Authors & illustrators! LitWorld's World Read Aloud Day is Feb. 4th - want to Zoom into schools for read-alouds on that day? Here's the sign-up form: forms.gle/eN4FwA9HB4Fb... Teachers & librarians! My newsletter will have info soon! Sign up here: katemessner.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...)

Also, EYES OPEN by Lyn Miller-Lachmann is a Social Justice Literature Award Honor Book, and MAKE A LITTLE WAVE by Kerry O’Malley Cerra is on the recommended reading list! sites.csulb.edu/l-sr/books/b... @lynmillerlachmann.bsky.social @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social @lernerbooks.bsky.social

Indeed.

For those who can’t afford Taylor Swift’s new album, be sure to check your local library. My county library has The Life of a Showgirl up on the Hoopla app, and it’s free for me to stream with my library card. Libraries for the win! #taylorswift

Answering the question about why I refer to myself as deaf. Happy Deaf Awareness Month! 💜🤟🏼 #deafawareness #whyisign

Happy Deaf Awareness Month from this deaf girl! It’s ask me anything time. #deafawareness #authorlife #askmeanything

Quick help: mom and I both loved Mrs. Harris goes to Paris. We’d like to watch something similar tonight—a sweet, feel good movie. Suggestions?

Had a conversation with a fellow deaf author recently, & something she said stuck with me: that the publishing world doesn’t view deaf writers—or stories with deaf characters—as “marginalized enough” to amplify them the way it does with other voices. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

Speechless. And honored. So very honored! Happy Earth Day, my sharkies! Thank you, Tue Nature Generation, @lernerbooks.bsky.social , and @janinele.bsky.social

Last week, I had to miss the award dinner for the Florida Book Awards due to my commitments at TXLA. But here’s my medal & a fancy sticker for my book. Huge thanks to the committee for recognizing my work & the importance of activism, ocean conservation, & sharks! @lernerbooks.bsky.social #mglit

Wordle 1,389 1/6* 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Finally! It’s been my starting word since day 1!

I’m so excited for this and can’t wait for my copy to arrive! Happy birthday Hazel and Jamie! 🎉

I’m raffling off two virtual author visits for attendeees at #txla25 #txla2025. Find me at any point to enter. Or message me to meet up. My books cover themes of activism, hearing loss & deafness, social justice, conservation (particularly sharks🦈), body autonomy, and more. I can’t wait to meet you!

Texas librarians, I can't wait to meet you next week. Having lived in Plano for three years as a kid(I went to Memorial Elementary!), I'm excited to go back! And, I'm raffling off two FREE virtual author visits. Be sure to find me! #txla2025

📣 Who’s going to #TXLA25? 📌 I hope you’ll join @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social @alitereseauthor.bsky.social @nancytandon.bsky.social & @lynmillerlachmann.bsky.social & I on Thursday 4/3 for our #kidlit panel from 2-3 pm

Living mindfully helps us get more out of life and cope better in difficult times 🙏 Join us for #MindfulMarch and find ways to live each day with awareness and kindness actionforhappiness.org/mindful-march

Entry 2 of ???: MAKE A LITTLE WAVE by Kerry O'Malley Cerra (@kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social) is a silver medalist in the older children's lit category of the Florida Book Awards! www.floridabookawards.org

"There’s a lack of stories about the Deaf and hard-of-hearing experience, especially for children who are experiencing hearing loss, and HEAR ME is a great addition to the limited canon." DisLIS recommends HEAR ME by @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social! cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/dislis/vol2/...

Move Over, Middle Grade: It’s Time for Young Teen Lit, a guest post by Christina Chatel and Marcia Kochel teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2025/02/06/m... @tltkaren.bsky.social @youngteenlit.bsky.social

At a school visit the other day, while discussing my book HEAR ME and my deafness, a girl asked (in jest), “What does silence sound like?” I don’t think she realized what a profound question it actually was.

It’s been a long 5 months being dogless for the first time in my life. Today, we found the next hunk-of-furball-love to call ours. In search of a great literary name for him. Currently named Huckleberry (Huck) and knows his name, so we may keep it. Suggestions?

I am so freaking excited for this one!!! Go, Liz! Oodles and oodles of congratulations.

After 2 days in the hospital due to 2 weeks of dizziness & headaches they released me w/o a diagnosis. They were too afraid & not versed in how to give someone w/ a cochlear implant an mri. The machine was compatible but they wouldn’t do it even after the CT showed a spot. Education goes a long way.

Pondering . . . do you think there is a difference between the phrases peace with self and peace of self?

It's a tough time to be a debut book creator. If you are a *debut* #KidLit author, illustrator, or author/illus with a new book, pls reply with ONE post that incl. your book cover, author/illustrator names, launch date, LINK to where people can find more info etc. Pls help boost? #KidLit #EduSky

Yes, I suppose all dogs need a nap after eating a roll of toilet paper. #babysittingthegranddog

Babysitting the granddog.

A #MG #nonfiction #book for tween girls to help them survive #middleschool Out 4/1: amzn.to/4eJysIK #library #NonfictionNovember #librarian #books #bookrecommendation #librarians

Joy! Keep doing the important work, teachers. It was an honor to work and speak with you. Heart, Hope, Humanity. 💜 #ncte24 #boston

I’m a former HS librarian & a children’s book author. I now sit on the Superintendent’s Review Committee for our district in Florida. We read every single challenged book & work to determine if they violate statutes. I’ll be sharing my own story as to why I left the school. Hope you’ll join.

Stop by to see me and pick up a copy of my newest middle grade novel, MAKE A LITTLE WAVE. It features a cochlear implant-wearing girl who becomes an accidental activist for sharks. A true eco-warrior!

Posting this again because a lot of people said they found it helpful! Guide to ALT text: www.perkins.org/resource/how...

@reader365247.bsky.social 🤣 You can’t just leave us hanging like that. Why do people mistakenly call you Jen? What is your real name? This sounds like a great book thread.

@teachdogsandtravel.bsky.social You had me at “dog mom!” Hello. Nice to connect here.

Revision—> cutting up my MS, reorganizing, reordering. The true benefit of writing in-scene means you can easily lift them & place them elsewhere in your MS as needed. Then just finesse the transitions. It’s like a giant puzzle, but I should be done today. Still love this story so much! #middlegrade

If you'll be at FAME (Orlando) or NCTE (Boston), I'd love to see you. Even w/ my bionic ear, I don't hear well, so tap me & say hi! I'll only be at FAME on Wed., & Boston is jam-packed, but there's always time. My panels feature topics on mental health, nature, & book bans. Can't wait. Who's going?

Please join us on Friday @ NCTE for a collaborative conversation about fighting book bans! @jamiemichalak.bsky.social @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social @barrylyga.com

Author Kerry O'Malley Cerra shares how she came to write about a girl trying to save sharks, make friends, and influence people in MAKE A LITTLE WAVE: lernerbooks.blog/2024/10/make... @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social @lernerbooks.bsky.social

"These excursions have deepened my need to take a stand for sharks—who are so often misunderstood." In this post with Teen Librarian Toolbox, @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social shares her experience diving with sharks while researching MAKE A LITTLE WAVE! teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2024/10/09/s...

The book trailer for MAKE A LITTLE WAVE is here! Discover how Savannah advocates for sharks in this #middlegrade novel by @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social. #MakeaLittleWave youtu.be/jBe5u7AnZPg

I cannot accept that we lost this sweet girl, Lucky, today just one week after losing Duke. Shattered. I don’t even know how to be dogless.

Thrilled to share the trailer for my upcoming novel MAKE A LITTLE WAVE. I love making these. Thanks to all who helped. Credits at the end. Please watch in the YouTube app & give it a like. And please share it with any teachers or librarians! 6 more weeks! 🥰 #bookthreads youtu.be/jBe5u7AnZPg?...

For joy! I can now exhale. Kirkus gave my upcoming book, MAKE A LITTLE WAVE, a wonderful review. So grateful! Only 6 weeks till pub day! #kidlit

Lost the very best boy yesterday. Found on the street corner, abandoned and abused, it took a long time for him to trust again, but when he did … greatest feeling ever. He loved riding shotgun, swimming in the ocean, chasing tennis balls, napping in the sun, and bouncing endlessly. Damn, this hurts.

It's Shark Week! Sharks are crucial to our ecosystem, cuter & derpier than you might think, and gravely threatened by humans. Now's a great time to preorder @kerryomalleycerra.bsky.social's middle grade novel MAKE A LITTLE WAVE, out 10/1! lernerbooks.com/shop/show/24... @lernerbooks.bsky.social

It’s an incredible honor to get this endorsement from one of the leading and most well respected organizations out there working for the protection of sharks worldwide! Thank you Stefanie Brendl and Shark Allies. Keep making waves!

It's been exactly two months and one day since EYES OPEN by Lyn Miller-Lachmann came out! So now you know how far behind I am on social media posts AND you know about this awesome YA novel. More details here: lernerbooks.com/shop/show/23... @lynmillerlachmann.bsky.social @lernerbooks.bsky.social

This time last week, my publisher, @lernerbooks.bsky.social , was making a dream of mine come true. Still smiling at all the goodness of the weekend. Thank you, librarians, for your tireless work in bringing books to readers!