Activism Starts With You: Books to Instruct and Inspire (This Month at . . .)

This month I have two new booklists up at YALSA’s Hub and Teen Services Underground.

It’s been a wild and sometimes scary ride lately with the political climate changing in the wake of the United States Presidential election last November and, unfortunately, racism and hatred spreading wildly. It’s hard to know where to start when you can’t vote and may not be old enough to work. The best first step: Getting information. These books can help teens (and everyone else!) do just that as you get informed and inspired.

Head over to YALSA to see my nonfiction list:

Visit Teen Services Underground to see my fiction picks:

Theses lists are by no means comprehensive. If I’ve missed any key titles, please share them in the comments.

Booklist: Pride Month Reading (This Month at YALSA’s Hub)

This month at the Hub I had a booklist of titles you can read and share to celebrate Pride month.

You can head over to the Hub to read the full post and tell me if I missed any books you’d put on the list!

Gaming Unplugged: Board Games, Card Games, and Party Games to use in Teen Programs (This Month at TSU)

This month (or technically last month) at Teen Services Undergound I have a post up about Gaming Unplugged for teen programs. Basically I’m talking about a lot of my favorite board games and party games to play!

I included some favorite board games, cheap card games, and games that require no budget or materials.

You can head over to TSU to read the full post!

2017 Alex Awards Winners: An Interview with Sarah Beth Durst on The Queen of Blood (This Month at YALSA’s Hub)

This month at the Hub I have an interview with Sarah Beth Durst, the author of The Queen of Blood which was one of YALSA’s 2017 Alex Award winners.

Sarah is one of my favorite authors to interview and I loved this book. You can head over to the Hub to read the full post and hear about Sarah’s inspiration for this series as well as her reaction when she heard about her big win.

Blind Date With a Book (This Month at TSU)

This month (or technically last month) at Teen Services Undergound I have a post up about my latest version of a Blind Date with a Book display (AKA the best display and my favorite one to make).

You can head over to TSU to read the full post!

How (and Why) I Went All Digital With My Organization: My Alternative to a Bullet Journal (This Month at TSU)

This month at Teen Services Undergound I have a post up about how to go about how and why I went all digital with my organization tools.

Basically I tried the planner/bullet journal route and it didn’t work very well for me so if you’ve had similar woes maybe I can help you optimize your smartphone tools to get yourself organized. It’s been a real game changer for me.

You can head over to TSU to read the full post!

Booklist: Read-a-Likes for Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (This Month at YALSA’s Hub)

This month at the Hub I have a new booklist of read-a-likes for Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

Nicola Yoon’s debut novel Everything, Everything took the book world by storm when it was published in 2015. This May readers will get to see this much loved story come to life on the big screen when the film adaptation starring Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson hits theaters. In the meantime this booklist has everything, everything you might want to read if you are a fan waiting for the movie to come out.

You can head over to YALSA’s Hub to read my list of read-a-likes and start your reading before the movie comes out!

2017 Nonfiction Award Finalists: An Interview with Pamela S. Turner and Gareth Hinds on Samurai Rising (This Month at the Hub)

This month at the Hub I have an interview with Pamela S. Turner and Gareth Hinds, the author and illustrator (respectively) of Samurai Rising which was a finalist for the 2017 Nonfiction Award.

You can head over to the Hub to read the full post and get some insights from Pamela and Gareth about their process and inspirations for the book.

Setting Up a Mock Printz Program at Your Library: (This Month at TSU)

This month at Teen Services Undergound I have a post up about how (and why) I decided to go all digital with my organization instead of trying to get into Bullet Journaling.

If you’ve been experimenting with paper planners and BuJo and aren’t loving it, you might want to try some of my ideas.

You can head over to TSU to read the full post!

This Month at Teen Services Underground: Chilling Reads: Books to Keep You Warm this Winter–Display Board and Booklist

I have some news! If you are a regular reader of Teen Services Underground (TSU), you might start noticing some posts from me because . . . *drumroll* . . . I’m a new Agent there!

I love checking out TSU for professional development resources and am thrilled to be part of the team. I am hoping to shift a lot of my “non-book” posts there where they might find a wider audience (like when I’m talking about library programming or displays).

My first post went up earlier in January:

Chilling Reads: Books to Keep You Warm this Winter–Display Board and Booklist

You can read my full post about making the above display (and related booklist) over at TSU: http://www.teenservicesunderground.com/chilling-reads-books-to-keep-you-warm-this-winter-display-board-and-booklist.