history – The Lerner Blog

Returning the Sword: An Interview with Author Caren Stelson

Returning the Sword: How a Japanese Sword of War Became a Symbol of Friendship and Peace is a powerful true story of cross-cultural friendship and reconciliation. Minnesota soldier Orval Amdahl served in World War II, arriving in Nagasaki, Japan, in the autumn of 1945 to keep the peace in the aftermath of the atomic bombing […]Read more

Author Interviews

Arm in Arm: An Interview with Author Angelica Shirley Carpenter

As historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, “Well-behaved women seldom make history,” and the Grimké sisters were anything but well-behaved. Born into a family of enslavers in the South, Sarah Grimké and Angelina Grimké Weld were some of the first women to speak out about abolition and women’s rights. Arm in Arm: The Grimké Sisters’ Fight […]Read more

Author Interviews

Dreams to Ashes: An Interview with Author Livia Blackburne and Illustrator Nicole Xu

Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre is a powerful nonfiction picture book full of both heartbreak and hope. In the late 1800s LA was more small town than city, with a total population under six thousand. Newspapers routinely published anti-Chinese rhetoric, and when a conflict broke out between two mutual aid societies, […]Read more

Author Interviews

The Doll Test: An Interview with Illustrator David Elmo Cooper

Narrated by dolls, The Doll Test: Choosing Equality is a book-length poem by acclaimed author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by David Elmo Cooper which focuses on the pivotal research of Black psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark. In the so-called “doll test,” they presented Black and white baby dolls to children and asked them questions […]Read more

Author Interviews

A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: An Interview with Author Rebecca E. Hirsch

For the fans of science, history, and gothic horror, A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds entertains and informs with profiles on nature’s deadliest plants. The gorgeously intricate illustrations by Eugenia Nobati set the tone for a wild journey into the fascinating histories of these plants as implements of medicine, warfare, […]Read more

Author Interviews

Small Shoes, Great Strides: An Interview with Author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Many students know the story of Ruby Bridges, but how about the McDonogh Three? Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality tells the powerful true story of how Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost courageously integrated a New Orleans school on November 14, 1960. Today award-winning author Vaunda Micheaux […]Read more

Author Interviews

Nearer My Freedom: An Interview with Co-Author Lesley Younge

Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge has earned recognition with five starred reviews and praise from industry professionals. This new release explores Olaudah Equiano’s life story—his childhood in Africa, enslavement, liberation, and life as a free man—through “found verse,” a creative approach to primary […]Read more

Past Meets Present in YA and MG Fiction

By Editorial Director Amy Fitzgerald As a kid, I was obsessed with historical fiction. For me, it was an exciting escape from my generally comfortable but uneventful middle-class white life. Only later did I notice that it’s usually white people who fantasize about living in a different time.Read more

Author Interviews

Stars of the Night: An Interview with Author Caren Stelson

On the eve of World War II, the Czech Kindertransport rescued 669 children from Nazi persecution. The new nonfiction picture book Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport by Caren Stelson and illustrated by Selina Alko sensitively tells the powerful true story of the children’s journey to safety from their collective […]Read more

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