School Library Lady

Virtually every girl and woman I see in therapy feels as if they got away with something when they experience success. They bring up the term ‘imposter syndrome’ and say, ‘that’s me exactly.’”...

Sexism and Sensibility: Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in the Modern World Virtually every girl and woman I see in therapy feels as if they got away with something when they experience success. They bring up the term ‘imposter syndrome’ and say, ‘that’s me exactly.’”…

Sometimes is, in fact, a modern telling of Chaucer’s tales with teens as the pilgrims. Except that these pilgrims are not making a commitment to the Almighty. They are going to Washington D.C . on a six-hour bus trip with their Civics class teacher....

Sometimes We Tell the Truth Sometimes is, in fact, a modern telling of Chaucer’s tales with teens as the pilgrims. Except that these pilgrims are not making a commitment to the Almighty. They are going to Washington D.C . on …

Courtesy of the National Book Foundation 2024 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature: Olivia A. Cole, Ariel Crashes a TrainLabyrinth Road / Penguin Random House Violet Duncan, Buffalo DreamerNancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House Margarita Engle, Wild DreamersAtheneum Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster Josh Galarza, …...

National Book Award Longlist in Young People’s Literature Courtesy of the National Book Foundation 2024 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature: Olivia A. Cole, Ariel Crashes a TrainLabyrinth Road / Penguin Random House Vio…

How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico modeling in my own succulent, which grows happily in Southern California. How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico While I usually focus on YA and adult books for high school students (age 14 and up), sometimes very edgy, I received this sweet graphic novel because I have a Substack called…...

How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico modeling in my own succulent, which grows happily in Southern California. How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico While I usually focus on YA and a…

My novel Keep Sweet officially launched yesterday. I also have an essay in an anthology on sibling loss and grief, The Loss of a Lifetime, which launched on Tuesday. We had a very emotional reading by the authors on Wednesday. It was recorded. You can watch and listen to the recording, which is on the book’s homepage. Keep Sweet…...

Keep Sweet is here! My YA Novel 😊 My novel Keep Sweet officially launched yesterday. I also have an essay in an anthology on sibling loss and grief, The Loss of a Lifetime, which launched on Tuesday. We had a very em…

The infection has long exploited human biases and blind spots, wriggling its way through the paths injustice creates. Of course, tuberculosis doesn’t know what it’s doing, but for centuries, the disease has used social forces and prejudice to thrive wherever power systems devalue human lives.”...

John Green’s “Everything is Tuberculosis” The infection has long exploited human biases and blind spots, wriggling its way through the paths injustice creates. Of course, tuberculosis doesn’t know what it’s doing, but for centuries, the di…

Crossroads Pastor Chuck Mingo begins the work of combating racial injustice through the church after he feels called by God to do so and gives an honest sermon about his own experience with racism (he’s Black)—experience that most of the white parishioners don’t comprehend....

Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church Crossroads Pastor Chuck Mingo begins the work of combating racial injustice through the church after he feels called by God to do so and gives an honest sermon about his own experience with racism …

Fourteen-year old Elizabeth Warren lives in the “Community” with her father, four mothers, and sixteen siblings. Their prophet heads the cult, controlling all aspects of the community members’ lives. When he announces that Elizabeth must marry her older cousin, she joins forces with her twin brother, her older sister, and two good friends to alter her fate....

I Have a Novel! Keep Sweet! Fourteen-year old Elizabeth Warren lives in the “Community” with her father, four mothers, and sixteen siblings. Their prophet heads the cult, controlling all aspects of the community members’ live…

Cherished Belonging is Boyle’s fourth book. Again, he looks at how love (“Cherishing is love fully engaged. Cherishing is tenderness in action.”) is our job, how it is active, and how it resolves troubles. And again, I am amazed at his capacity for cherishing, his ability to walk the walk of genuine Christian calling....

Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love Cherished Belonging is Boyle’s fourth book. Again, he looks at how love (“Cherishing is love fully engaged. Cherishing is tenderness in action.”) is our job, how it is active, and how it resolves t…

I’m discussing the top banned books of the 2023-24 school year over at Be A Cactus. These are the top three: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Looking for Alaska by John Green The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky You can look back at the post on Perks and at this one on Alaska if you want to see why I think those books belong in the high school library....

Banned books and Sold by Patricia McCormick I’m discussing the top banned books of the 2023-24 school year over at Be A Cactus. These are the top three: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Looking for Alaska by John Green The Perks of…

Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult (often referred to as ‘the Family’). Her experience there is horrifying. Her childhood traumas are so numerous, it’s hard to understand how the cult even exists. Why don’t its members run the other way?...

Uncultured: The Children of God Cult Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult (often referred to as ‘the Family’). Her experience there is horrifying. Her childhood traumas are so numerous, it’s hard to understand how the c…

That Librarian is a memoir by Amanda Jones detailing the defamation and death threats she has had to endure after speaking in the public comments portion of a Livingston Public Library meeting in July 2022. She makes clear that her speech was centered on her concern over book bans and not focused on a particular title (she mentions no titles in her speech, the entire transcript of which is in an appendix at the end of the book)....

That Librarian by Amanda Jones That Librarian is a memoir by Amanda Jones detailing the defamation and death threats she has had to endure after speaking in the public comments portion of a Livingston Public Library meeting…