Welcome to Check Your Shelf, where we’re not going to discuss the Oscars (although you can find a complete list of winners here). Cool? Cool.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Maryland’s library eBook law faces a permanent injunction.
(TW: racism) The Sonoma Valley Regional Library recently issued a statement regarding racist graffiti that was found back in November, and only because a second incident involving racist graffiti occurred.
Some Vancouver Island regional libraries are closed due to a labor strike.
Book Adaptations in the News
Netflix selects Liz Tigelaar to adapt The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
HBO Max is developing a prequel series to It. (Don’t mind me, I’m just mildly hyperventilating over here!!)
Blake Crouch’s scifi thriller, Dark Matter, is getting a series adaptation starring Joel Edgerton.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is getting a horror adaptation.
Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star, is getting a biopic based on the book Anna May Wong: From Laundryman’s Daughter to Hollywood Legend by Graham Russell Gao Hodges.
Amazon is developing Harlan Coben’s YA thriller, Shelter, for TV, with Jaden Michael to star.
House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO in August.
Casting update for Dear Edward.
The Flight Attendant, Season 2 gets a premiere date and a trailer.
Nicole Kidman shared the first look trailer for her anthology series, Roar, based on the book by Cecilia Ahern.
Here’s the trailer for All the Old Knives, based on the espionage thriller by Olen Steinhauer.
22 fictional books from movies and TV shows we would actually like to read.
Banned & Challenged Books
The censorship story in Anchorage, Alaska, that we can’t tell you about.
A recent ALA poll finds that the public is broadly opposed to the recent book banning efforts.
The Grandbury ISD (TX) superintendent’s leaked comments, telling librarians to pull books on sexuality and transgender people, raise constitutional concerns.
Texas is going after LGBTQ library books and Pride Week.
Meet the Texas librarians uniting to battle school book ban laws.
An Oklahoma lawmaker compared librarians to cockroaches, and yeah, it’s about as bad as it sounds, if not worse.
Idaho House Republicans fast-tracked a resolution that creates a working group to study children’s access to “harmful” materials in libraries.
A “super secret folder” in regards to the now dead HB 666 legislation in Idaho has been revealed.
Idaho House Republicans killed the budget for the Idaho Commission for Libraries over unfounded concerns about inappropriate materials.
Boundary County (ID) residents in support of the now-defunct HB666 are bringing the debate to the public library.
Johnson County (IA) librarians oppose several state bills that would make challenging library materials easier and would create punishments for librarians and educators who “distribute obscene materials.”
The debate around teaching Persepolis at Franklin Regional Schools (PA) continues.
Some Charlotte-Mecklenburg (SC) parents were upset over the high school assigning The Girl Who Fell From the Sky to freshmen, but the students had a hand in selecting the title.
A woman running for the Southwest Allen County Schools Board (IL) is organizing a group of “book investigators” to monitor and document “harmful” titles at all four Allen County public school systems.
The book banning debate struck the Park Ridge Public Library (IL), although most of the attendees spoke in favor of keeping diverse materials on the shelves.
The Shawnee Heights School District in Tecumseh, Kansas, has twice rejected challenges to the books The Hate U Give, All Boys Aren’t Blue, Beyond the Gender Binary, and Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness.
The Derby Board of Education (KS) has heard two separate challenges recently: We Are Not From Here and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.
The Blue Valley school board (KS) voted to keep both Gender Queer and Fun Home on library shelves.
Challenged books and materials are at a record high in the Cherokee County School District (GA).
Forsyth County Schools (GA) is taking a second look at its material reconsideration policies. On another terrifying level, school administrators have contacted Follett about tools to give parents more involvement in what their children are reading, and Follett said that they’re already considering an automatic email notification to parents every time their child checks out a book from the school library.
DeSantis signs a bill targeting explicit books in Florida schools.
Polk County Schools (FL) voted overwhelmingly to keep The Vincent Boys and Melissa (formerly George) on school shelves.
Tennessee legislators advance a bill that would bolster school library book banning efforts.
Henrico County (VA) schools returned Out of Darkness and I’m a Gay Wizard to school shelves after review.
Regional School Unit 34 in Maine keeps Milk and Honey on school shelves.
The Matinicus Island Library (ME) is fighting the trend of book banning by seeking out controversial titles for its collection.
Book challenges led by far-right groups are surging in Michigan schools.
The Wappingers Central School District (NY) has elected to remove Gender Queer from the high school library.
Iredell-Statesville Schools (NC) take a common-sense approach to book challenges by refusing to meet privately with the Moms of Liberty, who have requested that 33 books be removed from the district’s libraries.
The Wicomico School District (MD) pulled All Boys Aren’t Blue from library shelves. The district superintendent even said “I went so far as to check on how many students had checked the books out because I was concerned. One, since it’s been here. One too many.”
However, Worcester County Schools (MD) have refused to pull the same book from their shelves.
Lafayette (LA) citizens are pushing back against book banning, following a policy change that says library board members, not librarians, get the deciding vote on when books are challenged at a library.
The Silver Lake Regional School District (MA) has elected to keep So Far From the Bamboo Grove as part of the middle school curriculum.
North Smithfield (RI) schools unveiled an official policy to support their existing procedures for challenging materials.
A group of citizens in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, are advocating for a more diverse and inclusive curriculum, at a time when book challenges are on the rise.
Censorship moves from libraries and schools to stores: Target has recently removed multiple LGBTQ books from its website. (Most have now been returned.)
Culture wars could be coming to a school board near you.
Books & Authors in the News
Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos has recalled the book The Betrayal of Anne Frank over concerns of inaccurate information.
Camila Sosa Villada’s novel Bad Girls and the fight for transgender rights in Argentina.
Booker winner Ben Okri is rewriting his published novel, Starbook, to better drive home the message of slavery.
Philip Pullman steps down as the President of the Society of Authors after he expressed support for Kate Clanchy’s controversial memoir, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.
Numbers & Trends
Ted Cruz accidentally makes two anti-racist books bestsellers.
Award News
The 42nd Razzie Awards have been announced, and I’m pleased to see that Jared Leto won Worst Supporting Actor for his role in House of Gucci. I liked the movie, but his performance was astonishingly bad.
Oprah Winfrey will be receiving an honorary PEN/Faulkner award.
The 2022 CrimeFest Award and British Book Award shortlists have been announced.
On the Riot
How to incorporate play in the elementary school library.
Why teachers should assign more contemporary books and fewer classics.
Authors’ answers to their most common question.
Why authors love when you leave a book review online.
There’s no excuse for bad book covers anymore.
A history of the advice column. (I’m not ashamed to say that I’m an advice column addict.)
It’s never too late to become a reader.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Here’s a cat picture! This photo is actually doing double duty, since Blaine asked if I could put him in the newsletter. So you see that sliver of white t-shirt on the side? That’s my husband. (And fun fact…that white t-shirt is actually a Book Riot t-shirt! He’s a wonderful supporter.) And Dini of course is being ridiculously cute and extra, as always!
It’s Friday! I’m feeling hungry right now, so let’s all vow to eat something tasty this weekend!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently listening to The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.