Travelling Book Company. …
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Apply for Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices!
This year’s YA workshop will be led by acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe).Click here for more information (including scholarship offerings) and to …
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The Ever-Evolving YA Genre
As critics may debate the distinctions between YA and middle-grade, adult and new adult content, fans of YA (regardless of age) recognize its relevance and emotional potency. The category is …
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Bestselling Author Jennifer Weiner to Publish Four More Books With Atria & Launch Middle Grade Trilogy With Aladdin Books
New York, NY – Fifteen years after she submitted Good in Bed to Atria Books, bestselling author Jennifer Weiner is continuing her long-standing relationship with Simon & Schuster through new publishing …
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Tilbury House Expands Under New Ownership
For the second consecutive year, Tilbury will release 24 titles annually — up from just 3 or 4 titles in 2013. Tilbury is also taking on new formats and genres, including e-books, …
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Happy Picture Book Month!
Throughout the month, authors, illustrators, literacy activists, and other children’s book devotees celebrate the enduring power of the illustrated book. Visit picturebookmonth.com and KidLit TV to join the fun!
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Scholastic Unveils Newly-Branded Magazine For K-8 Teachers
NEW YORK, NY – Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced the renaming of America’s longest-running and largest magazine for educators, Instructor® Magazine, now entitled Scholastic Teacher™. …
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Read More! End LGBTQ Bullying!
By Christian Trimmer, executive editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Many of the biggest lessons in my life I learned from books. Bridge to Terabithia helped me understand loss and grief. I figured out how to be a good friend and listener from Judy Blume’s novels. The Romantic Movement challenged me to be more actively present in my relationships. And from Jurassic Park, I learned never to extract dinosaur DNA from amber-entombed mosquitoes.
It’s heartening that today’s youth are embracing books like Wonder, Out of My Mind, The Thing About Jellyfish, and Eleanor & Park—novels that highlight differences and encourage compassion. I can imagine the wonderful conversations these stories are sparking, and I bet kids who read these books feel better equipped to navigate challenging situations and confront injustice. And I’m going to contend that parents and educators who buy these books for their children are doing so not only because the novels are excellent reads, but also because they recognize the potential lessons to be gleaned from the pages.
With that in mind, I ask that you put books like the following into the hands of your customers, kids, and students:
• Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky;
• Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
• Husky by Justin Sayre
• George by Alex Gino
• None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio
• Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen by Arin Andrews
• Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill
• I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin.These are just some of my recent favorites. Goodreads offers a number book lists featuring titles that address LGBTQ themes, like this one, and the American Library Association has recognized some truly magnificent books with its Stonewall Award.
Despite some amazing progress for LGBTQ rights, kids who identify within those groups still face big challenges at school and at home. Nine out of ten kids who identify as LGBTQ report being bullied. They’re eight times more likely to end up homeless. LGBTQ kids are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. Nearly half of transgender youth have seriously contemplated suicide; twenty-five percent have attempted it. (More facts here and here.)
I’m not asking you to promote LGBTQ literature in the faint hope that young people might be more compassionate if they read these books. Studies, like those noted in this article, prove that reading makes us more empathetic. Young people who have read about Katie Hill’s decision to drop out of school and take her classes online because the bullying got so bad will be less likely to inflict the same pain on someone else. Tweens who have read Better Nate Than Ever will no doubt be sweeter to the kid who may or may not be (but who is probably) gay. Teens will realize how much they have in common with Arin Andrews after they read his memoir.
As publishers, booksellers, educators, and parents, we have this grand opportunity to shape and mold young people’s minds with the literature we give to them. I feel incredibly fortunate that my parents and educators encouraged me to read so much when I was younger—I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the books of my youth. And I wish there had been more books like the ones noted in this post when I was a teenager. As a gay kid growing up in a conservative town in the 1990s, I would have found solace in these stories, and maybe my peers would have been a bit kinder. The only gay character I knew of back then was Matt Fielding on Melrose Place. I know we can do better.
Christian Trimmer is an executive editor for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. He is also the author of Simon’s New Bed and (Mimi and Shu in) I’ll Race You!, out December 2015. Learn more at christiantrimmer.com.
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New Research Report from Scholastic Confirms the Importance of School Libraries and Librarians
New York, NY – November 5, 2015 – School Libraries Work!, a new research report providing evidence of the positive impact of school librarians and libraries on student learning, was …
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Public Libraries Expand Story Time
The surge in story time crowds reflects a widespread belief in the importance of reading together and developing early literacy skills. Story time is drawing capacity crowds at public libraries across New …
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Kate DiCamillo on Her Mission as National Ambassador
DiCamillo believes that her work as National Ambassador and National Summer Reading Champion is a natural extension of her lifelong commitment to storytelling — and she’s been honored to share …
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Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Preempts ‘The Diabolic’ by S.J. Kincaid
New York, NY — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers announced today that it will publish The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid, a YA stand-alone action-adventure thriller set in space, …
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PW’s Best Children’s Books of 2015 Announced
Titles featured on the picture books list include: The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton (Scholastic/Levine) Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Putnam) The Only …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Red Knit Cap Girl’ by Naoko Stoop
Red Knit Cap Girl by Naoko Stoop (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette, June 2012). All rights reserved. @littlebrown
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Paddington Sequel in the Works
No casting announcements have been made at this point. Based on Brit author Michael Bond’s much-loved series of books, Paddington the film was, by some margin, StudioCanal’s most ambitious project …
