Ella McQueen, Kickball Queen: Q&A with Beth Mills

by Carol Hinz, editorial director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

Do you know any elementary-age kids who are obsessed with kickball? I happen to have two of them living in my very own home! Yet despite kickball’s popularity, it doesn’t show up much in picture books. So I was pretty much smitten with author/illustrator Beth Mills’s debut picture book from the moment I laid eyes on it. Beth was kind enough to answer some questions about her book and share some incredible sketches and color studies so all of us can get a peek at how this book came to be. Read More

“Who Needs A Story Like This?” An Editor’s Take on Fugly by Claire Waller

by Amy Fitzgerald, Editorial Director, Carolrhoda Books

Two years ago, when literary agent Allison Hellegers sent me Fugly, a young adult novel about a teen who channels her weight-centered self-loathing into internet trolling, my first thought was “Ugh. No thank you.”

by Greg Hunter, Editorial Director of Graphic Universe

Let the art do the talking. That’s usually sound advice for a graphic novel creator—embrace the visual nature of the form.

by Lois Wallentine, School & Library Marketing Director

Photo Credit: Nina Arroyo Santiago and Pen Faulkner Foundation

In mid-October, Lerner and SLJ hosted an enlightening #ReadWoke webinar with librarian, SLJ columnist, and #ReadWoke founder Cicely Lewis and three #OwnVoices authors:

by Lara Neel, Trade Marketing Manager

Lerner published two very different nonfiction titles earlier this month. They both feature the human body, but that’s about where the similarities end!