Take a cooking competition in graphic novel format and mix in zany illustrations, alien species and an intergalactic empire. Blend in a reluctant, kindhearted female heroine, top it all off with eco-, exoplanetary, and class politics, and you get The Big Tournament, the first book in the fabulous upper middle grade/YA sci-fi series, Magda: Intergalactic … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Big Tournament
Equal parts Our Bodies, Ourselves, Margaret Mead, and biology/history explainer, Born a Girl: It Takes Courage is an approachable feminist manifesto for today's teens that embraces difficult topics. Organized around the fictionalized stories of five teenage girls---one each from Nepal, France, Afghanistan, Kenya, and Mexico---this nonfiction YA illustrated book lays out a frank, sympathetic description … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Born a Girl: It Takes Courage
Welcome back to #WorldKidLit Month 2025! Today's post comes to us from Staci Fox. One of the coolest things about running a library these days? Our readers are more connected to the world than ever before. Whether it's through travel, streaming services, international classmates, or even TikTok trends, there's a real appetite for stories that … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2025: The Moonwind Mysteries
Welcome back to #WorldKidLit month on GLLI. Today's post comes to us from Mairin Raisdana. Published in 2019 and translated in 2023, Roses and Violets is the first book in the Rosenholm fantasy trilogy by Danish author Gry Kappel Jensen, translated by Sharon E. Rhodes. The book is set in Rosewood Boarding School, a school … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2025: Roses & Violets
It’s that time of year again--or at least it was when I wrote this post: San Diego Comic Con! For those who may not know, San Diego Comic Con is a huge four-and-a-half day lollapalooza of an annual convention celebrating all things comics related. There are panels with authors and actors; talks about art, craft, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Four Eisner- Nominated Graphic Novels in Translation
A 2025 GLLI Translated Young Adult Book Prize Honor Book and the first fabulous volume in a sci-fi duology, Snowglobe is set in a post-apocalyptic, post-climate-change world. Life for the lower class is cold and brutal. Most labor daily to create electricity via giant human-powered hamster wheels, except for the lucky few who live in … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Snowglobe
This is the end of the 5th annual International Young Adult Literature Month (#IntlYALitMonth) here on the Global Literature in Libraries (GLLI) blog. (Again, thank you, Karen Van Drie, for starting this tradition!) Just in case you missed the previous events, below are links to the end-of-month summary list of each year’s offerings. 2021 – … Continue reading Wrap-up to GLLI’s 2025 #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
Written by Karthika Gopalakrishnan Young adult fiction in India has been taking on new forms, pushing the envelope, and expanding the boundaries of all that this genre of homegrown fiction has to offer its readers. Here are three works that are contemporary examples of the path that this genre has journeyed: Art is a Voice … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Indian YA
Written by Anthony Tilke “Translated fiction is the hottest trend in books right now”, was a headline in a recent issue of a popular magazine (Gogarty, 2025). That’s great to know overall, but how can translated literature for the YA market contribute to reading for pleasure and support International Baccalaureate programmes? The International Baccalaureate The … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Translations of YA & the concept of reading for pleasure in IB programmes for young adults
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 