I couldn’t sleep on Saturday night. I stayed up until almost two o’clock in the morning, scouring the internet for books written by writers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. These are the seven countries from which Trump has banned immigrants from entering (or re-entering) the country. The Muslim immigration ban is... Continue Reading →
I’ve been thinking a lot about the end of the world. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about Frodo and Sam in Mordor. Here’s the thing that nobody ever talks about: Frodo and Sam knew they were going to die. We knew they were going to survive. But Frodo and Sam believed that they would die. Even... Continue Reading →
Science fiction and fantasy stories have so much to teach us about how to live in our own world. They speak to problems that we face every day. They are about families and lovers and friendships—small, intimate, human things. They are also often about about war and disaster and injustice—big, terrifying, human things. But the... Continue Reading →
I was a big (flawed, naive, self-righteous, bumbling-but-oh-so-earnest) activist in high school. I feel a lot of tenderness for my seventeen year-old self, despite my misguided ways. Sometimes I cringe when I remember some of what I did with the best intentions and the littlest understanding. But I also remember how much determination and certainty... Continue Reading →
Back in the fall of 2015, Corinne Duyvis, the author of several YA novels (Otherbound, On the Edge of Gone) coined the #ownvoices hashtag on Twitter as a way to uplift books about diverse characters written by authors who share those identities. All too often, authors from marginalized groups struggle to get their work in... Continue Reading →
Four days from today, on January 20th, the forty-fifth president of the United States will take the oath of office. There are a lot of actions going on around the country this week—protests, marches, concerts, and more--organized by communities coming together to send a message to the incoming administration: we will not be silenced. We... Continue Reading →
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