me standing in front of the LA Times festival of books sign at the entrance fountain to the USC campus

Photo of me smiling with the middle school librarian who asked me to sign copies of the gender binary is a big lie and no way they were gay no way they were gay has a band book sticker on it and I'm so excited those kiddos have access to my Books books

Photo of the panel I moderated on the young adult stage sitting in directors chairs in front of the big orange sign under the white tent are from left to right: Stuart Gibbs, me, Dan Santat, and Brady Smith

great day at LA Times Festival of Books! super panel discussion with #kidlit authors @dansantat.bsky.social Stuart Gibbs, and Brady Smith, signing books for kiddos and this middle school librarian, and visiting with my local indie bookstore Pages!

four books, covers are all green with gray and brown details, clockwise from bottom left: APE ESCAPED by Stuart Gibbs, MAXWELL DARK: BAD BLOOD by Brady Smith, A FISHBOY NAMED SASHIMI by Dan Santat, and my own YA novel A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE.

Can’t wait for the Sun panel I’m moderating with powerhouse #kidlit authors @dansantat.bsky.social Stuart Gibbs, and Brady Smith (YA Stage, 11:20am)… Look how good our new releases coordinate! (Theirs are all middle grade, mine is YA.) We'll talk adventure, humor, series, and much more -- join us!

if you're interested in #kidlit translation, this sounds like a great opportunity!

screenshot of Lesléa Newman and Lee Wind talking about Queer and Jewish #kidlit as part of Lee's being awarded the BookFest Honorary Achievement Award

happening right now - @leslea.bsky.social and me, part of the BookFest Spring 2026 online festival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVpf... #kidlit #fightbookbanning So honored and grateful!

In a world where… we need some Queer Joy, here’s the unboxing video for the ARC of my upcoming #kidlit YA novel, A DIFFERENT KIND OF ENEMY #ya #lgbtq #actionadventure #gayromance (librarian and bookseller friends, it’s on Edelweiss) Shout outs: CB Messer=cover art, Chicago Review Press=Publisher

PETITION: Don't Let the Federal Government Regulate Your Reading Not one country's freedom and liberty has ever been increased by banning books.

Here's a link to sign a petition from the folks at EveryLibrary: action.everylibrary.org/hr_7661

H.R. 7661 is a government censorship bill targeting #kidlit that is heading for a vote in the US House of Representatives, and we need your help to stop it. 5calls.org helps you find and contact your rep. Spread the word. Support/follow orgs fighting #bookbanning like @authorsabb.bsky.social Thanks!

Like THE PITT. But it's a bookstore. Or Bookselling in a Minneapolis ICE storm.

This was excellent - "Like the Pitt but it's a Bookstore" by author and indie bookstore peep kristinnilsenbooks.com kristinnilsenbooks.substack.com/p/like-the-p...

excellent post - thanks for all thar research; I will share

Don't Ban Books in the United States Across the country, politicians are trying to decide what Americans are allowed to read. Books are being pulled from school shelves, challenged in public libraries, and targeted for removal not becaus

help fight a national (!) book banning bill: action.everylibrary.org/hr_7661
This impacts all of us in the #kidlit community: writers, readers, teachers, librarians, publishers, illustrators, translators, and on and on...

she really looked like she was playing and having fun!

It's the stories of men who loved men, women who loved women, and people who loved without regard to gender -- including some really famous people you wouldn’t expect, like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt! @lernerbooks.bsky.social

50% OFF No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves (Queer History Project) 'History' sounds really official. Like it's all fact. Like it's definitely what happened. But that's not necessarily true. History was crafted by the people who recorded it...

Want some instant-gratification stories of Queer love across time and around our world this Valentine’s Day? The digital audiobook for NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? (#kidlit nonfiction for ages 11 and up) is on sale for 50% off www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

looking forward to finally seeing this! The freedom to read is so important, and diverse #kidlit is crucial to creating a better, kinder, more just world...

agreed. They's so afraid of actual science, and empathy, and kindness... which should remind us how powerful it is when we share our pronouns, our gender (as distinct from our body), our books, and our belief in a community made stronger by our diversity

agree - great stuff here for #kidlit folks & readers, and a way to help out in this moment of manufactured, mean-spirited chaos...

Little Free Library announces job openings with a colorful miniature library box illustration.

We're hiring an intern! Our new Read in Color intern will assist the program manager and team with various aspects of the Read in Color program. This internship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a movement that champions literacy and diversity. https://lflib.org/work-with-us

Earlier this month I was in NYC, in a location from my upcoming A DIFFERENT KIND OF ENEMY, the sequel in my gay teen action adventure romance series that's an homage & critique of James Bond movies. #kidlit #queerjoy #ya

congrats! that's a great review, and the book sounds awesome

*WE* save us -- yes!

totally blushing at "queer YA icon" -- and very excited for this cover reveal for the gay teen action adventure romance sequel to "A Different Kind of Brave" -- "A Different Kind of Enemy" --thank you @lgbtqreads.bsky.social #kidlit

find your zone - cheering you on! #KidLitChat

Thanks to you, @gregpincus.bsky.social and @bonnieadamson.com for holding the space for us all to be IN community togehter! #KidLitChat for the win!

I do the 8am writing club - much more doable for me (especially with virtual/remote work.)

I think the "perfect" amount of time is probably different for everyone. For me, I have no internal resistance to 12 minutes. (It doesn't feel daunting and I don't make up excuses about how I don't have 12 minutes.) I can almost always find 12 minutes in my day. #KidLitChat

that's good advice - I try to start every day with at least 12 min of me being a writer (a.k.a. writing), and then I feel like a writer with a day job, rather than a day job worker who also writes occassionally... (I do love my day job, but writing #kidlit is the work of my heart.) #KidLitChat

I try to do my (hopefully) creative writing before my day job starts in the morning... That's helped a lot. #KidLitChat

Very kind of you, Laura. BANANA MENORAH had a long gestation period... The real-life inspiration was 1997, draft 1 manuscript was Dec 2021, Sold in 2023, Published Nov 2025. So satisfying -- & I'm proud of the two-dad representation in a Hanukah picture book about creativity! #KidLitChat

which one, Debbie? That's so cool! #kidlitchat

If I agree with two very smart people, that's smart by association, surely... #kidlitchat