Book-Talk: Opting Out

In my latest book-talk: I love Opting Out, the soon-to-be-published middle-grade graphic novel by Maia Kobabe and Swati “Lucky” Srikumar. In an accessible way, it addresses the upheaval of puberty, the awkwardness of seeing your closest friend pair up with a romantic partner and suddenly have less time for you, and the confusion when your internal sense of self doesn’t fit within a rigid boy-or-girl binary. Books like this, which center non-binary experiences, help to dispel confusion and introduce the possibility of existing outside society’s rigid binary.
https://youtu.be/YxvXvPaXo5M

Sharing joy in reading to (hopefully) reverse its decline

An interesting column in the latest Phi Kappa Phi Forum talked about the decline of reading for pleasure in the United States. To address this decline I think it’s important for those of us who love reading, to willingly make ourselves visible as readers. And so here are two ways that I try to promote a reading culture among young people at the library where I work.
https://youtu.be/T5KtBbgEqeo

Book-Talk: An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke

In my latest Book-Talk: Cheri Radke’s epic fantasy, An Accident of Dragons, focuses on a middle-aged protagonist who by appearances seems to have achieved his “happy ending.” But now Teddy, a.k.a. Lord Summer, has to lead an expedition from his island kingdom to the mainland to recover his kidnapped daughter. Through first-person narration, Teddy tells his story with sophisticated and beautiful language.
https://youtu.be/pktDXslBM_4