Crazy Quilts has announced its Crazy-Color Summer Reading List. Recall, that Edi Campbell called for suggestions so that she could create a diverse list of teen reads. Naturally, when I hear diverse I immediately think race. But Edi took it several steps beyond that and chose ten books that touched across race, culture, genre and [ Read the full article… ]

Look up and to your right. Notice anything different about The Brown Bookshelf main nav bar? Anything? Huh? Do ya’ see it? We have a Teen Lit page. ::applause here:: Thank you. Thank you. Please, take your seats. Although our mission is to increase awareness among gatekeepers to the kingdom of kiddie lit – i.e. [ Read the full article… ]

I come from a very politically correct family. My father was the Director of Transportation for a small city system for most of my life growing up and he instilled in me that everything is “political.” So I’m careful what I say. Careful how I say it. It’s not being duplicitous, it’s understanding that anything [ Read the full article… ]

With so many deadlines looming, I won’t be able to contribute to the Brown Bookshelf blog as much as I’d like to. So instead, I’ve invited a few authors and illustrators to sit in as guests, to discuss their recent projects. R. Gregory Christie is a three-time Coretta Scott King honor recipient. He’s illustrated numerous [ Read the full article… ]

For something to endure forty years, there has to be lots of love and nurturing. It’s safe to say that the Coretta Scott King Literary Award most certainly has been nurtured. This year marks its 40th anniversary honoring African American writers and illustrators for their contributions to children’s literature. I can only imagine what the [ Read the full article… ]

This month, New York Times best-selling author Carole Boston Weatherford launched a blog tour for her award-winning book, Becoming Billie Holiday (Wordsong, 2008). In her fictional verse memoir, beautifully illustrated in sepia tones by Floyd Cooper, Weatherford traces the transformation of Eleanora Fagan from Baltimore child into Harlem crooner Billie Holiday. Weatherford, a Baltimore native, [ Read the full article… ]

Sheila Ruth, an ’06 and ’07 organizer of the Cybil’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy category, has a very extensive and heartfelt blog about how too many lists recommending children’s books are focusing on only the best selling books. This is at the very core of the Brown Bookshelf’s mission – spotlighting those left in the shadows [ Read the full article… ]