NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

Author George M. Johnson says they knew their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, would be challenged by school boards – but they didn't realize just how much controversy it would stir up. The memoir explores Johnson's upbringing as a queer young person of color in New Jersey and Virginia. In today's episode, they tell NPR's Leila Fadel that despite all the pushback the book has received, it's been overwhelmingly gratifying to see how much it's helped teachers, librarians, parents...and especially the students themselves.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jordan Banks, the protagonist of New Kid, is a seventh grade student who loves to draw and hopes to one day become a cartoonist. But the graphic novel following Jordan's arrival at a predominantly white, elite, private school has been challenged numerous times in the state of Texas by people claiming it promotes critical race theory. In today's episode, author Jerry Craft tells NPR's A Martinez how those challenges were often presented by parents who had not truly engaged with the material – and why it's crucial for him to tell coming-of-age stories for Black kids that don't involve catastrophe.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Professor Ashley Hope Pérez's book Out of Darkness explores school segregation in 20th century Texas through a fictional love story between a young African-American boy and a Mexican-American girl. But the YA novel has been banned in a number of places and effectively pulled out of several school libraries. In today's episode, the author tells NPR's Rob Schmitz how sexual content is used as a scapegoat to target books addressing race, gender and other identity-based topics – and how those battles ultimately set back strides in diversifying children's literature.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy