Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner heavymedal.slj.com/2026/01/06/h...

Good advice! Who’s up for joining Katie and me?

Jasmine Warga's brilliant and heartfelt storytelling made my heart soar. While spending time with Chase and Finnegan, words like friendship, family, connection, love, light, and joy kept racing through my mind. Most of all, the story filled me with HOPE! us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

These look like great books, @kpteach5.bsky.social !

Hey, all! My bookshelves are still too full, so it's time for another #giveaway. Want to win these 11 titles (some of which are signed)? All you gotta do is follow, like, and repost and/or comment and tag a friend. Winner announced on Saturday! ⁠ #kidlit #picturebooks #books #reading #literacy

I just ordered this t-shirt from @jarrett-lerner.bsky.social! I can't wait to wear it to school.

Just finished reading @erindowning.bsky.social’s newest MG book, What Happened Then. Wow! What a ride! This is Erin’s first mystery and she really nailed it! Looking for a good read that keeps you turning the pages, check it out in September.

A must read.

My @writersdigest.bsky.social essay went live!!!! It’s all about walking that tonal balance between darkness and light, especially in middle grade fiction—how to find the hopeful note in the face of insurmountable odds 💜. www.writersdigest.com/how-to-find-...

Reading The Trouble With Heroes by Kate Messner! What a masterpiece! My 5th graders will love this.

This looks amazing!

#Bookaday I added @100scopenotes.bsky.social's Just One Wave to my 2025 Books I Love presentation: www.pinterest.com/mrschureads/...

I’m giving away nine of my favorite 2024 middle grade novels in tomorrow’s newletter. If you’d like to subscribe, here’s the link! colbysharp.substack.com

Gotta celebrate the good news when you can. Today, I’m grateful to the folks at KIRKUS REVIEWS for including my novel BONE GAP among their picks for the Best Books of the 21st Century.

I'm grateful the school purchased 238 copies of Louder Than Hunger. Every copy was given away to students and teachers!!!

Teen Librarian Toolbox Take Five: March 2025 Middle Grade Novels Books featuring grief, a magic school, a treasure hunt, a robot, and a young adventurer! teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2025/03/07/t...

GIVEAWAY for CINCINNATI LEE, CURSE BREAKER! "A thrilling, thoughtful, and layered adventure story with fantastical elements." -KIRKUS ⭐ "A fantastic, adventurous foray into the ethics of archaeology." -BOOKLIST ⭐ "Epic roasts, a million stars." -my 10 yo son Repost to enter til 3/21, rules below:

Got to visit my buddies at @dragonflybooks.bsky.social for a couple days of school visits (now I’m elsewhere in IA). LOVE the way they have their chapter book series displayed!

the saving grace of parents isolated at home with small children. a place for air conditioning when your power goes out. a place to print out your resumé and get tax forms. a place to borrow tools or get access to job skill training. libraries are true bastions of equality and access.

Wow! What a wild ride! The Girls in the Walls is a middle grade novel in verse unlike about I’ve ever read. I’m so excited to see what kids think about this one. Watching this family try to navigate generations of trauma is both heart breaking and captivating. Highly recommend! Book drops 5/20/25.

This is Hank, the emotional support dog at today’s Iowa school visit. I wish my schools had a buddy like Hank when I was a kid!

I just saw that my upcoming picture book WE MATCH! is now available to preview on Edelweiss, so if you want a sneak peek at what this adorable bunch of dogs (illustrated by Sharon Glick) is up to, now's your chance: community.edelweiss.plus/title/166262...

My first book, The Fossil Keeper’s Treasure, is out now! It’s illustrated by the amazing Nat Cardozo. Each page features embossed fossils you can touch. Every fossil tells a story, and every scientist started out as a curious kid. I can’t believe it’s finally here! #fossilfriday #booksky

🚨 🎉 BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY!!! 📚📚📚 #WomensHistoryMonth 1. FOLLOW 2. REPOST 3. COMMENT: Who is a woman in history everyone should know? Thanks to author @jeannewharvey.bsky.social's generosity, 5 winners will EACH receive 5 copies of Else B. in The Sea! #FBF #Edusky #kidlit #giveaway

The One and Only Ivan turned 13 yesterday! Congratulations, @kaaauthor.bsky.social!

It is Eating Disorders Awareness Week! anad.org

The paperback edition of Louder Than Hunger and Ruthie Rose's Big Idea both release next Tuesday!!

This book looks adorable!

Such an outstanding line-up of books. #AuthorsLoveTeachers and we teachers love authors!

@lyndamh.bsky.social is back with her amazing #AuthorsLoveTeachers giveaway! The generosity of these authors each year is stunning!

Haven’t been on Bluesky in a bit. Here’s some recent fallish fare. 🍁❤️

My next book has a fun how-to-draw activity (courtesy of @jarrett-lerner.bsky.social!) in the back matter. Today I tested it and am so pleased with the results!! www.erinsoderberg.com/what-happene...

We were seeing a 98% drop in exposure over on Twitter. The censorship was so extreme we thought it best to start over somewhere else. We chose Bluesky. Help us gain our following back Follow Retweet Repeat Join the park side @altyellonatpark.org

YA NIV about friendship, struggle & the difficult decisions one has to make when their friends make bad choices. A powerful book that’s impossible to put down. Beautiful, thought provoking, heartbreaking. I loved every page of this book by Rex Ogle. Preorder immediately, pubs in March 💜 #BookAllies

I spent the weekend deep in @tameeksb.bsky.social’s gripping story. This book is so good - after the US military invasion of Panama in 1989, Danilo is desperately trying to hold himself and his family together while dealing with PTSD and his pro-baseball dreams. I highly recommend this pre-order!

To learn about the unaddressed needs in society, ask public library workers. Since public libraries are one of the few free public spaces, they see it all daily- the implications of mental illness, homelessness, and illiteracy. All while being in the crosshairs of the culture war. #publiclibraries

NATURE IS A SCULPTOR by @heatherkinser.bsky.social uses amazing photographs & poetic text to show how wind, ice, & water alter Earth's surface, creating cliffs, canyons, & other features. Beautiful & informative read for young readers & a great addition to elementary library collections. #kidlit 📚👍🏻

Just got the first review for HISTORY SMASHERS: EARTH DAY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (coming in March!) and it's a great one from Kirkus! www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews... (Art by @dylanmeconis.bsky.social (cover) and @justingreenwoodart.bsky.social (int.) & pubbed by @randomhousekids.bsky.social)

Novels in verse sometimes start out like collages – you collect snips and scraps of poetry that eventually come together in a story. Then there are blank spaces, so you add more snapshots. But some of the white spaces have to stay, to give readers room to process the poems & feelings of the story.

World Read Aloud Day with @litworld.bsky.social is coming up on February 5th! Want an author to Zoom into your classroom or library for a free virtual read-aloud on that day? Check out the list of volunteers here: katemessner.com/zoom-with-an...

2025 Mock Caldecott List: mrschureads.blogspot.com/2024/11/2025...

Going to pick three winners this afternoon so you still have time to enter!

Are you familiar with @phdcomics.bsky.social OLIVER'S GREAT BIG UNIVERSE graphic novel series? These STEAM-themed, diary-styled middle grade books by Jorge Cham are funny, engaging, smart, and ideal for young readers who enjoy BIG NATE by Lincoln Peirce and DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Kinney.

This book by @annbraden.bsky.social is so powerful. Amazing survival and outdoor aspect, and I LOVED the nurturing and supportive mother-daughter bond. Addy is such a relatable, likeable character who is forced to deal with SO much - but handles it with patience, calm, and grit. Highly recommend!!

Sometimes my books appear on those shiny "Best of the Year" lists, and sometimes they don't. But every year, I share this poem as a reminder for authors & illustrators (including myself!) to remember what matters most. katemessner.com/what-happene...

The holiday season is about far more than Christmas. A great way to introduce young readers to other holidays is by sharing @teachandtransform.bsky.social's beautiful picture book, COME AND JOIN US! 18 HOLIDAYS CELEBRATED ALL YEAR LONG (illus. by Chaaya Prabhat)