Today’s post comes to you from Yue (Cathy) Wang China's Missing Genre: The Struggle for YA Literature In today’s Chinese children’s book market, the YA category is relatively underdeveloped. Back in the 1980s, Chen Danyan 陈丹燕 wrote the novella Death of a Schoolgirl 女中学生之死, based on a real event that happened in Shanghai in the 1980s—the suicide of … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Chinese YA Literature
Today’s post comes to you from Eleanor Duggan Across Memory, Identity, and Speculative Futures I’ve always resonated with Dr. Bishop’s (1990) statement of books as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors that allow readers to see themselves, view into the experiences of others, and to foster empathy and deeper understanding through character’s words and actions. For … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Taiwan YA Literature
Today’s post comes to you from Linda Hoiseth Nothing. Something. Everything. Nothing matters.I have known that for a long time.So nothing is worth doing.I just realized that. That’s what Pierre Anthon declared to his homeroom on the first day of their 7th-grade year in their small town in Denmark. He then stood up and walked out … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Nothing
Today’s post comes to you from Angie Erickson Bees, Belonging, & the Fragility of Ecosystems It is serendipitous to be sharing Milk without Honey on the eve of Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday. Hanna Harms' stunning graphic essay (translated from German by the prolific Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp about the conservation of bees sits in quiet dialogue … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Milk Without Honey
Today’s post comes to you from Nadine Bailey The Colour of Tears Alessandro D'Avenia is an Italian high school teacher with a PhD in Classical Literature. Both his love of classical literature and his real-world classroom experiences shine through in this wonderful glimpse into a year in the life of our sixteen-year-old protagonist, Leo. Leo starts … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: White as Silence, Red as Song
Today’s post comes to you from Kim Tyo-Dickerson Alkrem: Magic wasn’t just his birthright, it was his destiny. Theo, the adopted son of the powerful Archemist Brennock Chimius, is turning thirteen. In his Parisian world, this birthday is a sacred rite of passage, the moment an Archemist finally receives their Apto, an animal advisor and lifelong … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Alkrem
Today's post comes to you from Kim Tyo-Dickerson Alchemy and Identity: How Rebis: Born and Reborn Reimagines the European Witch Trials in Medieval Italy Rebis: Born and Reborn -- written by Irene Marchesini & illustrated by Carlotta Dicataldo (2023), translated from Italian by Carla Roncalli Di Montorio (2025) In a medieval Italian village, men and … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: Rebis: Born and Reborn
Giovanni (Gianni) Rodari’s importance to Italian children’s literature is hard to overstate, though English translations of his books have been scarce until the last few years. Born in 1920, he was a young adult in Mussolini’s Italy, and in response, became a lifelong Marxist and anti-fascist. His politics are often visible under the surface of … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Gianni Rodari and His Grammars of Fantasy
It’s May – and time for the 6th annual International Young Adult Literature Month (#IntlYALitMonth) here on the Global Literature in Libraries (GLLI) blog. Just in case you missed the previous ones, below are links to the end-of-month summary list of each year’s offerings. 2021 – wrap-up blog post by editor Elisa A. Garcia 2022 … Continue reading Welcome to GLLI’s 2026 #IntlYALitMonth
By Allan Pinto & Kim Tyo-Dickerson Introduction to a Queer, Black Brazilian Reading Life by Allan Pinto During my time in middle and high school, I can barely remember Black authors being mentioned in the annual book lists given out by the school. Many Black and queer authors used to be called “autores malditos” or … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Brazilian YA: An Exploration of a Postcolonial Literary Tradition by and for the Diaspora
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 