NEW The Best Books for Teens and Young Adults of 2025, recommended by Susannah Richards, specialist in literature for youth fivebooks.com/best-books/t...

Browse all our 'best books of 2025' lists (both fiction and nonfiction): fivebooks.com/books/best-b...

Some good news to kick off 2026! Blackbird is a 2025 Blue Ribbon Book by the Bulletin of the Center of Children’s books. Thank you, BCCB and to all readers who have bought, borrowed and read the book since it published almost a year ago! #songofablackbird #kidlit #graphicnovel #ww2 #bccb

The people who start wars are never the ones to suffer from it, but often the ones who profit from it. Trump started this war without notifying Congress, which represents the American people. He took this decision alone. This is not how a democracy works.

We watched The Greatest Night in Pop last night (Netflix). It's about the incredible uniting power of music and art, which is something we can rely on in these times. I hope you will read more books, listen to more music and make more art in 2026. I will be taking that energy with me into 2026.

All the support has lifted me up and strengthened my resolve to keep reminding teens to do what’s right, even (especially!) when that is hard. I consider the thoughtful reviews and year-end lists as as a call to even more action. THANK YOU.

WOOT! So happy that @thehornbook.bsky.social has included Song of a Blackbird🐦‍⬛ in their Fanfare list of best books of 2025 (under Fiction). Thank you, Horn Book!

⭐ Stargaze with MacKids ⭐ SONG OF A BLACKBIRD is a National Book Award longlist selection that weaves together two timelines (1943 & 2011) to reveal how art, in the face of political upheaval and adversity, can become our greatest lifeline. bit.ly/4pkttUR @vanlieshoutstudio.bsky.social

To read more about what it is like to be nominated for the National Book Award (and about what a tough racket the publishing biz is), read my latest Blackbird Express newsletter! open.substack.com/pub/mariavan...

So grateful and proud that School Library Journal selected Song of a Blackbird as one of the best books of 2025, under graphic novels! Thank you @SLJ.com for this wonderful honor! #kidlit #SLJ #graphicnovels #songofablackbird #ww2 #bestof2025

Hope as a Warrior Emotion. Read about how belief in a better future is the best antidote to complacency, desperation and cynicism. Open mind. Open heart🐦‍⬛ open.substack.com/pub/mariavan... #blackbird #hope #songofablackbird #kidlit #graphicnovel #resistance

Are you going to NCTE25? Still around Sunday or Monday?Come find me! Would love to connect! Sunday 11/23 5PM-6:30PM ALAN reception Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3 Monday 11/24 8:30AM-8:55AM Stand UP & Fight panel

Making book plates for NCTE/ALAN at NCTE25! I will be giving the book plates away with my MAKE ART stickers. Are you going? Come find me! Sunday 11/23 5PM-6:30PM ALAN reception Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3 Monday 11/24 8:30AM-8:55AM Stand UP & Fight panel #ncte #kidlit #teachers

Left: a scene from my graphic novel Song of a Blackbird about how Hitler branded the BBC as LYING PRESS for reporting on gas chambers. On the right: The Trump administration labels BBC FAKE NEWS for reporting about the January 6 insurrection. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

So excited Blackbird is soaring high on this list of PW's best Young Adult novels! #BestBooks2025 #kidlit #BooksOfTheYear #PW #graphicnovel

America-hating Antifa showing up for a *second* time today.

We’ve lived 15 years under Citizens United, watching billionaires and corporations shape democracy with their wallets. Reform once seemed impossible. But now, a group in Montana is asking a radical question: What if states simply stopped granting corporations the power to spend in politics?

Blackbirds are magic! Read about the meaning attributed to the birds by druids, mystics and by pop culture icons Paul McCartney and Beyonce. Link in bio/linktree. open.substack.com/pub/mariavan... #blackbirds #mythology #beyonce #paulmccartney #blackbiird #symbolism #ww2 #songofablackbird

Thank you to Noa and Zakir, librarians extraordinaires at the International School Utrecht, for welcoming me into the school. Meeting the ISU students was such a joy! #authorvisit #schoolvisit #internationalschool #kidlit #graphicnovel

Thank you so much to @kimtyodickerson.bsky.social and the librarian team at the International School Amsterdam for the wonderful author visit. What a privilege to visit your beautiful school. Till next, my friends! #kidlit #authorvisit #schoolvisit #amsterdam #graphicnovel

Thank you, Janet, for this lovely review of Song of a Blackbird!

So this happened… #nationalbookaward #longlist #graphicnovel #kidlit #youngpeoplesliterature #songofablackbird #fightHATEmakeART

Read today’s post/newsletter to learn about that time when a David Lynch-loving ninth grader taught me the art of revealing a secret. A secret hiding in Song of a Blackbird... #graphicnovel #davidlynch #kidlit #hiddensecrets #ww2 #dropcaps mariavanlieshout.substack.com/p/the-art-of...

Song of a Blackbird is coming to Amsterdam🐦‍⬛ Join me at the American Book Center where I’ll share the story behind the book and sign/personalize copies. Dutch and American editions will be available. Reserve here: abc.nl/events/event... #WW2 #kidlit #bookevent #amsterdam #graphicnovel #historical

★★★★★5 STARRED REVIEWS!!! I'm grateful to @publisherswkly.bsky.social, @KirkusReviews.com, @slj.com, @ala-booklist.bsky.social and @thehornbook.bsky.social. The past has much to teach us, and I’m here to do my part. #fightHATE #makeART #battlehymn #songofablackbird #graphicnovel #ww2

My first Cape and Cowl Con is in the books! It will certainly not be my last. Met so many comics lovers and book people, and got to hang out with old friends and new ones (@thiendog.bsky.social and @brianabreaks.bsky.social ). Thank you @capecowlcomics.bsky.social! #comics #graphicnovels #kidlit

I’ll be at @capecowlcomics.bsky.social Cape and Cowl Con on August 24th! It will be at Faction in Alameda. Come out to say hi, and check out my graphic novel Song of a Blackbird🐦‍⬛ @firstsecond.bsky.social #comiccon #factionbrewing #Alameda #graphicnovels #kidsbooks #yabooks

Big love for teachers and librarians. Since Song of a Blackbird was published, I’ve been visiting middle and high schools. Lmk if you are interested in having me speak to your middle or high schoolers! #authorvisit #schoolvisit #ww2 #kidlit #GraphicNovel www.vanlieshoutstudio.com/author-visit/

I’ll be at @capecowlcomics.bsky.social Cape and Cowl Con on August 24th! It will be at Faction in Alameda. Come out to say hi, and check out my graphic novel Song of a Blackbird🐦‍⬛ @firstsecond.bsky.social #comiccon #factionbrewing #Alameda #graphicnovels #kidsbooks #yabooks

Thank you, @multcolib.bsky.social!

I am an immigrant. My friends are immigrants. My neighbors are immigrants... An immigrant takes my naturalization exam when I become a US citizen. She smiles when I pass because she knows what it means. She gives me a little American flag. She is what makes America great. #Iamanimmigrant

Song of a Blackbird is coming to Amsterdam🐦‍⬛ Join me at the American Book Center where I’ll share the story behind the book and sign/personalize copies. Dutch and American editions will be available. Reserve here: abc.nl/events/event... #WW2 #kidlit #bookevent #amsterdam #graphicnovel #historical

STOP STARVING CHILDREN. Killing children is always evil. When we stop feeling RAGE about the killing of innocent young lives, we have been influenced by the most sinister propaganda that aims to divide us, to make us feel hatred, fear, contempt or INDIFFERENCE towards other human beings.

Graphic novelists are a little crazy. And we have something else in common with the folks that chose to resist the Nazi regime. Read my newsletter to learn more! #ww2 #resistance #kidlit #graphicnovels #historicalfiction #graphicnovelist mariavanlieshout.substack.com/p/nonviolent...

The fine folks at @teachingbooks.bsky.social asked me to talk about Song of a Blackbird, specifically, what inspired the book, and how I talk about it when I visit schools. Have a listen! #teachingbooks #schools #graphicnovel #kidlit #youngadult #ww2 school.teachingbooks.net/book_reading...

MAKE ART. Fight hate. Making art (and supporting art and books and music) is RESISTANCE. Read about why and how in my latest newsletter (link in Linktree/bio). #streetart #makeart #fighthate #stickers #resistance mariavanlieshout.substack.com/p/nazis-are-...

Explain the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE to me like I’m four. “All men (and women) are EQUAL and entitled to LIFE, FREEDOM and HAPPINESS. It’s THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT job of our government to make this happen. When it does not, the PEOPLE must form a NEW GOVERNMENT.” That’s it, folks. #4thofjuly

Hope to see you at ALA this weekend! #ALAAC25 #MacKidsALA #kidlit #graphicnovel #libraries #librarians

I hope you will subscribe to Blackbird Express 🐦‍⬛, about how stories from our past can open eyes, minds and hearts, by the creator of the historical graphic novel Song of a Blackbird. mariavanlieshout.substack.com #substack #newsletter #graphicnovel #history #historicalnovel

Hurray! The Dutch edition of Song of a Blackbird🐦‍⬛ is on the shortlist for the Thea Beckman Award, given to the best historical youth book in the Netherlands! #kidlit #historicalfiction #YAbooks #graphicnovel #award

Quote by Iranian-French graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi. This is just about the best time I can think of to re-read her incredible graphic novel Persepolis. #marjanesatrapi #persepolis #iran #war #graphicnovel

As someone raised by parents whose lives were impacted profoundly by living through war as young children, I have seen what war does to children and the adults they grow into. #fightHATE #makeART #warisbadforchildren

Librarian friends! Please come say hello at ALA Annual next weekend! @mackidssl.bsky.social @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social #ala #americanlibraryassociation #graphicnovel #librarian #youngadultbooks #historicalfiction #ww2 #resistance #alaannual2025

900 illustrations, 100 historic photos, 12 years of sweat and tears (truth), ONE heart-breaking book🐦‍⬛

June 12 was Anne Frank’s birthday. A year ago, Anne’s book with stories written while she was living in hiding was published. It was an honor to be asked to illustrate the end papers, and to contribute some thoughts about how Anne Frank has inspired me. #annefrank #ww2 #annefrankhouse

A leader will unite people. And (s)he will do what (s)he can to de-escalate a situation. Autocrats do the opposite. They will divide people, and create fear. They will escalate a situation to create an “emergency”, and use it to grab power. Fear, division and chaos are a dictator’s friend. 🐦‍⬛