Oh MG News

Pride Month in Middle Grade

By on June 5, 2023   /   Oh MG News  
Middle Grade Authors

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate diversity and uplift LGBTQ+ voices. Fortunately, there are a growing number of ways that middle grade readers, authors, and illustrators can get involved.

pride reader

Artwork by Aixa Pérez-Prado

ALA’s Rainbow Book Month

The American Library Association’s Rainbow Book Month is an opportunity for book lovers and libraries to discover and share the very best in LGBTQ+ literature. Check out their Rainbow Book List. This resource showcases over 190 books for young readers from birth to age 18.

 

At a time when censorship threatens accessibility to books that support LGBTQ+ young people and their families, the ALA is dedicated to fighting censorship. “We know that there are individuals who will try to censor these books, but we offer this carefully curated list to the multitude of youth advocates working in our communities to connect young readers to the books that they so desperately need.”

 

Check out the full 2023 Rainbow Booklist!

Gray box, multi-colored books, text

The CBC Celebrates Pride 

The Children’s Book Council maintains an ongoing list of LGBTQ+ inclusive books appropriate for five different categories of young readers. Browse books for 8-11-year-olds here. For a more comprehensive assortment, check out the complete list of LGBTQ+ inclusive books for children and young people here.

 

Additionally, the CBC also offers home learning education packs for educators, parents, and caregivers. Through these learning packs, the CBC provides age-appropriate resources to support young learners in understanding that there are many different types of families.

 

For Young Adult readers, the CBC is focusing on graphic novels and comics. Their 2023 Celebrate Pride with Comics campaign highlights a list of new YA graphic novels. For comic book fans, they also showcase Marvel and DC comics that feature LGBTQ+ characters.

White box, rainbow stripe, CBC Diversity

LGBTQ Reads

 

Looking for a list of LGBTQ+ books for middle grade readers? Check out the LGBTQ Reads book list for middle grade readers. The site offers book lists sorted by age-level appropriateness, and the middle grade list is extensive!

 

The LGBTQ site is dedicated to promoting curated reading lists for all ages. They provide links to book details and purchasing platforms. According to their website, LGBTQ Reads works to update lists on a regular basis. They’re also open to feedback from authors who feel their books may need to be added or recategorized.

Multi-colored books with LGBTQ Reads text beneath

WNDB Walter Grant

The Walter Dean Myers Grant program provides grants of $2,000 each to promising diverse writers and illustrators who are currently unpublished. In addition to a grant for disabled writers, there are two Walter Grants being offered for trans writers and illustrators.

The submission window for Walter Grants opened on June 1 and will close on June 30. Find more information and links to the application by visiting the WNDB Walter Grant page.

badge logo for We Need Diverse Books - text with pink brush marks at top and botto
Within the world of middle grade books, there are so many opportunities to celebrate diversity and uplift LGBTQ+ voices!
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AAPI Heritage Month

By on May 16, 2023   /   Oh MG News  
Middle Grade Authors

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time set aside to honor and celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

On March 28, 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. In 1990, Congress amended the original designation and expanded the observance to a month. The following year, President George H.W. Bush made it official, and AAPI Heritage received a month-long observance.

 

Red banner with white text and image of Federal Asian Pacific American Council

In keeping with this year’s theme, “Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity,” there are some amazing AAPI middle-grade authors who are leading the way to a more inclusive world of books for young readers and a greater understanding of the joys, struggles, triumphs, and accomplishments of the AAPI community in America. Let’s shine an OhMG! spotlight on four authors who are leading the way in making sure middle-grade books are representative of the AAPI community.

Ellen Oh with two dogs

Ellen Oh 

Ellen Oh is a writer of children’s books. Some of her books have won awards from organizations and people who are not related to her. Ellen used to be a lawyer and an adjunct college instructor before realizing that it was all very boring and she enjoyed writing books much more. She is the author of the middle grade novels Finding Junie Kim, The Dragon Egg Princess, and The Spirit Hunters trilogy (Spirit Hunters, Island of Monsters, and Something Wicked), and the YA fantasy trilogy The Prophecy Series (Prophecy, Warrior, and King). She is the editor of the middle grade anthology Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and the YA anthology A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. Ellen is also a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature.

Author Linda Sue Park purple shirt, glasses

Linda Sue Park 

Linda Sue Park is the author of many books for young readers, including the 2022 Newbery Medal winner A Single Shard and the NYT bestseller A Long Walk to Water. Her most recent title is The One Thing You’d Save, a collection of linked poems. Linda Sue is the founder and curator of Allida Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. She serves on the advisory boards of We Need Diverse Books and the Rabbit hOle museum project, and created the kiBooka website, www.kibboka.com, to highlight children’s books created by the Korean diaspora. Visit her website at www.lindasuepark.com; follow her on Twitter @LindaSuePark.

Author Kelly Yang white shirt, glasses

Kelly Yang

Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of FINALLY SEEN, NEW FROM HERE, the FRONT DESK series (“One of the 30 Most Influential Children’s Books Of All Time” -BookRiot), including FRONT DESK, THREE KEYS, and ROOM TO DREAM, KEY PLAYER, and TOP STORY, YES WE WILL, and young adult novels PARACHUTES and PRIVATE LABEL. FRONT DESK is Kelly’s award-winning middle grade debut novel about a 10 year old Chinese American immigrant girl who manages the front desk of a motel while her parents clean the rooms. FRONT DESK was awarded the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, was the 2019 Global Read Aloud, and was named an Amazon Best Book of the Year, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a NPR Best Book of the Year, and a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year.

Headshot author Waka T. Brown - Asian woman seated on couch, smiling

Waka T. Brown

Waka is a Stanford graduate with a B.A. in International Relations and a Master’s in Secondary Education. While I Was Away (Quill Tree/HarperCollins 2021) is her debut novel. Dream, Annie, Dream (Quill Tree/HarperCollins 2022) is her first work of historical fiction. In addition to writing middle-grade stories, she enjoys writing screenplays. She wrote and co-directed the short film Double Tap (Official Selection, 2018 DC Shorts and Portland Film Festivals) and her feature-length screenplays (comedies, rom coms, & animated features) have been 2nd-rounders at AFF, placed in the semifinals of PAGE, and quarterfinals of Screencraft writing competitions.

Read more about the importance of AAPI representation in middle grade literature in Waka T. Brown’s 2022 WNDMG Guest Post right here at the Mixed-Up Files. 

 

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News From the CBC

By on April 16, 2023   /   Oh MG News  
Middle Grade Authors

The mission of the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is to support the children’s publishing industry by connecting publishing professionals and creators with young readers. And they find a lot of ways to fulfill that mission. Take a look at some of the things the CBC is doing in the world of children’s books.

The CBC Diversity Initiative

White box, rainbow stripe, CBC Diversity

Founded in 2012, the CBC Diversity Initiative advocates for an inclusive and representative children’s publishing industry. The initiative is rooted in the belief that ALL children should see themselves and their worlds reflected in books. 

As part of this initiative, the CBC champions diverse book creators and their books, and they create and maintain diverse reading resource lists that can be used by teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents.

The #FReadom Movement

Letters to color in spelling #FReadom

The CBC actively supports #FReadom. This movement was launched by Texas librarians in 2021 as a way to combat book bannings. #FReadom resources are intended to highlight the positive impact of intellectual freedom, celebrate school libraries and librarians, and draw attention to the need to make diverse books available to young readers.

The CBC has made available six different coloring pages to support the #FReadom movement. Download the free coloring pages here. 

Children’s Book Week

Blue background, green and black book running gleefully, text "Read books. Spark change."

As part of their Every Child a Reader program, the CBC designates two separate weeks during the year to celebrate the joy of reading. Established in 1919, this is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. This year, Children’s Book Week will be celebrated May 1-7 and again November 6-12. 

This year’s theme for Children’s Book Week is Read Books. Spark change. You can download printable resources, including the free poster created by Rilla Alexander that speaks to the power of books and stories to inspire positive change.

Partnering with SLJGraphic illustrated, gray background, colorful characters, rainbow stream

In 2022, the CBC partnered with School Library Journal (SLJ) to create two posters celebrating the freedom to read. First, they worked with Penguin Random House and artist Rafael Lopex to create the “Open Books, Open Doors” poster to promote free expression and access to diverse books. You can download Lopez’s poster for free.

Next, they worked with artist Chan Chau to produce a poster themed “Imagining a world with you.”  The poster celebrates LGBTQIA+ children and teens, and it was showcased and made widely available by multiple organizations, including the CBC. You can download a copy of Chau’s poster for free.

Banned Books Week

Red book cover by yellow tape, text "Banned Books Week"

The CBC also partners with the American Library Association (ALA) to support and promote Banned Books Week. Launched in 1982, this annual observance has become more relevant now than ever. This year, Banned Books Week will be observed October 1-7. Mark your calendars!

Free downloads and information from last year’s Banned Books Week observance are still available on ALA’s website. While there, you can also find “Social Shareables” to show your support on multiple social media platforms.

Learn more about the Children’s Book Council and all their initiatives to promote free access to books and celebrate the power and wonder of books for young readers by visiting cbcbooks.org.

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