Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, recently used my second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, and that of my teammate in the 800-meter run, to malign Soren Stark-Chessa, the trans-identified athlete who finished first. One of the reasons I chose to run cross-country and track is the community: Teammates cheering each other on, athletes from different schools coming together, and the fact that personal improvement is valued as much as, if not more than, the place we finish. Last Friday, I ran the fastest 1,600-meter race I have ever run in middle school or high school track and earned varsity status by my school’s standards. I am extremely proud of the effort I put into the race and the time that I achieved. The fact that someone else finished in front of me didn’t diminish the happiness I felt after finishing that race. I don’t feel like first place was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points. We are all just kids trying to make our way through high school. Participating in sports is the highlight of high school for some kids. No one was harmed by Soren’s participation in the girls’ track meet, but we are all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies, like Rep. Libby, who want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they are. Anelise Feldman Freshman, Yarmouth High School Yarmouth

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

Let’s clear something up: SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the LARGEST federal program to fight hunger in the country!

It blows my mind that the party that touts its “Christian values” is the same party that is SET on taking food from the hungry.

Good lord

I loved the twist. I won’t give anything away except to say I did NOT see it coming! 🐟

Pink background with book covers all around. Purple bar in the center has header that reads: DISCOVER BOOKS BY ASIAN, ASIAN AMERICAN, AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN VOICES

May is #AANHPIHeritageMonth! Celebrate this month all year long by sharing these stories by Asian, Asian American, and Native Hawaiian voices! Explore the booklist to discover books for all ages and reading levels. #EduSky #TLSky

📚 penguinschoollibrary.com/pyrAANHPIboo...

@mikejungwroteabook.bsky.social I really enjoyed Unidentified Suburban Object (see above) and I think the kids at the table right across from me did, too - they checked out the cover and one not-so-subtly pointed it out to his mom. 😊

Popped up to my favorite “beautiful city” last weekend to catch my amazing, talented godchild in Godspell. While visiting, I also met up with Katy, my CP, plus had dinner at 5 Napkin Burger, where Mike Jung kept me company in a way… though I regret getting hot sauce fingerprints on several pages!

The book cover of The Trouble With Secrets against a gradient background in shades of peach. Pictured on the book's cover are two sisters with dark, curly hair sitting together on the floor with their backs against the bed behind them.

I'm honoured to have had the opportunity to sit down with @naomimilliner.bsky.social to discuss her newest middle grade novel, The Trouble With Secrets, an emotionally rich story about honesty, unexpected loss and the grieving process.
popgoesthereader.com/interview-na... #KidLit #MGLit

It’s a miracle any non-white, non straight, non-citizen person in America is getting any work done right now—

—While the regime is actively trying to purge us from government, workplaces, universities from its websites, and from society in general.

Leo, a toddler, yelling and waving protest flags in a crowd in front of the Capitol

Leo, a toddler, holding protest flags in a crowd of people

20,000+ people at the Capitol to fight authoritarianism. This—more and more of this—is what it's going to take to defend our democracy. Proud of Minnesota today.

I have never seen anything like this in NYC. 5th Ave covered from 42nd St well to the 20s. Nobody prepared for this volume. Volunteers are holding the traffic on all the side streets. No police in sight. #handsoff

The image is a screenshot of a tweet from Brandon Bradford (@BrandonLBradfor ). The tweet reads: "Deporting Americans without due process then saying they no longer get due process because they aren’t in America means no one has rights, FYI. Nightmare scenario."

If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.

Now more than ever #weneeddiversebooks 👏📚 Go check out @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social & join in on We Need Diverse Books Day today 💜 #booksky (full list of titles from the image is on my IG due to character limits)

Graphic that says "Celebrate We Need Diverse Books Day! April 3rd, 2025" and has a border created by these books: Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter and Oge Mora Fly by Brittany J. Thurman and Anna Cunha Birds of a Feather by Sita Singh and Stephanie Fizer Coleman The Color Collector by Nicholas Solis and Renia Metallinou Friends Are Friends, Forever by Dane Liu and Lynn Scurfield Dumpling Day by Meera Sriram and Ins De Antuano Tofu Takes Time by Helen H. Wu and Julie Jarema A History of Me by Adrea Theodore and Erin Robinson The Star Festival by Moni Ritchie Hadley and Mizuho Fujisawa Bella's Recipe for Success by Ana Siqueira and Geraldine Rodríguez El Cucuy Is Scared, Too! by Donna Barba Higuera and Juliana Perdomo Meena's Mindful Moment by Tina Athaide and Åsa Gilland Buffalo Wild! by Deidre Havrelock and Azby Whitecalf Halal Hot Dogs by Susannah Aziz and Parwinder Singh Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Bingham and C. G. Esperanza

On this first We Need Diverse Books Day, celebrate by reading some of these books written by authors friends from my two picture book release groups - The Picture Book Scribblers and 21 for the Books.

@weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social #WeNeedDiverseBooksDay #DiverseBooks #kidlit #booksky

After getting some rest, I am in awe of everyone who continues to lift their voice and speak out. This is a moment for our country, and we must make a choice about the America we want to be.

I got Covid in March 2020 as a perfectly healthy 34-year-old. I haven’t truly had a healthy day since. I don’t understand how people can fail to take it seriously. It kills. And when it doesn’t technically kill, it still kind of kills.

NEW MG releases on today's @themixed-upfiles.bsky.social, including @naomimilliner.bsky.social's THE TROUBLE WITH SECRETS. (Watch for my interview with Naomi on 4/7!) #kidlit fromthemixedupfiles.com/its-raining-...

No, Strom Thurmond did NOT renounce his segregationist views.

He also never acknowledged his own daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, whose mother was a 15-year-old black maid in the Thurmond household who he knocked up when he was 22.

Strom Thurmond was NEVER "one of the good guys".

Sen. Cory Booker putting his hand over his heart as he beats Strom Thurmond's floor address record

It may be breaking, but @booker.senate.gov's voice has never been more powerful.

Thank you, my friend, for speaking out for freedom, justice, and the country we love.

Booker finally yields after more than 25 hours of speaking 👏👏👏

Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave The staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on administrative leave this morning, following a meeting between IMLS leadership and DOGE staff.

A dark, dark day for libraries, museums, information, education, the truth, and the future.

This is what the real-time collapse of a nation looks like. Silence in this moment is complicit.

www.npr.org/2025/03/31/n...

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2025! Children's Just Like Queen Esther by Ari Moffic and Kerry Olitzky (text) and Rena Yehuda Newman (illustration) Atara loves to wear her crown - to the library, to the dentist, even to her swim lessons. It gives her confidence, and shows the world that she is a girl, not a boy, like everyone thought at first. But when Atara reads the story of Queen Esther, on the Jewish holiday of Purim - she realises that you don't need a costume to express who you really are...

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2025!

Children's Just Like Queen Esther by Ari Moffic and Kerry Olitzky (text) and Rena Yehuda Newman (illustration) Atara loves to wear her crown - to the library, to the dentist, even to her swim lessons. It gives her confidence, and shows the world that she is a…

YES. Millennial here with a Gen X wife raising Gen Z kids. There are all sorts of reels & TikToks mocking democrats for their alarm bells & donation requests while there’s no real action being take to stop him or protect us. We are already aware of the issues. We are worried. What are the solutions?

South Carolina Could Lead The Nation In Number of State-Mandated School Book Bans - PEN America If the State Board of Education bans the additional 10 titles, South Carolina will surpass Utah’s 17 state-mandated school book bans, and have the most state-mandated bans in the country. Only two oth...

PEN America reports: "Of the 27 books challenged at the state level in South Carolina thus far, the majority were written by LGBTQ+ and women authors ... 52% address sexual violence, 52% address mental health, and 48% address death and grief." pen.org/south-caroli...

The men disappeared to El Salvador because of their tattoos The Trump administration sent Venezuelans to El Salvador’s most infamous prison. Their families are looking for answers.

The full story is here, and it includes multiple other cases of people, including other people who entered at ports of entry (not illegally) who were clearly detained and shipped to El Salvador solely on the basis of their tattoo and nothing more. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

A picture of Neri Alvarado, a young man, standing next to his brother, who is a young teenager. Both are smiling for the camera and wearing matching shirts. Neri has his arm around his brother.

A picture of Neri's tattoo, which is an autism ribbon in rainbow colors with his brother's name "Neryelson" written on it.

NEW: @motherjones.com reports that one of the men renditioned to El Salvador is Neri Alvarado, who was working in Dallas as a baker. An ICE agent told him they were questioning all men with tattoos.

Neri has an AUTISM AWARENESS TATTOO in honor of his 15-year-old brother with autism.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to strip the US government for parts while enriching their own businesses, alienating us from our allies, and putting us at grave national security risk while stealing food from the elderly and children is both a compelling narrative and true.

Thank you @petebuttigieg.bsky.social