Industry News
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Scholastic News Names The ‘8 Coolest Kids We Met in 2015’
New York, NY – The editors of Scholastic News® today announced their list of the 8 Coolest Kids We Met in 2015, a reflection on the most inspiring, creative, and …
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The Value of Rereading
New readers improve their literacy skills with each rereading, specifically in the following areas: Vocabulary Pattern and rhythm recognition Fluency Reading comprehension Confidence So the next time an eager young reader asks …
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2015 I Love My Librarian Awards Announced
The awards were granted along with a $5,000 prize at a ceremony held on December 3 in New York City. The I Love My Librarian Award winners are living examples of …
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International Tumblr Sensation Emily Trunko to Publish Two Books with Crown Books for Young Readers
New York, NY — Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, has acquired and will publish DEAR MY BLANK and THE LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED, book …
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Inaugural Global Kids Connect Conference
The event brought together publishers, editors, and agents sharing professional insight on the state of print and digital publishing, both in the United States and abroad. Recurring themes included the growth …
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Neil Gaiman on Writing Longhand
I was sparser, I would think my way through a sentence further, I would write less, in a good way. And when I typed it up, it became a very …
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Malinda Lo to Write a Young Adult Mystery Novel
I’ve been reading mystery fiction since I was a child, when I devoured Nancy Drews by the dozen, and even today the main genre of fiction I read is crime …
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Holiday Gifts for Every Kid Lit Lover!
Shop now at the official Children’s Book Week Store! Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. From May 2-8, 2016, the Children’s …
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U.S. House passes Every Student Succeeds Act
CHICAGO – The U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The bill now moves on to the Senate and if passed, and signed into …
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Michael Pietsch Praises Young Readers
The generation of young readers now entering their adult years had a richer diet of superb books published for them than any before…As this generation comes to the market over …
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2016 Morris Award Finalists Announced
This year’s finalists are: Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert (Hyperion/Disney Book Group) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Balzer …
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It’s the Economy
Contributed by Nikki Garcia, Assistant Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
As someone who’s been lucky enough to be an editor for over two years, I’m interested in highlighting and advocating for all kinds of diversity. By now, we’re all familiar with the different types of diversity: race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, ability, and religion—but one that doesn’t seem to be spoken about as much is socioeconomic diversity. This is the one I have felt deeply over the years. Money plays an important role in all of our lives—whether it’s the school we attended and the amount of financial aid we received, or access to job opportunities, our identities have all been shaped by finances from an early age. I often felt like I had to figure it out for myself—and figure it out for my family too. So when we talk about diversity of authors, their characters, and their stories—and the publishing professionals who turn these stories into books—economics are and always will be a factor.
This is something I’ve experienced firsthand. Growing up in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world, money was a constant worry. Even when I was too young to really understand how money worked, I still held my breath until this magical day arrived… payday. I knew money was something my parents stressed about. I could feel it in the air. But it wasn’t until I was much older that I truly understood that many of my hardships came from a socioeconomic level. My family didn’t have an understanding of the best ways to handle money, and this lack of knowledge was passed down, generation by generation.
My parents also assumed I was being given all of the information I needed from my high school guidance counselor regarding affordable colleges and how to apply for financial aid for school. But because the school was extremely overcrowded, I never received this information. This led to attending colleges I couldn’t really afford and racking up a student loan debt I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. So much information was missing, and I wasn’t taught to go look for it because… well, that was just not something we did.
These hiccups along the way to working in publishing made it so much harder to get to this moment in my career. This makes me question whether many people in publishing have had similar experiences. I wonder about the aspiring authors who can’t afford writing classes, or the promising future editors, publicists, and others who can’t afford to spend a summer in New York City to take on an internship. And what about all of those smart and diverse individuals who don’t even know that publishing exists as a viable career option? What can we do to help bring more socioeconomic diversity into the world of publishing?
I’m so happy to see organizations like We Need Diverse Books begin to tackle this problem. Their scholarship program is only the first step in adding more diversity. So I’m posing this question: How do we reach the high school and college students that are figuring all of this out on their own? How do we help the ones who don’t have the means or the information to help themselves? All suggestions are welcome.
Nikki Garcia is an assistant editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she works on books for all ages. During her time at LBYR, she has had the honor of working with authors such as Peter Brown, Wendy Mass, Matthew Quick, and Monica Brown. Born and raised right here in New York City, Nikki graduated from St. John’s University, and thankfully didn’t have to travel very far to make her dreams come true.
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My Very Own Library and Scholastic Book Fairs Give Low-Income Students the Chance to Choose Books for Free and Build Home Libraries
In Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Newark, NJ; Richmond, CA; Wilmington, DE and the Dominican Republic, 25,000 Kids Each Choose 10 New Books to Read and Own NEW YORK, NY—December 3, …
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Random House Children’s Books to Publish a New Line of Books From Actress, Mathematician, and Bestselling Author Danica McKellar
New York, NY — Random House Children’s Books has acquired a new line of kid-friendly math books from New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar, it was announced today by …
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Girls Who Code Partners with Penguin Young Readers
Some of the projects in development include a nonfiction book introducing coding for summer 2017, and a series of middle-grade fiction titles and board books. Girls Who Code…is a graphically …
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Why Reading is More Than Fundamental
Reading not only sparks a child’s imagination, but paves the way for lifelong learning. Reading tugs [children] outside of themselves, connecting them to a wider world and filling it with wonder. …
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Happy 30th Anniversary, ‘Polar Express’!
Allsburg and the team at Houghton MIfflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers are confident that the anniversary edition features an improved look, while preserving the magic of the original. As part …
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Read-Alouds for All Ages
From literary dinners, festive staged readings, and read-aloud sleepovers, there are countless ways incorporate reading aloud into your everyday routine. The benefits are clear: comprehension, vocabulary, and imagination are developed …
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Winners Announced for the 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards
More than 3 million votes were cast for this year’s awards. Several popular authors — including two Children’s Choice Book Award winners — were recognized with this honor for their latest …
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Public Libraries Build New Spaces for Teens
With newly-designed areas for silent study, group work, video and music production, gaming, and more, public libraries are quickly becoming hot spots for teens. [Librarians] are making a concerted effort to …
