Oh MG News

Banned Books Week 2022

Banned Book Week logo featuring an open red book with yellow banner across the middle. Text on banner reads "Banned Books Week."

Banned Book Week logo featuring an open red book with yellow banner across the middle. Text on banner reads "Banned Books Week."

 

Banned Books Week 2022

Banned Books Week 2022 (September 18-24) hosts its first event today with a conversation on youth activism, led by Banned Books Week Honorary Chair Cameron Samuels. The Kids Are Alright will talk about ways young people can fight censorship.

Promotional slide for banned book week including the title: The Kids Are Alright: Youth Activism on Fighting Censorship, along with photos of each presenter at event

Organizers have planned additional, free speaker events through September 24, including a discussion on Wednesday with YA and MG authors Angie Thomas and Jerry Craft. They will all be available live on Facebook–just join the Banned Books Week Facebook page to view the event.

In addition to these Facebook events, a slew of libraries, bookstores, universities, and other organizations are hosting local events. You can find that calendar here.

To be part of the national conversation, use these hashtags: #BannedBooksWeek, #FReadom, #Freethebooks

((For more on banned books, read this archived MUF post and this one from WNDMG Wednesday))

PEN America has cataloged 2532 book bans across 32 states during the 2021-22 school year, affecting 1,648 unique book titles. (see the index here) The study findings are in line with those released by the ALA. According to PEN America (direct quote, edited for format):

  • “674 banned titles (41 percent) explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ+;
  • 659 banned titles (40 percent) feature protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color;
  • 338 banned titles (21 percent) directly address issues of race and racism.”

Source: PEN America study

KIDLIT UNITES AGAINST BOOK BANNING

We Need Diverse MG Logo hands holding reading globe with stars and spirals floating around

Kidlit Unites Against Book Banning

More than 13,000 MG and YA authors and illustrators have signed a letter condemning the current wave of book banning. The letter, written by Newbery Honor author Christina Soontornvat,  calls on Congress, state leaders, and school boards to act now to protect students and their right to access a diverse selection of books.

“This current wave of book suppression follows hard-won gains made by authors whose voices
have long been underrepresented in publishing.” (From Soontornvat letter)

Demonstrating the resonance of this message with children’s book creators, most of the thousands of signatures on this letter were gathered in under 48 hours. The letter is now posted on diversebooks.org and includes signatures from a handful of contributors from our blog here at From the Mixed-Up Files … of Middle-Grade Authors.

 

badge logo for We Need Diverse Books - text with pink brush marks at top and botto

“When books are removed or flagged as inappropriate, it sends the message that the people in
them are somehow inappropriate. It is a dehumanizing form of erasure …. At a time when our country is experiencing an alarming rise in hate crimes, we should be searching for ways to increase empathy and
compassion at every turn.” (From Soontornvat letter)

We Need Diverse MG Logo hands holding reading globe with stars and spirals floating around

Illustration by: Aixa Perez-Prado

On May 18, Soontornvat sent the signed letter to the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, which is investigating book banning in schools. On Thursday, the subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over civil rights and equal protection laws, held its second hearing on the subject and formally introduced the letter into its record.

((Interested in reading more on the fight against book banning? Click here.))

((Want a list of banned books you can support? Click here.))

 

CCBC Choices List 2022

childrens cooperative book center logo bright red with ccbc in white letters

Oh MG News Critter Logo

The CCBC: (Children’s Cooperative Book Center) has released its 2022 choices list. The wide-ranging list has 273 best-of-the-year choices in books including non-fiction, poetry, picture and early readers, middle grade and young adult.

childrens cooperative book center logo bright red with ccbc in white letters

MUF is delighted to recognize on this list so many authors we’ve had a chance to chat with here on our blog:

fanned out books in different colors of the CCBC Choices lists form previous years

Congratulations to all of the creators on the list!

The Children’s Cooperative Book Center is a noncirculating library that is part of the school for education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among their annual reports, CCBC librarians release their Choices list and a deeply-researched assessment of diversity in publishing.