The We are Kidlit team is busy working on what will be our tenth list. It’s hard to believe this work began ten years ago, but it’s so satisfying to know it continues. I know that whenever someone asks me for a children’s book on any given topic, I turn to these lists because the books are least likely to embed imperialistic messages that bring harm to young readers. Over the years, we’ve become more aware of what we want include as well as what we’ve want to exclude. We’ve had wider representation across continents, less ableist language, more from small publishers, and more genres. Covid Years challenged us to find books or resources to support those books that would be freely and widely available. Partnering with School Library Journal for the past couple of years extended our reach so that more young readers could find book meant for them. The scholars, librarians and educators who’ve worked on the list has changed, too. So many wonderful people who are truly committed to young people have worked with us. I’ve recently reached out to them to find out what they’re doing now. Pulling this information together really reminded me of the degree of expertise that has always been dedicated to this summer list. And, I love reading this cross generational look at change and growth.

Sam Bloomhas been with us for two years now. Sam works as a public librarian ians working on is  PhD at Ohio State in education, focusing on the way children’s literature is used within abolitionist teaching space. He’s currently a member of the Ezra Jack Keats Award Committee.

Sarah Park Dahlen moved from St. Catherine University to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021.  She and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (who also contributed to We Are Kidlit) co-authored  Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Justice, and Difference in the Wizarding World in 2022. In 2023 she served on the National Book Award jury for Young People’s Literature.Sarah co-authored the APALA Rubric to Evaluate Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Literature She led the team in creating the Very Asian Foundation’s May Book Projectand helped co-create TEAACH Act modules. Sarah has also acquired an agent and is writing children’s books.

Ariana Hussain is our newest member. Ariana, like everyone who has been on this team, brings a unique perspective into the complex world of children’s books. You cannot image how rich our conversations can be. Ariana is part of Hijabi Librarians. She’s got awards obligations, so her contributions here may be a bit limited for a while. She also review for Kirkus.

Laura Jimenez is in her third year as an Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at Boston University College of Education & Human Development. She is also the director of the Center for Educating Critically where this focus is on anti-oppression teaching and learning.

Alia Jones was an early contributor to the summer list. She has moved from her hometown to Madison WI where she’s a MLIS Student at UW-Madison with a focus on youth services and children’s literature. I love following Alia on her IG and Facebooks accounts and seeing her continued insights into youth literature as well and seeing her having fun. I remember the stress of graduate school, and I really love seeing her engaging in all her passions.

Sujei Lugo has been working on the list since it’s beginning. Let’s make that Dr. Sujei Lugo! Sujei received her PhD from Simmons University in 2022. Her writing  includes 15 Joy-Filled Latinx Books for Emerging and Independent Readers in School Library Journal, a chapter in Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Studies through Critical Race Theory. Most notable is her co-authorship of https://joyridebookshop.indielite.org/book/9781737275787Islas lectoras: bibliografía de literatura infantil puertorriqueña: 2000-2020. It’s the only bibliographic resource dedicated to Puerto Rican children’ s literature for those years.She continues to work as a public librarian, and to review for Horn Book.

Lyn Miller Lachman has also been with us since the beginning. Lyn’s writing career has really been blossoming! Lyn has published eight middle grade and YA books. Torch won the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. She co-authored Moonwalking with Zetta Elliott, and Film Makers: 15 Groundbreaking Women Directors with Tanisia “Tee” Moore.  2024 will bring her first picture book , Ways to Play. Lyn also translates from Portuguese and Spanish into English. Pardalita (written by Joana Estrela) has garnered four starred reviews. As busy has she is with books and Legos, she still finds time to maintain her own blog.  

Debbie Reese’s partner retired, and they now live with their daughter and her partner, in California. In 2019, Beacon released a young adult adaptation of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, for Young People that Debbie and Jean Mendoza adapted. It won an Honor award from the American Indian Library Association. Debbie continues to follow the expanding presence of Native authors in youth literature on her blog, American Indians in Children’s Literature. She’ll have an article about it in the November issue of School Library Journal.

Sonja Alejandra Rodriguez  has been promoted to full professor at LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) and is on sabbatical working on academic and creative projects. Here’s a link to her latest blog post on Latine kid  lit, 3 Picturebooks on Migration to Read for Latine Heritage Month

Ed Spicer is retired from teaching and living in Sun City, CA. He just finished serving as a member of the 2023 Newbery Committee. He’s serving as acting president of Sun City Civic Association Art Guild. Ed often shares some of his art on his Facebook page, reminding me to keep having fun pursuing my passions.

Me? I’m currently participating in the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship. Here, I’m conducting empirical research around anthropomorphic simians in picture books. For the past year, I’ve been chairing a taskforce to update ALSC’s mock awards toolkit. I have an article on the writings of Tonya Bolden scheduled to appear one of these days in Children’s & Libraries (it keeps getting pushed back). I’m currently teaching “Representations in Young Adult Literature” at Indiana University-Indianapolis. I’ve gathered another amazing group to review middle grade and young adult books by and about Blacks people, Black Cotton Reviews. I’m presenting on self-care at the YALSA Symposium next week!