This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, which last year made history as the first graphic novel to receive a Caldecott Honor and subsequently was the graphic novel that CBLDF had to defend most frequently in 2015, has been…
Tag: north america
Connecticut High School Cancels American Idiot Musical After Parent Complaints
After complaints from “a very small number of extremely vocal people,” a high school drama club in Enfield, Connecticut has cancelled its planned production of the musical American Idiot, even though the club’s faculty advisor was already working to cut…
Zunar to Join US Colleagues for California Free Expression Conference
Embattled Malaysian cartoonist Zunar and four U.S. colleagues will join in a roundtable discussion this Friday at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The event kicks off a three-day conference called What Cannot Be Said: Freedom of Expression…
Censorship Battles Take a Toll on Educators
Virtually every public school district across the country has a policy on how challenges to materials should be handled. One of the many benefits of observing these policies is that they help to shield the districts’ own employees — teachers…
National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang Names Recommended Reading List
Every two years since 2008, the Library of Congress has chosen a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. This year we have particular reason to celebrate the announcement because for the first time ever the honor and responsibility has been bestowed on a graphic novelist: Gene Luen Yang!
Publishers Weekly Celebrates Decade of Growth in Comics
In the past decade, comics and graphic novels have transitioned from a niche market to a key component of many publishers’ business models. Previously pigeonholed as the exclusive province of adolescents (even if that was never true), comics have not…
Florida Bills Could Hold Education Hostage to Ideology
Some of the same parents who last summer waged a futile campaign against four books found in Collier County, Florida, school libraries are behind two new bills in the state legislature that would make it easier to challenge instructional materials…
Graphic Novelist Leila Abdelrazaq Detained, Questioned by Border Patrol Over Sketchbook
Graphic novelist Leila Abdelrazaq, who recently won critical praise for her book Baddawi, was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Arizona for three hours last week after they spotted Arabic writing in her sketchbook. Abdelrazaq, a U.S. citizen of…
Chicago School Librarian’s Job Saved by Student Protest, Anonymous Donation
Score another win for student activists in Chicago Public Schools, who last week helped to avert the dismissal of their beloved librarian due to budget cuts. Sara Sayigh, librarian at the South Side’s DuSable Campus, had been slated to lose…
Administrators Shut Down Virginia Schools After Muslim Indoctrination Claim
Schools were closed in Augusta County, Virginia on Friday after one parent cried “Muslim indoctrination” over a 9th grade history assignment. When Kimberly Herndon learned that her son who attends Rivershead High School would be copying the Islamic phrase known…